2016 AAAS Fellows approved by the AAAS Council.

Alison L. Van Eenennaam, Univ. of California, Davis Americans, not just Europeans—are empowered to reach their full potential as leaders.” Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, president of Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society, spoke forcefully at WLSTE+10 about the continuing imbalance in women’s access to leadership positions in science, not only in the Middle East but also globally. “All of our societies remain deeply gendered, and men continue to benefit disproportionately from socioeconomic advance, whether in employment, opportunities to innovate, or research prospects,” Princess Sumaya said. “Ten years on,” she said, referring to the time that has elapsed since the first WLSTE was held, “we have lost much of another generation of women.” Princess Sumaya pointed out that women make up only about 15% of the board members in the world’s biggest innovation hub, Silicon Valley. Shirley Malcom, director of AAAS education and human resources programs, also cited a stark illustration of gender inequity in a WLSTE+10 session on women scientists in leadership roles. Although women receive approximately half of the medical degrees awarded in the United States, she said, only 16% of medical school deans are women. “So access is one thing. Leadership is another,” said Malcom. Malcom listed interventions that can improve women’s participation in science, such as STEM education programs for girls, prizes that recognize women scientists, international collaboration among and recognition of women in science, women’s organizations and conferences, and programs that examine policies that keep women out of leadership roles. Other speakers referred to a AAAS-organized initiative called SEA Change, which is designed to recognize and distinguish departments, colleges, and institutions of higher learning for their diversity and inclusion, including gender diversity—with bronze, silver, and gold awards. The program was inspired by Athena SWAN in the United Kingdom. Institutions would voluntarily collect data, set goals, and develop action plans for improving their recruitment, hiring, and retention of diverse STEM faculty and their recruitment and success rates among diverse graduate and undergraduate STEM students. In a WSF presentation, Princess Sumaya, who was instrumental in bringing the forum to Jordan, said that in her country and the Arab world, men and women have been working together in science “for a very long time.” She said, however, that like in many other places, the struggle for gender equity continues, and Jordan has begun implementing initiatives to, for instance, keep more talented women in the workforce after they graduate. Éva Kondorosi said that research by the European Research Council, where she is a vice president, showed a problem in how women scientists perceive of or present their capabilities. More men say they can be “excellent leaders” and use “superlatives when they [talk] about themselves” on grant applications, while women find it difficult to speak “enthusiastically about themselves,” Kondorosi said. Grace Naledi Pandor, South African science and technology minister, stressed the need to gather the data on women’s participation in order to implement effective solutions. “We should stop assuming that women are a minority,” Pandor said, “and ask why we aren’t using 50% of our talent.” “We need to look at the presence, the performance, the impact, and the degree to which women are seen in the science sector and matter within science. Decisions rely on data.” MacKenzie agreed, adding that it is necessary “to scrutinize the data and ask more questions,” examining which women still don’t have access, which fields of STEM are least attended by women, whether women are staying in the workforce and achieving leadership positions, and what is holding women back. AAAS, MacKenzie said, “is committed to asking and answering those questions.” Attendees at