the 2006 Sam Cook Colloquium
Are you considered a minority in your field? Do the male grad students in your lab typically dominate lab meeting discussions? Are females and/or under represented minority grad students asked to take on more side projects than their peers? Has anyone insinuated that you had an easier time getting accepted into grad school because of your race and/or gender?
If yes, then the following will definitely interest you! Please read along and let us know your ideas!
WiSE women are invited to participate in the 2006 Sam Cook Colloquium, an event that focuses on the under-representation of women and minorities in math, science and engineering. This event will take place from 1-4PM on Feb 22 in the Reynolds Theater, Bryan Center. For more information on Samuel Dubois Cook Society, the host organization, please visit
http://www.duke.edu/web/cooksociety/Specifically, WiSE has been asked to write three short scenarios which address climate issues facing women and/or under represented students pursuing degrees in technical fields. This is our opportunity to speak out about inequalities many of us face day to day. The more visible these issues become, the more likely these issues will be dealt with and overcome.
Think about your own experiences and be creative! Please send us ideas about situations or even better, a paragraph describing a scenario that can be read aloud to the audience at this colloquium. A panel discussion will follow each scenario, highlighting the issues presented and stimulating people to start thinking about ways to catalyze change.
Please send your ideas and/or paragraphs to Heidi at
hek2@duke.edu by Friday Dec 9.
PC welcomes Alexis from BME
We welcome Alexis Kuncel, a Ph.D. student in BME to join WiSE PC! Alexis joined Duke after her graduate study at Case WesternReserve University, and she recently got married! Congratulations!
Nov 22 fundraising summary & Thank You!
WiSE women fundraise for fellow graduate students affected by Katrina on Women's Basket Ball home game opener. For details see
http://www.duke.edu/web/wise/katrina.htmHeidi and Tong would like to thank Erica, Monica, Claire, and Heather Dean for your great work for our Katrina fundraising efforts. We raised a total of $129.56 at the graduate student BBQ. Pratt Dean Kristina Johnson said tonight that she appreciates our efforts and will personally match the funds we have raised. Special thanks go to Erica, who has done a wonderful job creating the webpage for Natasha and making an impressive poster with photos that attracted many eyes (and dollars ;-) today. The funds will be distributed to Tulane students at UNC public health school before Christmas break.
Introductions
Dear WiSE PC members,
I've met most of you by now, but I wanted to introduce myself through this excellent blog as well. I'm Claire Robbins, the new Program Coordinator at the Women's Center, and WiSE advisor. It is a pleasure already to be part of the WiSE PC and to have the chance to work with such a talented, dedicated and interesting group of women! Tong and Heidi are already doing an awesome job of keeping me posted and involved - not to mention getting me oriented to WiSE! - but I am here as a resource for all of you, so just let me know anytime I can be of assistance.
I don't have a professional science and engineering background myself, but as someone with a longstanding passion for women's issues and feminism, I've done some thinking about women, technology, the sciences, and my own career path, and how all of this manifested itself in my own family. Next time you are looking for some procrastination, you can check out an essay that I wrote for a college class back in '98 at http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~WS30/WS30F1998/cfeldma1.html. (I can't vouch for any spelling, grammar, or other errors, or any embarrassing anecdotes...I was 18 when I wrote this!)
I love the Women's Center and working with students, so I can usually be found somewhere on campus - or in Durham working with the Durham Women's Commission. Outside of work, I can often be found attending a community event or hanging out at a restaurant or bookstore near campus. And I love to read, knit, cook, go on long walks, go to concerts, and listen to music.
Stop by the Women's Center anytime between WiSE events (not just during!) and say hi! And this week, we have a *ton* of leftover Indian food, so please feel free to stop by for lunch or a snack!
Best wishes,
Claire
PC welcomes Jia from Psychology
Welcome Jia Guo, a first year Ph.D. student in Psychology to join WiSE PC!
hidden link - from our webmistress Erica
I've added a link to our weblog on the main WiSE page for easy access.
For now it's a "hidden" link (we can debate if we want it more public).
Here's how you find it:
On the main site:
www.duke.edu/web/wise/Hover your mouse over the upper right of the white box, your mouse
cursor will change from "arrow" to "hand" indicating you've found a
link. Click on it, it should take you to the weblog
(
www.duke.edu/web/wise/weblog).
Having trouble finding it? It's on the far right of the line containing
"WiSE at Duke University".
BTW, please keep letting me know of any events, papers, etc, that you
want posted to the site, and I'll try keeping things up to date!
