The Maria Mitchell Women in Science Symposium: Celebrating the 200th Birthday of America's First Woman Astronomer

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket MA

Investigators

Abstract

NSF support is requested for a symposium designed to serve as an inspiration to women studying, working, and teaching in STEM fields. The symposium will be held October 5 and 6, 2018, at the Babson Executive Conference Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts. This symposium will bring together women at all career stages in STEM, with the goal of connecting women and strengthening their connections in their fields. The award will help fund room rental costs as well as travel and hotel costs for the three keynote speakers. As is well documented, women continue to be underrepresented in the sciences. Although a higher percentage of women than men currently earn college degrees, fewer women go into STEM fields, and those who do are more likely to drop out. This symposium offers a venue for discussing issues of recruiting and retention, as well as broadening the participation of the STEM workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.