Resources

NSF Advance for Women in Science has funded programs for more than a decade, and each awardee has assessed their programs and methods and developed resources that are available online. The UM library has an excellent list of resources for SEEDS. You can access the website of award winners. Two particularly recommended sites are the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The NSF “Advance Portal” is a compendium with entries ranging from Faculty Development through Work and Life, Research Literature and Assessment Data to annual and final reports that assess what works and what doesn’t. Indeed, the amount of information now available online can be overwhelming. Below, the SEEDS Director identifies her own pick of top resources.

Download this page

Director’s Picks

Resources:

Learn how to lead a lab
At The Helm: A Laboratory Navigator by Kathy Barker

Learn how to negotiate
Women Don't Ask, or the newer book Ask For It, by Babcock and Laschever

Learn how to write clearly
The Science of Science Writing, Gopen and Swan, American Scientist 78: 550-558 http://www.amstat.org/publications/jcgs/sci.pdf

Learn about promotion and tenure evaluations both at your institution and in general
http://www.adept.gatech.edu/

Learn how to design effective posters
http://www.bio.miami.edu/ktosney/file/PosterHome.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/NewSite/

Learn the history of women in science
Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women, by Virginia Valian
Beyond Bias and Barriers, National Academies Report, Donna Shalala

Learn how to develop an effective support group
Every Other Thursday:  Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists,
by Ellen Daniels

Learn methods for changing your climate
Transforming Science and Engineering: Advancing Academic Women,
by Danielle LaVaque-Manty, Abigail J. Stewart, and Janet Elizabeth Malley

 

Career survival strategies:

Become a valued member of your community

Promote communication; seek multiple mentoring; build networks: remember that the main purpose of professional meetings is to meet people; increase your visibility: give seminars, interact with role models, seek help and help others

Aim high and develop the skills to attain excellence

Submit to the top journal first; think outside the box sometimes; writer fewer but stronger papers; develop skills in negotiation, writing, speaking, posters, vitae construction, grantsmanship, collaboration and saying no

Understand your system

Be aware of and (if needed) work to change your climate; promote practices that are transparent, uniform and accessible

Assess your career and plan your strategies

Enjoy what you do and make time for play and for what matters (e.g., your family); understand how your activities should change at different career stages; keep track of your commitments and prioritize; make science a priority daily; work efficiently and plan: e.g., start writing a paper as soon as you start the research, arrange your postdoc before you write your thesis, develop a five year plan