Best,
--Erica
*** Spring 2006 Event Planning***
Theme: Why So Few Women in Science and Engineering
1. 2005 - 2006 Distinguished Speaker
Why So Few Women in Science and Engineering by Vasu Varadan [January 13, 2006, everything in place]
http://www.duke.edu/web/wise/varadan.htm
2. WiSE lunch discussion series
2A. Negotiating a Faculty Position by Farsh Guilak [February]
He is said to have given very impressive presentations in BME department. http://www.duke.edu/~guilak/
2B. Teaching at a Non Research-Intensive Institution by women from Meredith, Elon, NCCU - a mini-PFF experience
- Dr. Virginia Knight (dean, math, Meredith, wife of a Duke engineering professor) - Dr. Rosalind Reichard (math, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meredith, former Dean of Math and Science at Elon)
- Dr. Sandra White (Chair of Biology, NCCU)
- Laura Smith (math, NCCU, African-American)
- Doug James from Duke Graduate School (engineering/education, Director of Duke Prepare Future Faculty Program (PFF))
2C. Women in Technology by Kimberly Jenkins (late March / Early April)
- Kimberly Jenkins, information technology entrepreneur, executive-in-residence in the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program. She currently serves on the Duke University Board of Trustees, where she chairs the Committee for Institutional Advancement. She is also a member of the Duke University Health Systems Board and the Kenan Institute for Ethics Board. http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2005/09/jenkins.html
3. WiSE Mentoring Program - extend to the sciences. We decided that we will not rely on any single undergraduate student group. WiSE will take initiative in recruiting both mentors and mentees.
3A. Mentoring Program End-of-the-year Appreciation Event (co-sponsor with GSA, late April)
o Emily Klein, professor of geology, senior associate dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Co-director of the Baldwin Scholars Program
4. Misc
4A. A science/engineering speaker for the "Women Explore" Week sponsored by Women's Center (march)
4B. Women's BB game (WiSE/GPWN/Pratt)
4C. 2006-2007 Distinguished Speaker (We will contact both, and see who is available)
o Kathy Olson, Associate Director with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President of the United States
o Susan Hockfield, MIT's new president, a Neurobiology scientist
http://web.mit.edu/hockfield/biography.html
WiSE lunch event: Gender Influences in Administration
Speaker: Pratt Dean Kristina Johnson
Time: 12:00-1:15PM
Venue: Women's Center
Program Evaluation
Comments from PC Re: Spring 2006 events
Note: ( ) means second choice, can be counted as half vote.
Top picks for spring 2006 events:
- 0. Vasu Varadan [Lori, Tong, Carrie, Anne, everything in place]
- 1. Farsh Guilak: negotiating faculty position [Sarah, Heather Dean, Heidi K., Monica, Lori, Tong]
- 2. women from Meredith, Elon, NCCU to talk about teaching - a mini-PFF experience [Sarah, Heather Dean, (Lori), Tong, Carrie, (Anne)]
- 3A. Kimberly Jenkins [Heather Dean, Heidi K., Lori, (Anne)]
- 3B. Helen Pak-Harvey on women in industry / technology - [Heather Dean, Heidi K., Lori]
- 4. mentoring appreciation event (GSA)
- 4A. DGS panel to talk about mentoring [Sarah, Tong]
- 4B. Emily Klein of Geology, to speak on mentoring [Monica, Lori, Anne]
- 4C. Nan Jokerst of ECE, on mentoring [Lori, Tong]
- 4D. continue the mentoring program and expand to all sciences
- 5A. Duke women in industry - Shannon Dahl (on panel) [Sarah, Heather Dean, Lori]
- 5B. Women in technology / women in academia - panel discussion [Carrie]
- 6. Women's BB game (WiSE/GPWN/Pratt) [Heather Dean, (Lori), (Anne)]
- Mohamed Noor: a new faculty in biology at Duke (panelist on landing an academic job) [Monica]
- Wendy Wood [Heidi K.]
