science policy

Access to higher education for older adults

Americans aged 55-79 have a strong interest in college-level learning, but their needs for education vary greatly and many barriers exist, according to an American Council on Education (ACE) study. The report, Framing New Terrain: Older Adults and Higher Education, explores the changing demographics of this group, examines educational obstacles, and frames discussion issues designed to shape policies and practices that best serve older adults. It is the first report from the ACE research project, “Reinvesting in the Third Age: Older Adults and Higher Education.” The report finds that older adults are “beginning to articulate new postsecondary education goals,” including career retooling and fulfilling unrealized dreams. The report raises a series of questions designed to help higher education and other sectors develop a broader vision to create greater postsecondary access and success in a rapidly aging nation. Copies of the report are available free at www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CLLL/
Reinvesting/Reinvestingfinal.pdf.

UN, Google, Cisco collaborate to highlight success and failure worldwide

In November, the United Nations launched a new website powered by Google and network equipment maker Cisco that will show how and where the world is succeeding or failing in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for slashing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and other social ills by 2015. The creators of the website (www.mdgmonitor.org) said that better monitoring of progress should spur success. MDG Monitor is a web application that tracks real-time progress toward the Goals in a number of categories in nearly every country. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the site would, for the first time, present all the information on the goals in one place, allowing closer monitoring and helping identify places in need of greater attention. The site gathers statistics to give a snapshot of how each country is doing in meeting the eight goals.

Leaks in academic pipeline lead to minority faculty candidates being overlooked

An increasing percentage of researchers from under-represented minority groups are receiving PhDs in science-related disciplines, but the increases are not leading to improved numbers on the faculties of the top U.S. universities, speakers said at an October Capitol Hill briefing organized by AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) and the American Chemical Society. The speakers were reporting on the results from the survey, “A National Analysis of Minorities in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities,” released at the briefing that showed critical leaks in the academic pipeline. The numbers demonstrate that many top-tier research universities are not hiring quali-fied underrepresented minorities. The results of the 2007 survey were collected by University of Oklahoma chemistry Professor Donna Nelson. The survey found that the low numbers of underrepresented minority faculty members in science and engineering departments are not due simply to the low numbers of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans pursuing those fields. Rather, it found that the academic path from BS degrees to tenured faculty members loses underrepresented minorities at each step. Sociology fared best in retaining minority scholars, with 9.5% of sociology PhDs awarded to blacks between 1996 and 2005 and blacks holding 12% of assistant professorships in the field in 2007. However, most disciplines show drops in the percentages of minorities receiving PhDs versus obtaining tenure-track professor positions. For the full report, see cheminfo.chem.ou.edu/faculty/djn/diversity/Faculty_Tables_FY07/07Report.pdf.

New senior advisor joins NIH