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The mission of the University of Wisconsin System Women and Science Program is to attract and retain more women and minority students in the sciences, mathematics and engineering by promoting systemic change in the ways that science and science education are regarded and carried out within the University of Wisconsin System. In order to address this mission, the main focus of the Program is on faculty development. Content, climate and pedagogy, especially of undergraduate courses, are all addressed through Program activities. In particular the Women and Science Program seeks to:
- increase faculty expertise in gender and science scholarship pedagogy;
- provide role models of professional women scientists;
- improve classroom and campus climate;
- foster "science communities" that promote effective learning.
The members of the UW-Milwaukee campus on the Women and Science Program Advisory Board are Associate Dean Donna Van Wynsberghe, in the College of Letters and Science and Assistant Professor Claudia Barreto, in the Department of Biological Sciences. At the 2000 UW System Women and Science Program Spring Retreat, we along with Lecturer Kelly Kaiser, Academic Opportunity Center and Assistant Professor Teri Boundy, Department of Geosciences, formulated the foundations of a campus strategic plan of action for UWM to increase representation of women in the sciences, mathematics and engineering.
Correspondingly, in 1998, University of Wisconsin System President, Katharine Lyall, charged the Committee on the Status of Women to identify existing challenges to women across the UW System and to advise practical and achievable recommendations to improve current conditions. The Committee report, released in October, 1999, identified problems in:
- educational opportunities;
- hiring, promotion and retention;
- the learning and working environment;
- balancing work and personal life;
- lack of organizational infrastructure to address women's concerns in a timely fashion.
Five goals were recommended:
+ Expand educational opportunities for women students, especially for women in the physical sciences, engineering and technology by developing mentoring programs for science/technology courses and majors.
+ Increase hiring, promotion and retention of women faculty, academic staff and classified staff.
+ Make the learning and working environment more welcoming.
+ Provide conditions that allow for balancing work and personal life.
+ Create an effective organizational structure for improving the status of women in the UW System.
President Lyall and the Committee trust that 2000 can be the year in which institutions in the UW System make the leap from a series of good faith efforts to a system of effective practices that will actually achieve equality for women by the year 2010. At that time, the UW System will be the national model of an equitable academic environment for women students, staff and faculty. As a result of this landmark report, each campus has been charged with creating a Task Force to advance these goals.
In light of the mission of the UW System Women and Science Program and the goals of the report on the Status of Women in the UW System, the developing UW-Milwaukee Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program proposes to address the under-representation of women in science, engineering and mathematics in three ways over the 2000-2001 academic year:
1. Establishment of a network for students, staff and faculty in science, math and engineering:
+ Create a web-page to facilitate networking, support, mentoring and resource sharing at UWM as well as nationally and internationally.
+ Create a listserv for communication among women in science, math and engineering on the UW-Milwaukee campus.
2. Present a career workshop for UW-Milaukee women graduate students in science, math and engineering:
+ A panel of select faculty, Associate Deans or Deans, and administrators from various types of career institutions (teaching only teaching/research, research only and industry) will discuss pertinent issues, such as, resume preparation, interview skills, contract negotiations, etc.
3. Present a career workshop for UW-Milaukee women undergraduates students in science, math and engineering:
+ A panel of select UWM graduate students and alumni employed in industry will discuss graduate school and employment careers,etc.
It is our belief that these activities will serve as a support system and promote a climate essential toward achieving the goals of the Report of the Status of Women and the mission of the UW System Women and Science Program.
The CIC, with headquarters in Champaign, Illinois, is the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago. Its programs encompass nearly all aspects of university activity.
Fifteen CIC campuses and three national associations have undertaken a comprehensive set of collaborative activities designed to achieve gender equity at each step along the science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) pipeline. The CIC WISE Initiative, which is co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the CIC campuses, targets upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty women in SEM fields. The goals of this CIC WISE Initiative are to:
1.Enlarge the pool of undergraduate women who pursue graduate study in SEM fields,
2.Increase the number of female graduate students who pursue faculty careers,
3.Increase the number of women who advance through the faculty ranks, and
4.Improve the educational and professional climate for all SEM women.
Donna Van Wynsberghe
UW-Milwaukee
Assoc. Dean L&S- Administration
Professor, Biological Sciences
donna@uwm.edu
Claudia Barreto
UW-Milwaukee
Asst. Professor , Biological Sciences
barr@uwm.edu
Teri Boundy
UW-Milwaukee
Asst. Professor , Geoscience
tboundy@uwm.edu
Karen Brucks
UW-Milwaukee
Assoc. Professor, Mathematical Sciences
kmbrucks@uwm.edu
Mary Gruhl
UW-Milwaukee
Outreach Prog Mgr III
Ctr for Sci Education
mcg@uwm.edu
Kelly Kaiser
UW-Milwaukee
Academic Opport Ctr
Lecturer
kal@uwm.edu
Cathy Seasholes
UW-Milwaukee
Director: Womens Resource Center
seashole@uwm.edu
Kristene Surerus
Assoc. Professor, Chemistry
surerus@uwm.edu
Sara Jane Chasteen
sarajc@uwm.edu