[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 889 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 889

 To provide for fulfilling the potential of women in academic science 
                and engineering, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 2011

Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Stark, Mr. Reyes, 
Mr. Markey, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Honda, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Tonko, 
  Mr. Holt, Mr. Wu, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. 
     Woolsey, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                     Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for fulfilling the potential of women in academic science 
                and engineering, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fulfilling the Potential of Women in 
Academic Science and Engineering Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Many reports over the past decade have found that it is 
        critical to our Nation's economic leadership and global 
        competitiveness that we educate and train more scientists and 
        engineers.
            (2) In its 2007 report entitled ``Beyond Bias and 
        Barriers'', the National Academies stated that, in order to 
        maintain its scientific and engineering leadership amid 
        increasing economic and educational globalization, the United 
        States must aggressively pursue the innovative capacity of all 
        of its people--women and men.
            (3) Research shows that the number of women who are 
        interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
        (STEM) careers is reduced at every educational transition, from 
        high school on through full professorships.
            (4) According to data compiled by National Science 
        Foundation in 2006, women now earn about half of all science 
        and engineering bachelor's degrees, but major variations 
        persist among fields. For example, women still receive only 20 
        percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded in engineering and 
        physics.
            (5) Even in science and engineering fields with a higher 
        representation of women, such as the social and behavioral 
        sciences, women remain underrepresented among university 
        faculty. According to data compiled by the National Science 
        Foundation, for over 30 years women have made up over 30 
        percent of the doctorates in social sciences and behavioral 
        sciences and over 20 percent in the life sciences. Yet, at the 
        top research institutions, only 15.4 percent of the full 
        professors in the social and behavioral sciences and 14.8 
        percent in the life sciences are women.
            (6) Across fields, women remain a small portion of the 
        science and engineering faculty members at major research 
        universities, and they typically receive fewer institutional 
        resources for their research activities than their male 
        colleagues.
            (7) Studies have not found any significant biological 
        differences between men and women in performing science and 
        mathematics that can account for the lower representation of 
        women in academic faculty and scientific leadership positions 
        in these fields.
            (8) A substantial body of evidence establishes that most 
        people hold implicit biases. Decades of cognitive psychology 
        research reveals that most people carry prejudices of which 
        they are unaware but that nonetheless play a large role in 
        evaluations of people and their work. Unintentional biases and 
        outmoded institutional structures are hindering the access for 
        women to, and advancement of women in, science and engineering.
            (9) Workshops held to educate faculty about unintentional 
        biases have demonstrated success in raising awareness of such 
        biases.
            (10) The Federal Government provides over 60 percent of 
        research funding at institutions of higher education, and 
        through its grant making policies has had significant influence 
        on institution of higher education policies, including policies 
        related to institutional culture and structure.

