Tag Archives: STEM

Lowering the stakes on exams could help close the gender gap in STEM classes

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Women tend to underperform in introductory STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses, but tweaking how courses are graded could help change that.

By Diana Crow

In many undergrad STEM courses, high-stakes exams — such as mid-terms and finals — determine as much as 60-70% of the student’s overall grade. However, this emphasis on tests may be inadvertently putting some students at a disadvantage.

An emphasis on high-stakes exams at undergraduate level may be a contributor to the gender gap

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Why learning to mentor and teach is more important for US faculty members than publishing papers

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An influential ally aims to reform the experience of US PhD students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by advocating for a system that rewards faculty members for mentoring and advising students rather than for their own publications.

 

By Chris Woolston

In a 29 May report , Graduate STEM Education for the 20th Century, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in Washington DC calls for providing faculty members with incentives for developing skills such as teaching and mentoring while de-emphasizing the importance of publications. The report recommends that institutions change their promotion and tenure policies and practices to recognise and reward faculty members’ contributions to graduate mentoring and education.

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STEM jobs and gender stereotyping pictured at Davos

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Donald Trump’s “America first but not alone” speech at last month’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos may have hogged the headlines, but the meeting of world leaders was also chosen to launch the largest ever global survey of primary schoolchildren’s career aspirations.

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Fake snot, bogus blood, no jokes: Science communication to kids made simple

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Sarah Barnes

Sarah Barnes addressing the Academy of Medical Sciences winter meeting in London

Do you hanker for the opportunity to talk to schoolchildren about your research? If so, Sarah Barnes, public engagement manager at Queen Mary University of London, has some advice. David Payne reports.

The Centre of the Cell in London’s East End is the world’s first science education centre to be housed in an operating biomedical research facility, an embryo-shaped pod suspended high above the Blizard Institute’s labs, part of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). It is accessed via a bridge and offers children the chance to see scientists at work, watch videos projected onto the pod’s ceiling, and play games aimed at triggering their interest in cell biology and medical research. Continue reading →

Changes to the U.S. tax code will harm graduate student mobility and career prospects

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Increased financial burden for students will harm science in the long run, says Aliyah Weinstein.

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A recent editorial in Nature described the harm that newly proposed changes to the United States tax code will have on graduate student finances. If passed, these regulations — ostensibly designed to simplify tax calculations — will eliminate benefits previously given to students. Of particular harm to graduate students and the scientific world would be the elimination of the tax-free status of tuition waivers.

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The struggles of female and underrepresented scientists

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Initiatives to increase diversity among faculty members—particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)—have prompted efforts to track university recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented minorities (URM). Three new US studies shed light on the issues, including salary and publication rates.

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Growing the next generation of scientists

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Scientists have a duty to inspire the next generation of students. To do this, we need greater interaction with young people and the local community.

Naturejobs journalism competition winner Jessica Gorrill

The future of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in the UK is on shaky ground. The numbers of entries at A-level for Biology, Physics and Chemistry dropped by 1%, 2.6% and 1.6% respectively in 2016, according to statistics collected by the Joint Council for Qualifications. This ends the steady increase seen since 2009. Whilst this drop may be attributed to the first year of new government reforms, it could be the beginning of a worrying trend of students neglecting careers in science.

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{credit}Topp_Yimgrimm/ThinkStock{/credit}

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Gender gap in US science PhD degrees persists

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It’s no surprise that the number of PhD degrees in scientific and related disciplines conferred upon US students has leapt by half in the past decade — from about 18,000 in 2006 to more than 27,000 in 2016 — according to a recent report. But “Snapshot Report – Science and Engineering Degree Completion by Gender,” released last month by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center in Herndon, Virginia, shows that the proportion of women who earn those degrees has stayed stagnant — at a dismal 39%.

 

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Credit: CORBIS

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Do you think your career was harder as a woman in science?

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Academic speakers at the Naturejobs Career Expo, London, 2016, discuss sexism in academia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdfqXdibc0k

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Thinking of a PhD? This is the Australian story

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Advice for prospective PhD candidates focuses on career prospects in R&D, but more thought should be given to personal aspirations in life and work.

Research is fuelled by the energy of post-graduate students. PhD students contribute 57% of total university research output, according to a 2013 discussion paper from The Group of Eight Universities in Australia. In 2011 Nature published “The PhD factory,” which described the ongoing crisis caused by the oversupply of trained researchers and the inability of academia and industry to soak up the overflow.

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Five of the Australia Telescope Compact Array antennas at Narrabri, New South Wales

Fast forward to 2016, and the PhD factories are just as productive, if not even more so. In the 2011 article, Dr Anne Carpenter at Harvard/MIT’s Broad Institute fought the system by hiring permanent staff scientists instead of the usual mix of postdocs and graduate students. She struggled to justify her high staff cost to grant-review panels. Continue reading →