This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
While the number of women receiving advanced degrees in the geosciences has been rising, the face of scientific leaders in academia remains dominantly male. Through the establishment of infrastructure to support the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN), this ADVANCE PAID project will promote career development, build community, and facilitate professional collaborations for women in the Earth Sciences. ESWN is a peer-mentoring network of women, mostly early in their careers, serving the variety of fields within the geosciences discipline. ESWN started in 2002 as an initial group of six early-career women in atmospheric science, and has grown to more than 750 members spanning a wide range of geosciences sub-disciplines. ESWN's growth has evolved solely from person-to-person contacts, and its sustained, rapid growth testifies to the group's value to early career women. The unique aspects of this disciplinary network include its focus on women at early career stages, and the fact that it was formed and is led by early career women scientists. These features allow the group to assist women in the Earth Sciences in advancing professionally while connecting them with a community of their peers. The network's "grassroots" structure provides an exceptional opportunity to influence the retention and promotion of female earth scientists.
Intellectual Merit: Building on the success of ESWN's activities to date, this project will support the development of a sustainable ESWN infrastructure and career-development activities to benefit women in academia and promote their advancement. The requested funding will support the following initiatives over four years: grow ESWN to serve a wider section of the geosciences community; design and administer career development workshops; promote professional networking at major scientific conferences; and develop web resources to build connections and collaborations for and among women in the Earth Sciences. The size and diversity of ESWN provides a valuable opportunity to collect statistics and information on the developing careers of women geoscientists. The membership will participate in online surveys, interviews and web site monitoring. Insights and recommendations emerging from these studies will be disseminated through publications, an online newsletter, and highlights on the ESWN website.
Broader Impacts: The project activities emphasize the advancement and promotion of women in academic positions in the Earth Sciences. These activities will identify and develop resources useful to women in academia, increase accessibility to these resources, initiate mentoring opportunities, and create a community. An increase in the number of successful women scientists and their visibility will greatly influence the recruitment of the next generation. ESWN members already identify the network as a valuable part of their professional lives and often encourage peers and advisees to join. This project aims to increase the ethnic and racial diversity of ESWN via connections with existing successful recruitment programs. By identifying strategies to reduce barriers to professional success for women geoscientists, we aim to promote a culture that will enhance the success of all scientists. The nature and extent of the network, and its continued growth, will also influence the success of female scientists in a variety of scientific positions including within academia, the federal government, and public and private sectors.
