Workshop attendees suggest methods to improve the number and advancement of women scientists in NanoScience/NanoTechnology.

Abstract

Women are underrepresented in the new field of nanoscience and nanotechnology (NS/NT). They comprise only 14% of the faculty members at the 62 federally funded centers for NS/NT at higher education institutions in the USA, but make up 25% of the faculty in other STEM disciplines. Increasing the participation of women and minorities in NS/NT research is important for the relatively new field of NS/NT to reach its full potential. A workshop was held to gather information about the challenges and opportunities academic work in NS/NT offers to women and minorities and to identify differences between NS/ NTand other STEM disciplines. The workshop, titled ‘Toward Increasing Diversity in STEM Faculty: AWorkshop Addressing Underrepresentation of Women of all Ethnicities in Nanoscience Fields,’ was cohosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF, USA). The two-day workshop included forty researchers in NS/NT and in the social sciences. In this news item, I will summarize some of the key findings and suggestions that are described in a published monograph about the workshop written by Vivien Savath and Suzanne Brainard at the University of Washington. (Published: 6 February 2012) Citation: Nano News 2012, 3 : 15895 - DOI: 10.3402/nano.v3i0.15895