SEC. 3. FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE AND 
              ENGINEERING.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Federal science agency'' means any Federal 
        agency that is responsible for at least 2 percent of total 
        Federal research and development funding to institutions of 
        higher education, according to the most recent data available 
        from the National Science Foundation;
            (2) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a));
            (3) the term ``STEM'' means science, technology, 
        engineering, and mathematics; and
            (4) the term ``United States'' means the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession 
        of the United States.
    (b) Workshops To Enhance Gender Equity in Academic Science and 
Engineering.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science 
        and Technology Policy shall develop a uniform policy for all 
        Federal science agencies to carry out a program of workshops 
        that educate program officers, members of grant review panels, 
        institution of higher education STEM department chairs, and 
        other federally funded researchers about methods that minimize 
        the effects of gender bias in evaluation of Federal research 
        grants and in the related academic advancement of actual and 
        potential recipients of these grants, including hiring, tenure, 
        promotion, and selection for any honor based in part on the 
        recipient's research record.
            (2) Interagency coordination.--The Director of the Office 
        of Science and Technology Policy shall ensure that programs of 
        workshops across the Federal science agencies are coordinated 
        and supported jointly as appropriate. As part of this process, 
        the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
        shall ensure that at least 1 workshop is supported every 2 
        years among the Federal science agencies in each of the major 
        science and engineering disciplines supported by those 
        agencies.
            (3) Organizations eligible to carry out workshops.--Federal 
        science agencies may carry out the program of workshops under 
        this subsection by making grants to eligible organizations. In 
        addition to any other organizations made eligible by the 
        Federal science agencies, the following organizations are 
        eligible for grants under this subsection:
                    (A) Nonprofit scientific and professional societies 
                and organizations that represent one or more STEM 
                disciplines.
                    (B) Nonprofit organizations that have the primary 
                mission of advancing the participation of women in 
                STEM.
            (4) Characteristics of workshops.--The workshops shall have 
        the following characteristics:
                    (A) Invitees to workshops shall include at least--
                            (i) the chairs of departments in the 
                        relevant discipline from at least the top 50 
                        institutions of higher education, as determined 
                        by the amount of Federal research and 
                        development funds obligated to each institution 
                        of higher education in the prior year based on 
                        data available from the National Science 
                        Foundation;
                            (ii) members of any standing research grant 
                        review panel appointed by the Federal science 
                        agencies in the relevant discipline;
                            (iii) in the case of science and 
                        engineering disciplines supported by the 
                        Department of Energy, the individuals from each 
                        of the Department of Energy National 
                        Laboratories with personnel management 
                        responsibilities comparable to those of an 
                        institution of higher education department 
                        chair; and
                            (iv) Federal science agency program 
                        officers in the relevant discipline, other than 
                        program officers that participate in comparable 
                        workshops organized and run specifically for 
                        that agency's program officers.
                    (B) Activities at the workshops shall include 
                research presentations and interactive discussions or 
                other activities that increase the awareness of the 
                existence of gender bias in the grant-making process 
                and the development of the academic record necessary to 
                qualify as a grant recipient, including recruitment, 
                hiring, tenure review, promotion, and other forms of 
                formal recognition of individual achievement, and 
                provide strategies to overcome such bias.
                    (C) Research presentations and other workshop 
                programs, as appropriate, shall include a discussion of 
                the unique challenges faced by women who are members of 
                historically underrepresented groups.
                    (D) Workshop programs shall include information on 
                best practices and the value of mentoring undergraduate 
                and graduate women students as well as outreach to 
                girls earlier in their STEM education.
            (5) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 
                Office of Science and Technology Policy shall transmit 
                to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
                the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
                Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 
                report evaluating the effectiveness of the program 
                carried out under this subsection to reduce gender bias 
                towards women engaged in research funded by the Federal 
                Government. The Director of the Office of Science and 
                Technology Policy shall include in this report any 
                recommendations for improving the evaluation process 
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Minimum criteria for evaluation.--In 
                determining the effectiveness of the program, the 
                Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
                shall consider, at a minimum--
                            (i) the rates of participation by invitees 
                        in the workshops authorized under this 
                        subsection;
                            (ii) the results of attitudinal surveys 
                        conducted on workshop participants before and 
                        after the workshops;
                            (iii) any relevant institutional policy or 
                        practice changes reported by participants; and
                            (iv) for individuals described in paragraph 
                        (4)(A) (i) or (iii) who participated in at 
                        least 1 workshop 3 or more years prior to the 
                        due date for the report, trends in the data for 
                        the department represented by the chair or 
                        employee including faculty data related to 
                        gender as described in section 4.
                    (C) Institutional attendance at workshops.--As part 
                of the report under subparagraph (A), the Director of 
                the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall 
                include a list of institutions of higher education 
                science and engineering departments whose 
                representatives attended the workshops required under 
                this subsection.
            (6) Minimizing costs.--To the extent practicable, workshops 
        shall be held in conjunction with national or regional 
        disciplinary meetings to minimize costs associated with 
        participant travel.
    (c) Extended Research Grant Support and Interim Technical Support 
for Caregivers.--
            (1) Policies for caregivers.--Not later than 6 months after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 
        of Science and Technology Policy shall develop a uniform policy 
        to--
                    (A) extend the period of grant support for 
                federally funded researchers who have caregiving 
                responsibilities; and
                    (B) provide funding for interim technical staff 
                support for federally funded researchers who take a 
                leave of absence for caregiving responsibilities.
            (2) Report.--Upon developing the policy required under 
        paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Science and 
        Technology Policy shall transmit a copy of the policy to the 
        Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
        Representatives and to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate.
    (d) Collection of Data on Federal Research Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Each Federal science agency shall collect 
        standardized annual composite information on demographics, 
        field, award type and budget request, review score, and funding 
        outcome for all applications for research and development 
        grants to institutions of higher education supported by that 
        agency.
            (2) Reporting of data.--
                    (A) The Director of the Office of Science and 
                Technology Policy shall establish a policy to ensure 
                uniformity and standardization of data collection 
                required under paragraph (1).
                    (B) Not later than 2 years after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, each 
                Federal science agency shall submit data collected 
                under paragraph (1) to the National Science Foundation.
                    (C) The National Science Foundation shall be 
                responsible for storing and publishing all of the grant 
                data submitted under subparagraph (B), disaggregated 
                and cross-tabulated by race, ethnicity, and gender, in 
                conjunction with the biennial report required under 
                section 37 of the Science and Engineering Equal 
                Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885d).
    (e) Publication of List of Institutional Participation in Workshops 
To Enhance Gender Equity in Academic Science and Engineering.--The 
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, on the basis 
of data reported by the Federal science agencies, shall publish 
annually a list of institutions of higher education science and 
engineering departments represented by individuals who attend the 
workshops described in this section. The list shall be publicly 
available through the Web site of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy. Any institution of higher education science and engineering 
department that is publicized on the list may publicize its receipt of 
such recognition on its Web site, in printed materials, or through 
other means.

