Paper 1.6:
ANECDOTAL INFORMATION FROM THE SURVEY  

Kathleen A. Murphy, AMS AERA, St. Louis, MO

1. INTRODUCTION

The final section of the Survey of the Society Membership and Issues of the Marketplace asked the question, “ Do you have any suggestions to improve the opportunities for women and minorities in the AMS-related sciences?”. The response to this question was approximately 550 written comments. The content of these comments were diverse in their intent, which ranged from excellent suggestions for improvement to extreme agitation with the efforts of the board. It is the intent of this paper to share these comments with the members of the society so that we can learn from the perspectives of others.

2. STATISTICS

The majority of the comments ( 55% ) were positive suggestions. A significant proportion ( 37% ) did not support the belief that opportunities need to be improved for women and minorities. Suggestions for the improvement of the survey itself comprised 4 % of the survey results. Other members (1 %) were concerned about retirement issues. The remaining 3 % of the comments dealt with miscellaneous issues.

3. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

If we are going to improve opportunities, we need to start in the elementary and junior high schools to interest women and minorities in science....the biggest drawback to hiring women and minorities is that there are so few of them in the pipeline.

Increase opportunities for all persons regardless of their gender or ethnicity.

Encourage high school students, expand K-12 activities to encourage students before graduating from secondary schools.
Sponsor seminars at universities / offer mentor program.

Provide recruiting visits starting at the high school level.

Abolish affirmative action.

Support affirmative action

We are open to hiring the best person possible.The key is education, experience and the ability to fit in with fellow meteorologists.

Establish awards for achievement and the mentoring of women and minorities