2006-2007 Distinguished Speaker
- Kathy Olsen [Sarah, Lori, Anne]
- Susan Hockfield [Sarah, Monica, Carrie, (Anne)]
Suggestions / recommendations:
*New graduates in academia / industry*
- Caterina Gallippi, a new faculty member in the UNC/State joint BME program - she is a recent PhD from Duke BME - might want to keep her in mind for future things. [Sarah]
- Emily Bernhardt, a new professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment. I don't know her personally, but I do know she's very actively mentoring a few female graduate students in the ecology program already. Also, I'm not sure of the exact situation, but I think she and her spouse were doing their job search together (he got a research professor position at Duke), so she would have insight in how to do a dual job search or how to negotiate positions for both spouses. [Erica]
- Amy Solan (Lori Norton is good friends with her) [Sarah]
- Amy Collinsworth: Duke BME PhD, now works in tech transfer at Duke. WiSE or Gradwomen had her on a panel a few years ago about alternative careers. Amy is very knowledgeable, and also knows many people in the area. She is a good friend of mine. Keep her on your potential list for future years. [Sarah]
- Melissa Pasquinelli, PhD is a former Duke postdoc in Chemistry. She was a WiSE planning committee member. She's now working at the EPA. If she has time, I'm sure she'd tell us of her experiences. [Lori]
*DGS*
- Math DGS: Tom Witelski was on my PhD committee and an excellent mentor to me, and many others from what I can tell. When he saw WiSE on my resume, he was asking me about it. He has expressed interest in recruiting women to Math too, I think. He might be someone to approach as well. [Sarah, Tong, Anne]
- Physics DGS: Roxanne Springer, is very concerned about women in sciences and engineering. She had previously commented on this topic on academic council meetings. When Ms. Springer started as a 28-year-old assistant professor here in 1992, she was the first female faculty member to work in Duke's physics department in 25 years. She has complained of sexual harassment and discrimination for years. See the article : http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i20/20a00701.htm Now she is one of four female faculty members among some 60 Physics faculty. [Tong]
- Biology DGS: John Willis. He's a very personable speaker and usually very enthusiastic -- really bubbling with energy. I'm not sure about his views on women in science, but his lab is full of very activist-minded females, so I'm sure he's had to address many of the women-in-science types of issues they've faced. Also, the biology department has undergone several faculty searches in the last few years, so I'm sure the process is very fresh in his mind. [Erica]
- Chair of the bio department, Philip Benfey. He's been very supportive of getting more women to go on in biology. He sponsored a biology specific women in science seminar a few years ago (meant to be a recurring annual seminar series, but don't know what happened) and has been encouraging the graduate students to organize an event like that again. Being the chair, he's also been very active in the faculty search process, so he's probably most in-the-know that way. I have no idea what type of speaker he is though. [Erica]
- Mike Reed in math would also be a great choice (he's the faculty sponsor of the department's chapter of the Association of Women in Mathematics). [Anne]
- ECE DGS: Nan Jokerst, very enthusiastic about mentoring, came to Duke from GIT in 2004 and enjoyed the climate at Duke. recently appointed as DGS. [Tong]
- ECE Chair: April Brown, the first woman in the country that is hired as an Electrical Engineering Department Chair. [Tong]
*Mentoring*
- A mentoring/networking reception before a women's BB game. Kristina would get some terrific faculty and administrators there, and we could work with the Women's Mentoring Network to bring some undergraduates in and the Duke Club of the Triangle for local alumni. It could be a GPWN/WiSE event. I think Kristina is actually springing for the reception costs, so it shouldn't impact our budgets. [Heather Dean]
- There's an undergrad biology majors union (I think the president is Felicia Walton??), so that might be an easy group to pair up with if we want to expand the mentoring network. [Erica]
- Carrie's advisor (Dr. Wanda Krassowska) has been such a great mentor to me (i.e. Carrie) so far, maybe we should ask her to speak at a lunch discussion or similar. [Carrie]
*mini-PFF*
- Dr. Sandra White, NCCU, used to have a successful research career at Duke Med, and I think her husband is high up at NIEHS. [Sarah]
- Dr. Laura Smith from NCCU, an African American woman in Math.
- Doug James from Graduate School would be a good contact person / co-sponsor for this. [Tong]
*international female faculty*
- Hatice Ozturk, Turkish, a teaching professor at NCSU, primary field is Electrical Engineering, but also holds position in the joint UNC/NCSU BME program.
- Haiyan Gao, Chinese, an associate professor of Physics at Duke. A single mother.
*new faculty*
- Anna Lin of Physics can be a good panelist on the topic Negotiating a faculty position. She's been here for 3-4 years, set up a lab, and I've been involved in conversations with her about this topic. [Anne]
- [Lori] A female new prof should be willing to put together a presentation rather than tell a story (traditional WiSE lunch format). We need facts about
- how she calculated her startup funds ($300k or more?)
- how she determined an acceptable starting salary ($70k with first
3 summers paid?)
- what she believed should be and what she received in her benefits
package (paid support staff? departmental support for X students?
discretionary funds? position available for spouse?).
We are too polite about asking about figures because we don't want to get too personal. Typically, speakers refer to websites and books rather than speak plainly. A panel of speakers makes it difficult to get numerical answers. I prefer a seasoned prof who (a) will disclose their starting salary and (b) knows what they would have negotiated differently.
