1. Panelists:
Robert Greenlee
Tracy Lieu
Karen Margolis
Lucy Savitz
Gregory Simon
Claudia Steiner
Moderators:
Aruna Kamineni
Suma Vupputuri
Women in Research: Best Practices and Changes Needed to Promote Gender Equity April 8, th HCSRN Conference | Portland, OR

2. Gender Equality & Equity
“Gender equality … does not mean that women and men have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they were born male or female. Gender equity means fairness of treatment for men and women according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations, and opportunities.” – ABC Of Women Workers’ Rights And Gender Equality, International Labour Organization, Geneva, 2000
I’d like to begin by acknowledging that I’ll be sharing gender binary data.
We apologize that this is not inclusive of the spectrum of gender identities and expressions, and are optimistic that going forward, information will be collected in a more gender-expansive way.
This is the first of many conversations we hope to have, collectively as the HCSRN and individually as member organizations with the network, that focus on equity, inclusion and diversity.

3. National Science Foundation 2019 Data
These are data from the NSF’s Survey of Earned Doctorates and National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics biennial report on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering.
Primary takeaways:
When you examine STEM fields overall (especially beyond those shown here), the variation suggests that challenges are different for different disciplines in terms of representation of women (especially at early career stages – PhD recipients and assistant investigators).
Despite increasing proportions of women receiving advanced STEM degrees, we see a persistent decline in all of the fields of women and their representation across faculty ranks. Fewer women are represented in the most senior rank.
Source: National Science Foundation; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering; 2019 Data Tables (Tables 7-2 and 9-25)

4. National Science Foundation 2019 Data
Among doctoral-level scientists working full time in 2017, women made less than men in the occupational groups shown.
Overall, women scientist’s median annual salary was $82,000, whereas the median salary for men was $100,000.
Interestingly, women psychologists’ median salary was less than that of man psychologists, even though the field is majority women. This suggests that representation may not be enough to achieve pay parity.

5. HCSRN Member Organizations Survey
Data Request:
Identify all research faculty/scientists as of December 2018
Include only faculty with ≥50% research effort
Include biostatistician investigators (but not consultants)
Identify faculty/scientists by rank
Group by junior, mid, or senior levels
Provide gender distribution of faculty/scientists, overall and by rank
Response Proportion: 83% (15/18)
Respondents made their own judgement about what constituted their “center” or denominator, since some HCSRN members are comprised of multiple centers or research units

6. HCSRN Survey Results (n=15)
HCSRN is doing well - representation of women among research faculty overall does not appear to be a concern.
Virtually all Member Organizations have at least 50% women faculty.

7. HCSRN Survey Results (n=12)
When we examine representation by rank, the picture is more similar to national data, suggesting a drop-off in the pipeline across most Member Organizations.
Note: This is a snapshot. Member Organizations are variable with respect to size, organizational structure, etc.

8. HCSRN Survey Results (n=18)
When we examine the HCSRN overall, current representation of women in GB or ED roles is close to parity, and approaching parity historically.

9. How Do We Make Progress? Framing remarks:
Robust body of scholarship that documents the many systematic barriers that women face. Unequal playing field.
So equality is not enough. Progress has been made because inequities are being addressed. Pipeline has improved for many disciplines and representation of women has increased, but disparities remain. Often the burden of overcoming inequities rests with the individual.
Move towards more system-level policies and practices that can help equalize the playing field and have a positive impact on the representation and experiences of women in research.

10. Questions for Panelists
In your experience, what are organizational practices that have helped to ensure gender equity in hiring, promotion, and pay?
How has your perspective on the above been shaped by observations or experiences in your past?
In your leadership role, please highlight any challenges/barriers you have encountered or anticipate encountering for implementing organization-level changes to promote gender equity.

11. Conclusions
Initiating this conversation to address gender equality at the organizational level is important and timely
HCSRN demonstrates good representation of women researchers at junior levels, but less so at senior levels
Panelists highlighted structural and cultural issues related to gender equity and identified opportunities and challenges to promote organizational change
Gender equity is a significant issue receiving increasing attention in scientific fields
Initiating a conversation at the HCSRN to address gender equity at the organizational level is important and timely

12. Key Next Steps
Report on panelists remarks and themes that emerged from the discussion
Conduct a survey of HCSRN researchers
Conduct a survey of HCSRN Directors/Leaders
Continue the conversation on equity, inclusion, and diversity at HCSRN 2020
AK: For the 1st bullet, I agree that we should try to publish something
For the 2nd bullet, I think you should just say that we’d like to implement a survey of HCSRN researchers to better understand what structural challenges women and underrepresented groups might be facing. i.e., where are the disparities?
For the 3rd bullet, could we survey this population (Directors/Leaders) about what organizational-level practices have already been implemented to promote gender equity and where they think the opportunities are?
For the 4th bullet, I think you could mention that a more in-depth exploration of these topics (Recruitment, retention, and advancement, implicit bias, family friendly policies, intersectionality, gender mainstreaming, and institutional commitment) will be a focus, but that we will also expand the conversation to other underrepresented groups. I’m just worried about the continuing focus being solely on women.

13. Thank You! Acknowledgements: Panelists HCSRN Governing Board
Sarah Greene
Contact:
HCSRN Governing Board, 2018