![]() It also states that agencies should work to standardize the weight given to these sections of the proposal across their various funding programs. The report notes such information should complement rather than supplant the information currently offered in these sections concerning other societal impacts of the proposed research. In the case of NSF, these efforts would be detailed in the “broader impacts” statements included with grant applications, and for the National Institutes of Health they would be included in the “significance” section of research plans. The report also recommends that agencies explicitly consider diversity efforts by institutions and individual researchers as a part of the grant review and compliance process. Agencies would then compile the audit results and make them publicly available on their websites. The audits would also include statements from institutions that provide context on local factors such as geography and resource limitations. The report calls on individual agencies to perform “equity audits” to assess whether grantee institutions are “working in good faith to address gender and racial disparities in recruitment, retention, and advancement.” These audits would be directed principally at institutions that have received a “substantial amount of funding over a long period of time” and would chart their progress in improving the experiences of underrepresented groups as well as evaluate the prevalence of women in leadership positions. ![]() Some of the report’s main recommendations for federal science agencies focus on ways to improve transparency around their diversity efforts and increase the accountability of grantee institutions. Recommendations center on transparency and accountability This “double bind” of intersecting biases remains a major issue facing STEM fields, the report states. The report explains that it differs from other recent National Academies studies on the subject by “placing emphasis on the experiences of women of color and women from other marginalized groups who experience intensified biases and barriers,” such as those related to disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The report attributes this persistent underrepresentation in part to a need for “greater prioritization and resource allocation by institutions toward targeted, data-driven equity and diversity efforts.” Although the report notes federal science agencies and other research organizations have made progress in addressing disparities, it calls on them to play a stronger role in catalyzing “culture change,” such as by formally auditing grantee diversity practices and modifying grant review criteria. The report was assembled through the efforts of two committees chaired respectively by Rita Colwell, the first woman to serve as National Science Foundation director, and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to fly in space. The National Academies released a report last month recommending actions to address “entrenched patterns” of women being underrepresented across STEM disciplines and in leadership roles within fields. Cover illustration of the new National Academies report on promising practices for increasing the representation of women across STEM fields.
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