Cross-Sector and Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations as Paths for Career Success for Women in Academic Science and Engineering

Although the National Science Foundation and other major funding agencies have advocated interdisciplinary research endeavors and academy-industry collaboration for quite some time (and have recently renewed their commitment; see Basken, 2012), whether or not faculty women in science and engineering disciplines are engaging in these potentially beneficial arrangements is largely unknown.  Laudable in their own right for their benefit to the public and the university, such collaborations also hold particular promise for faculty women’s career advancement.  In this paper, the authors review the literature on the impact of cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaborations on women faculty’s careers in STEM.  The data which were used to estimate a baseline measurement of faculty engagement in collaborative research at one institution (by gender) as well as the methodological hurdles in identifying and defining data appropriate for this purpose will be presented.  Programs designed to increase women science and engineering faculty’s participation in collaborative research initiatives are also presented. ____ Literature on the potential positive impact of cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaborations on women STEM faculty’s career advancement and retention is reviewed.  Methodological hurdles in identifying, defining and analyzing data is presented with results summarized.  Programs designed to increase women STEM faculty’s participation in collaborative research initiatives are also presented.