Biophysical Society Bulletin | November 2019

Public Affairs

Gender Inequity Persists in STEM According to a study published on September 5 in Cell Stem Cell , women continue to be underrepresented among senior scientists, with no appreciable improvement over the last few years. Based on data collected in “institutional report cards” sent to research facilities worldwide, the authors found that overall, just 24 percent of tenured science, math, and en- gineering professors at the participating organizations are women, despite the fact that women comprise 57 percent of undergraduates in those fields. The four-year pilot study, part of the New York Stem Cell Foundation’s (NYSCF) Initiative on Women in Science and Engineering, surveyed institutions around the globe,

although most of the 541 institutions that submitted complete responses are in Europe or North America. The data paint a picture of steadily declining representation for women along the typical academic career path: 52 percent of gradu- ate and postgraduate students, 42 percent of assistant professors, 34 percent of associate professors, and 24 percent of full professors. Overall, 40 percent of first-time tenure-track recruits were women — but at one-third of institutions, fewer than 10 percent of those recruits were women. Of the 71 institutions that submitted data spanning two or more years, just over half modestly improved women’s rep- resentation over that timespan, while 40 percent saw small decreases in the proportion of women professors.

Meet Your BPS Ambassadors BPS is pleased to announce the inaugural class of the Ambassador Program. This program endeavors to create a global network of BPS members that will help grow the biophysics network around the globe and further develop our advocacy efforts around the world. The inaugural class consists of biophysicists from Canada, India, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Our very first team of BPS Ambassadors are:

Ambassador Program

John Baenziger University of Ottawa Canada

Olwyn Byron University of Glasgow United Kingdom

Nuno Santos, Universidade de Lisboa Portugal

Samrat Mukhopadhyay Indian Institute of Science Education India

To learn more about each of our Ambassadors, please visit the BPS Blog at https:/www.biophysics.org/blog/bps-announces-inaugural-class-of-ambassadors.

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