eld hasn’t homed in on the best presentation yet,” adds Breazeal.
Overall, engineering complex systems demands a wide range of skills. For example, Breazeal says, “Robotics is extremely multidisciplinary—art, design, and technology. You must be more of a Renaissance thinker, so to speak.” Breazeal got excited about robotics when she stumbled over “the deep interaction between technology and the life sciences.” She wants to create an entity whose cognitive and affective processes are inspired by those that animals and people use when they behave in complex environments.
Despite all of the advances for women in science, some serious obstacles must still be surmounted. “The more elite the organization,” says Shalala, “the less likely you are to find women, whether you are discussing the National Academies, the National Institutes of Health, or full professors at research universities.” In the past, a lack of qualified women candidates supposedly explained that inequity. “Now, the pools have changed,” Shalala says. “There are no excuses anymore.”
Nonetheless, “Beyond Bias and Barriers” points out that a collection of unconscious actions creates a culture that does not support young women. For instance, Shalala says that the university system does not accommodate child-bearing among women faculty. Moreover, she says, “Academics has been a male culture, and a young female professor might not fit in as comfortably.”
Malcom also sees problems in the current system. “There are things that institutions must do,” she says. “Women need to be given the same front-end resources as males to go into high-end positions.” Dean agrees. She says, “There are necessary cultural changes. For that, I would cite ‘Beyond Bias and Barriers.’ It is absolutely fantastic at laying out all of the systemic changes and approaches that organizations and institutions should take.”
Some changes are already under way. At Princeton, for example, male and female faculty members get an extra year to work toward tenure if they have or adopt a child during the usual tenuring period.
Beneficial changes are also taking place in industry. Lewis sees great value in “institutions or companies, like Genentech, that offer policies and benefits that make the life of a working parent just a little bit easier every day, such as on-site child care, concierge services, financial, legal, dental, and automotive service, emergency rides for commuting parents with sick children, et cetera.” She adds, “This can provide an extra edge that is a huge benefit for working mothers, so they don’t feel that they are forced to choose between being a parent and still having a highly successful career.”
To help women work their way to upper end positions, Lewis says, “I believe mentoring can play a very valuable role. Supervisors in upper management positions can make a difference by providing straightforward feedback to ensure that women understand what skills or talents may need additional development.” Other women in science agree with the value of mentoring. As Lewis says, “Sometimes, we need to be reminded how just a little bit of time can have a big influence on a young person’s life.” To learn more about mentoring, see the Association for Women in Science’s A Hand Up ( http://www.awis.org/pubs/ahandup.html ) and MentorNet ( http://www.mentornet.net ).
Nonetheless, institutions and mentors cannot do all of the work. People must work to improve their odds of getting hired and advancing. “Those who hold top positions understand the value of developing professional competencies, such as management skills and strategic thinking,” says Kameir. “Women who learn to master these skills—while leveraging their own scientific background—are in a good position to take on leadership roles.” In addition, Kameir recommends a career plan “with specific action steps for achieving short-term and long-term goals.” She says that this should include the development of strategic relationships. “If women don’t understand the importance of strategic relationship building, they will work twice as hard for ha