Professional Women’s Dilemma between Work and Family: An Examination of the ADVANCE Program

Abstract

This study explores the underrepresentation of female professionals, especially in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and the efforts of one program, the National Science Foundation's ADVANCE program, to ameliorate this situation. We chose female faculty members in universities as a research topic for several reasons. First, as a career, being an academic professional is seen as a "good" job not only because of its high earnings but also because of the prestige attached to it. Second, like other prominent occupations, working in a university is a time-consuming job. Moreover, junior faculty members need to devote significant time to build up their career and reputation. Third, unlike many other professions, being a member of an academic faculty affords flexibility in arranging one's time and schedule. However, this flexibility does not guarantee that female faculty members face fewer work-family conflicts, nor does it necessarily improve their chances of gaining upward mobility. In order to deal with the

Looking forward, looking back: Gender, Technology and Development in a changing world

“…articles on globalization and women's employment, natural resources management, migration and human trafficking (see special issue GTD 12.1 2008, on human trafficking), violence and conflict, as well as women's movement. Women in STEM education and career development has also been a topic of discussion (for some recent examples, see La znjak, Sporer, & Svarc, 2011;Li & Peguero, 2015;Samulewicz, Vidican, & Aswad, 2012) In much the same way that the theorization of 'gender' has undergone shifts within feminist and development theory, the journal too continues to evolve and contribute to the ongoing discussions on how we interpret and understand the term 'gender'. In addition to the early and ongoing focus on women's voices and empirical evidence of women's lived experiences in the context of development debates and technological evolution, the journal's work continues to expand on the understanding of gender as a network of relationships implicated in power and social hierarchies.…”

Professional Women Identify Their Professional and Personal Needs

“…This may be due to personal preference but also due to the demands of childcare and commitment level of spouses or partners to childcare, which can create work-family conflict [13]. To combat this, programs like NSF's ADVANCE award academic institutions for their day-care centers for faculty and students [19].…”

“…This includes work being done to gauge expectations of what an engineer looks like and does, as they are typically not depicted as female [27,28]. Other efforts, such as the National Science Foundation's (NSF) program ADVANCE are working to encourage more women to participate in the STEM fields through positions in academia [19].…”

Professional Preparation of Underrepresented Minority Ph.D.'s and Postdocs for a Career in Engineering Academia

“…Yet women still have higher turnover rates that were directly correlated to dissatisfaction with the level of research support, advancement opportunities, and free expression of ideas [13], [14]. Although some female faculty have benefited from programs such as ADVANCE, the 'advances' have not been sufficient to fundamentally change underrepresentation in STEM fields [15].…”