SEC. 4. COLLECTION OF DATA ON DEMOGRAPHICS OF FACULTY.

    (a) Collection of Data.--The Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall report, in conjunction with the biennial report 
required under section 37 of the Science and Engineering Equal 
Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885d), statistical summary data on the 
demographics of STEM discipline faculty at institutions of higher 
education in the United States, disaggregated and cross-tabulated by 
race, ethnicity, and gender. At a minimum, the Director shall 
consider--
            (1) the number and percent of faculty by gender, race, and 
        age;
            (2) the number and percent of faculty at each rank, by 
        gender, race, and age;
            (3) the number and percent of faculty who are in nontenure-
        track positions, including teaching and research, by gender, 
        race, and age;
            (4) the number of faculty who are reviewed for promotion, 
        including tenure, and the percentage of that number who are 
        promoted, by gender, race, and age;
            (5) faculty years in rank by gender, race, and age;
            (6) faculty attrition by gender, race, and age;
            (7) the number and percent of faculty hired by rank, 
        gender, race, and age; and
            (8) the number and percent of faculty in leadership 
        positions, including endowed or named chairs, serving on 
        promotion and tenure committees, by gender, race, and age.
    (b) Recommendations.--The Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall solicit input and recommendations from relevant 
stakeholders, including representatives from institutions of higher 
education and nonprofit organizations, on the collection of data 
required under subsection (a), including the development of standard 
definitions on the terms and categories to be used in the collection of 
such data.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation 
shall submit a report to Congress on how the National Science 
Foundation will gather the demographic data on STEM faculty, 
including--
            (1) a description of the data to be reported and the 
        sources of those data;
            (2) justification for the exclusion of any data described 
        in paragraph (1); and
            (3) a list of the definitions for the terms and categories, 
        such as ``faculty'' and ``leadership positions'', to be applied 
        in the reporting of all data described in paragraph (1).
                                 <all>