Speaker: Meg Urry, Israel Munson Prof. of Physics & Astronomy, Director of the Yale Center for Astrophysics
Abstract: The low numbers of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, particularly physics and engineering, which come from differential attrition over many years, are bad for science. Once we understand why women and men fare differently along the STEM career path, we can change our processes to be unbiased (as measured by outcome) with respect to gender, minority status, or any other non-performance-related characteristic. This talk describes what we know about "unconscious bias" from social science literature, and suggests steps to broaden participation in STEM fields.