Incentives and Barriers to U.S. Academics? Participation in International Collaborations

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is being funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The research proposes to generate knowledge that will allow us to better understand the extent to which academia is attentive to gender and minority issues, specifically on whether they have developed any strategies to increase women and minorities in their international collaborations. The research will summarize incentives and barriers for academic women and minorities to engage in international research and will explore the impact of organizational structures of academic institutions on the participation women and minorities in international collaborations. The principal investigators will also investigate the impact of international collaborations on characteristics of academic employment, such as its ability to attract, retain, and/or advance women and minorities in academic jobs. Furthermore, they will investgate how academic culture and climate on international collaborations in various countries compare with each other. They will also ascertain if collaborating internationally is a key component for the advancement of women and minorities in academia and propose to identify practices that increase women and minority participation in international collaborations. Finally, they will explore how race/ethnicity shape participation in international academic collaborations.