National Postdoctoral Association

NPA ADVANCE: From Postdoc to Faculty: Transition Issues for Women Scientists is a project to foster the transition of women postdocs into the professoriate. Supported by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program, the project will adapt and disseminate promising institutional practices for assisting women scientists and engineers in making this transition. The NPA will draw on successful models from both past ADVANCE programs as well as from the postdoctoral community, then adapt and promote them through various avenues.

Project activities include:

• Conducting a review of all institutional efforts made by ADVANCE recipients to address these issues, including surveys, targeted follow-up and focus groups;
  
  
• Organizing a National Summit on Gender and the Postdoctorate;
  
  
• Preparing and disseminating a compendium resource handbook of models and recommended practices for helping women make a successful transition from postdoc to faculty;
  
  
• Holding workshops on these recommended models and practices at NPA Annual Meetings;
  
  
• Providing on-going technical assistance to summit participants and others who wish to implement programs for postdocs at their institutions (see examples of technical assistance available);
  
  
• Developing online informational clearinghouse on best practices, including resource handbook.
  
  

Project Staff:

Principal Investigator: Cathee Johnson Phillips, NPA Executive Director

Project Manager: Kathleen Flint Ehm, NPA Project Manager

Project Evaluator: Laura Kramer, Kramer Consulting

Project Advisory Committee:

Sibby Anderson-Thompkins, Director, Postdoctoral Affairs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jabbar Bennett, Assistant Dean, Recruiting and Professional Development, Brown University

Daryl Chubin, Program Director, Center for Advancing Science and Engineering Capacity, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Lisa Frehill, Executive Director, Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology

Donna Ginther, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Kansas

Janet Bandows Koster, Executive Director, Association for Women in Science

Linda Siebert-Rapoport, Director, WISEST (Women in Science & Engineering System Transformation), University of Illinois at Chicago

Hui Zhao, Senior Data Analyst, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0819994, via an ADVANCE Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID) Award.  The goal of the ADVANCE program is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science, technology and engineering careers. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.