By Public Policy Chair

Rosemary Cunningham

cunninghamrt@comcast.net

Eliminate Gender Bias in Science Fields
Text Box: A recent National Academies report, Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering, found that women repeatedly face biases in academia in the science fields, and that these barriers to success discourage them from careers in these areas. In response to this report, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) recently introduced the Gender Bias Elimination Act (H.R. 3514). This important piece of legislation directly addresses concerns raised in the National Academies report by authorizing workshops that educate university department chairs, agency program officers, and others on reducing and eliminating gender bias for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Under this act, agencies that fund scientific research-such as the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation-will also be directed to better enforce existing federal anti-discrimination laws (including Title IX), assess the workplace climate, publish Text Box: demographic and funding data for grant applications, and extend grant support for researchers on leave for caregiving duties. Declining interest in science and a shortage of American scientists is a threat to American competitiveness on a national scale, problems that are exacerbated by the low numbers of women and girls working or studying in STEM fields. The Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology's report Professional Women and Minorities states that women now comprise 25 percent of the labor force in STEM fields. If women and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups joined the STEM workforce in proportion to their representation in the overall labor force, the shortage of STEM professionals would disappear. AAUW supports promoting and strengthening STEM education, especially for women and other underrepresented populations in the fields. AAUW believes this legislation remove barriers to success and encourage more Text Box: women to choose careers in STEM fields. Take Action! To urge your representative to cosponsor the Gender Bias Elimination Act, just copy and paste the following URL into your Internet browser.  Then follow the instructions to send a message to your U.S. representative: http://capwiz.com/aauw/issues/alert/?alertid=10525271&type=CO Text Box: Public Policy Text Box: Volume 28, Number 4 December, 2007 Page #

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