Conference: Symposium on Early Career Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)

The Texas A&M University System Hsc, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

To address the historical underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, the PI and colleagues propose organizing a special symposium for early career women in science and engineering (WISE) at the 2024 fall national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Denver, Colorado. This proposed project's goal is to increase the diversity in the U.S. STEM infrastructure and workforce by leveraging the platform of the American Chemical Society, one of the largest scientific societies of the world. Invited speakers will include women representing the full range of racial/ethnic, cultural, demographic, and geographical diversity who work at universities including minority serving institutions such as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), at national laboratories, and in industry. The proposed workshop is focused on providing the invited speakers with an opportunity to present the transformative research they have conducted in their chosen academic disciplines at universities, national laboratories, or in industry. The funds requested in the proposed budget will pay for the travel and registration expenses of two female speakers who will present their research at the WISE symposium. This symposium will create a unique collaborative opportunity for early career women in STEM disciplines to network and broaden their exposure to their female colleagues nationwide. The symposium will ensure that early career women in the fields of academia and industry are provided with a unique and valuable opportunity to report on their transformative research. Additionally, the goal also includes inviting graduate students to attend this national meeting of the ACS in the fall of 2024 who will be selected to represent minority serving universities and institutions. The objective is to invite a total of thirty women to speak at this proposed symposium to accomplish the overall goal of increasing the presence and impact of women in the U.S. 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.