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VOA慢速英语2019--女研究员比男性获得较少资助

时间:2019-04-30 23:57来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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Study: Female Researchers Get Less Financial Support than Males

Higher education is an important step on the path towards a meaningful, well-paying career in almost every modern job field. But becoming a doctor or scientist, for example, requires much more than just completing difficult classes or passing major exams.

For many college students, wide-reaching, long-term research is very important to gain necessary skills and prove one’s abilities. A big part of the research process includes getting financial support to cover the costs of the work.

Researchers usually raise this money by writing proposals asking outside organizations for a given amount of money, called a grant, to fund their work. These groups consider the value of the work in comparison to the cost to make their decision whether to approve or deny grants.

However, a recent study argues that funding organizations do not consider only the quality or possible impact of research when deciding on grant applications. The study suggests that perhaps groups also consider the gender1 of the applicant2.

It reports that female researchers receive less grant money on average than males. Experts worry that this could harm the careers of researchers.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois released their findings in the JAMA Network publishing service in March. They looked at all the amounts of money the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, gave to first-time grant seekers between 2006 and 2017. The United States government agency offers about $37 billion a year in grants. It is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.

The researchers found that in the ten year period, projects led by women seeking their first grant received an average grant of $126,615. NIH grants to men seeking their first grant amounted to about $40,000 more, on average.

Brian Uzzi says these differences are harmful in several ways. He is a professor of leadership in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He helped with the study.

Uzzi notes that getting less money does not just affect a person’s ability to complete their research. He notes the ability to earn grant money is very important for a researcher looking to move forward in their career.

Many students lead their first major research project while they are seeking a graduate degree of some kind, Uzzi says. Colleges and universities may help cover some of the costs of that work. But they want to know if a researcher’s work is interesting and valuable to the world at large and whether or not it will bring in positive attention.

Having a group like NIH offer you a grant is a great way to demonstrate that to a school, and get the school to continue supporting you, he adds. The more support you have the better, as the more research you get funded, the more work you will be able to publish.

Publishing is especially important as student researchers work their way into positions as professors, Uzzi says. This is a common path, as a job as a professor usually provides a person with plenty of time to do more research. And a major consideration colleges and universities make when employing a professor is how much research that person has already published.

In the U.S., some schools offer lifetime positions, known as tenure3, to professors who, among other things, have published the most notable4 research.

Uzzi argues that there is almost equal amounts of importance placed on funding research as there is on publishing. So any differences in the size of grants women are receiving creates barriers for them. A smaller than expected grant may affect the reach of their projects. It can also suggest that their work has less value. And it may even lead to women leaving research positions at colleges and universities in order to avoid the difficulties of publishing entirely5.

This is not just a problem for these women alone, say Uzzi.

“Lots of research shows that gender diversity on creative teams, on scientific teams, in the classroom, really enhances6 the rate at which discoveries take place and … ideas get discovered and put together in new and different ways, which really helps out everybody in society,” he told VOA.

The JAMA study did not look at why male and female researchers might receive unequal grants. But Heather Metcalf says she has some ideas. She is chief research officer for the Association for Women in Science.

Metcalf says that throughout her career she has witnessed unfair treatment of women in science fields. Some of it comes out in the open through bad behavior. Yet there is also a great deal of inequality that many people in these fields fail to recognize.

“It isn’t just isolated7 incidents that don’t have an impact on one another over time. It adds up and has an exponential impact on a person’s career,” Metcalf noted8.

For example, she says, the people making the decisions on a grant proposal might see a woman listed as the lead researcher and change their opinion without even knowing they are doing so. Traditional thinking that men are better at science than women is still common, she says, even though there is no research to support that idea.

Such cultural lessons are taught at an early age, and can even prevent young girls from developing interests in research fields, says Metcalf. She and Brian Uzzi both hope this latest study will bring more attention to this form of gender inequality and lead to changes in the grant consideration process.

The NIH does operate a special program that works to remove barriers for women in science called Women in Biomedical Careers. VOA has tried to contact the agency several times about the JAMA study. By the time of publication, NIH representatives had not provided any comment on the study.

NIH is currently9 in communication with the researcher to better understand the data presented in the paper.

The NIH is not alone in its seemingly10 unbalanced treatment of male and female researchers. Last year, a study found that the majority of cancer research grants in the United Kingdom went to projects led by men.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

And I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

fund – v. to provide money for something

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

application(s) – n. a formal and usually written request for something, such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan

gender – n. the state of being male or female

graduate degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after at least one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree

positive – adj. good or useful

diversity – n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

enhance(s) – v. to increase or improve something

isolated – adj. happening just once

exponential – adj. very fast

verify – v. to prove, show, find out, or state that something is true or correct


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gender slSyD     
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
参考例句:
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
  • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
2 applicant 1MlyX     
n.申请人,求职者,请求者
参考例句:
  • He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
  • In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。
3 tenure Uqjy2     
n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期
参考例句:
  • He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
  • Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。
4 notable sH1x9     
adj.值得注意的,著名的;n.名人,要人
参考例句:
  • His achievement is very notable.他的成就是非常显著的。
  • He wrote and published the essay under notable's name.他假托名人写文章发表。
5 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
6 enhances afce43b2eb900fe2c1433040f5bf48ac     
v.提高( enhance的第三人称单数 );增进;用计算机增强(照片等);提高…的价值(或价格);使变青白,使变苍白( etiolate的过去式和过去分词 );增进;用计算机增强(照片等);提高…的价值(或价格)
参考例句:
  • The growth of a city often enhances the value of land close to it. 城市的发展常常会提高其附近的地价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We chose alliteration on the theory a little vulgarity enhances memory. 在理论上我们选择有点儿粗俗的头韵来帮助记忆。 来自辞典例句
7 isolated bqmzTd     
adj.与世隔绝的
参考例句:
  • His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
  • Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。
8 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
9 currently SvMzI2     
adv.通常地,普遍地,当前
参考例句:
  • Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
  • Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
10 seemingly yZWxS     
adv.从表面上看起来,似乎是
参考例句:
  • Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
  • For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话,这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。
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