Mary Ann Mason

Mary Ann Mason Laments “Leak” of Female Academics from Tenure-Track Pipeline

-Science Progress, November 10, 2009 by Andrew Plemmons Pratt
http://www.scienceprogress.org/2009/11/women-and-sciences/

“The leak is almost entirely, or least due primarily to family formation,” said Mason.

-The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 10, 2009 by Audrey Williams June
http://chronicle.com/article/CollegesFederal-Agencies/49101/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

“This is really a wake up call that we’re losing our women scientists,” said Mary Ann Mason, a Chronicle contributor who is an author of the report and a professor and co-director of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security. “But there are some things that we can do about that right now,” she said.

-The Scientist, November 11, 2009 by Edyta Zielinska
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/56144/

Universities have responded to the call for better support of scientists who want to start families with policies such as stopping the tenure clock and offering paid parental leave. However, “there is a huge variation” in how these policies are administered, said Mary Ann Mason…. Often “researchers don’t know what [these policies] are” and how they work. Also, few of these programs are offered to early career scientists, who need them the most, she said.

Mary Ann Mason Calls on National Research Council to Broaden Academic Analysis

The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 31, 2009 by Marc Goulden, Angelica Stacy, and Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/article/Assessment-Denied-the/48233/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

It is moving in the right direction by including nursing, public health, communications, and emerging, cutting-edge fields such as biotechnology, nanoscience, and race, ethnicity, and postcolonial studies. But the exclusion of other fields that produce large numbers of research doctorates seems insular and retrograde. We urge the NRC and others to consider those issues and to design future assessments that are truly comprehensive and reflective of the diversity of academe.

Mary Ann Mason Calls for Tenure Reform

The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/04/2009042201c.htm

Certainly the timing of tenure is terrible for women. Today, the average age at which women can expect to receive a Ph.D. is 34. That puts the five to seven years of racing the tenure clock squarely at the end of the normal reproductive cycle. Those are the “make or break” years for female academicsֽ in terms of both career and childbearingֽ not to mention the demands of raising young children. Difficult choices must be made.

Mary Ann Mason Stresses the Importance of Female Role Models

The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 25, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/03/2009032501c.htm

Role models, particularly ones with children, can make the difference in whether a female graduate student takes the next big step along the tenure track. While undergraduates are influenced simply by seeing a female faculty member, graduate students need to see that she is able to have children as well as a career.

Mary Ann Mason Believes University Policies Bar Men from Active Parenting

The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 24, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/02/2009022401c.htm

If we want fathers to become equal participants in child raising, we must encourage them to do so. Family-friendly policies must include fathers as well as mothers. Cultural change occurs with participation; only then will the strongly held gender stereotypes against men as committed caregivers dissipate.

Mary Ann Mason Explains Pitfalls for Women in Leadership Roles

San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/20/EDVQ160QUV.DTL

As the only female dean at UC Berkeley for several years, I sat in on countless meetings where men held the floor. One day a female colleague made a presentation to a meeting of the deans and received a cursory, bordering on rude, response. Afterward, she asked me how she could have been more effective. “Speak lowly and slowly, but smile frequently,” I replied.