Julia Melkers, Associate professor of Public Policy in Ivan Allen College Julia Melkers was awarded over $1.1 million to study women in science by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Above all, her research area addresses collaboration and social network issues for academic scientists. In conjunction with coprincipal investigators Eric Welch from the University of Illinois and Monica Gaugham from UGA, Melkers’ core project addresses the question of why professional networks are important for career advancement for women scientists in particular.

Melkers’ team recently received a 3-year grant for $1.1 million dollars entitled, “Empirical Research: Breaking through the Reputational Ceiling: Professional Networks as a Determinant of Advancement, Mobility, and Career Outcomes for Women and Minorities in STEM.” NSF has awarded four rounds of grants to academic institutions and individuals across America with the aim to recruit and retain women in science and engineering related fields. “This research is motivated by ongoing evidence of under representation of women in academic science, particularly in some fields, as well as exit from scientific careers,” Melkers said.

In accordance with her research, it is important to be in the right social networks for female scientists to further their careers. She and her team were interested in finding out what made these networks of female scientists important for career advancement and job satisfaction.

As indicated by some results that Melkers and her team found were that women develop collaborative ties with colleagues that they meet for the first time at professional networks, as well as the fact that women retain relationships longer than men with colleagues that they know from graduate school. “Women are more likely than men to be introduced to new collaborators by individuals in their academic research networks”, Melkers said.

Melkers considers this grant will help her team expand their sample to a wide range of schools, examine institutional effects on networks, as well as look more carefully at underrepresented groups.