Professional awards are external markers of achievement and recognition, and are important for job satisfaction and career advancement for recipients. After receiving recognition, awardees provide inspiration for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and for those aspiring to an academic career. However, marked gender disparities in awards and recognition have resulted in a climate that hinders advancement of women and impairs their retention as STEM leaders. The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and the Recognition of the Achievements of Women in Science, Medicine and Engineering (RAISE) Project will implement a project called AWARDS (Advancing Ways of Awarding Recognition in Disciplinary Societies) to address the underrepresentation of women among recipients of awards from STEM disciplinary societies.
AWARDS will partner with seven Disciplinary Societies to develop processes customized for each organization to foster the diversity of their scientific award recipients (Goal 1). Towards this goal, over the next three years, AWARDS will work collaboratively with the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the American Statistical Association (ASA), the Mathematics Association of America (MAA), the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), and the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM); to: 1) Analyze their existing awards, awardees, nominations, and award processes; 2) Identify components of their cultures, awards nomination and selection processes that influence who is nominated and selected for awards; 3) Provide information on research based best practices to increase gender equity in awards, tailored to their Society's characteristics; 4) Assist each partner Society in selecting and implementing changes to their Society and award processes, and evaluating the consequences of those changes; and 5) Develop maintenance practices for long term and sustainable support of award equity. The partner Societies have a combined membership of 329,000 and sponsor nearly 400 awards. Lessons learned from this work will be used to formulate a framework for use with additional and varied disciplinary societies (Goal 2). AWARDS will build on resources from the STEM community, ADVANCE programs, and social science research to reduce the impact of implicit bias and foster organizational change. Activities will be directed by a five member Executive Committee, assisted by an Advisory Committee, and conducted by an action Task Force, all focused on facilitating changes in partner Societies. The partner Disciplinary Societies will maintain control and ownership of activities leading to change within their Society. An outside evaluator will ensure activities are effective and goals are met.
Intellectual Merit: The existing research on implicit bias and organizational change will be adapted to the awards processes of seven diverse STEM Disciplinary Societies. AWARDS will support Society partners as they increase impartiality, resulting in greater diversity of their award nominees and winners, and develop leadership within the organization to sustain these changes. Organizational change experts and Society representatives will assure that processes are evidence based and appropriate for each Society. Development of a framework and resources that can be successfully implemented in additional professional societies with distinctive cultures and awards structures will expand the impact far beyond the initial Disciplinary Society partners.
Broader Impacts: AWARDS will increase the diversity of STEM awardees and expand the number of role models who will encourage future generations of women and other underrepresented groups to pursue and persist in STEM careers. Engaging Disciplinary Society leaders in AWARDS will change their perceptions and direct attention to other areas in which equity might be enhanced, e.g., allocation of resources. AWARDS activities will put members of committees in leadership roles, and enhance their ability to catalyze organizational changes within and beyond their professional societies.
