Written by Julia Falco
In honor of Women’s History Month, the D&I committee wanted to highlight a recent article published in Nature Medicine: “Pandemic-related barriers to the success of women in research: a framework for action.” Here, the authors discuss how women and underrepresented minorities in academia have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19. In the US, the number of women who have dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic started is far greater than the number of men, and women are not returning to work at equal rates as men. One of the major challenges women are facing is home caregiver responsibilities. Female faculty with children are more likely to consider leaving their positions or reducing hours since the pandemic, and three times less likely to accept leadership opportunities compared to women without children. COVID has also had an impact on publications and grant funding, especially on female faculty members. Submissions of scholarly articles by women has decreased, but has increased for men. In terms of grant funding, women are continuing to submit grant applications during the pandemic. However, data from the National Institute of Health (NIH) shows that the number of entry-level grant submissions has increased, while applications for career-advancing higher-level grants has slowed.
With the increasing challenges female faculty have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary that plans be put in place to retain women in academia. Some programs, such as the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award at Massachusetts General hospital, provide funding to aid women in maintaining research productivity after having a child. The NIH has also started offering childcare support to recipients of National Research Service Awards, and purchasing extra technical assistance for faculty ‘K award’ recipients and holders of early stage R01 grants during a period of critical life events. These are steps in the right direction, but it is necessary for these types of programs to become more widespread. Similar programs should be implemented on the institutional and foundational levels. The article provides a ‘menu’ of various possible ways to reduce the burdens of women in academia – the most pressing of these being financial investment and commitment to cultural and operational changes. Promoting equality and reducing the burdens of women in academia will allow for a more accessible workplace where all people and science will flourish.
You can read the whole article here!
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