Experts Meet at AAAS to Evaluate Ways to Recruit and Retain Women in S&T

AAAS has an array of resources for women in science-related education and professions, but it should use them in more innovative ways to improve recruitment, retention and advancement of women and build global capacity in those fields, experts concluded at a high-level strategic planning meeting.

The two-day session featured several dozen influential women—and a handful of men—from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. And they came up with a menu of novel ideas to guide future AAAS efforts: Place advertorials in Science to highlight successful efforts of minority women. Solicit more papers from these women for consideration by journal editors. Develop a leadership institute for mid-career professionals and developing leaders. One suggestion called for AAAS to send women representatives to each AAAS section meeting to raise these issues with leaders in virtually every discipline of science and encourage them to spread the message and stimulate change in their respective fields.

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