UofM Faculty Receive ORAU Award

Sabri to led efforts in impact study on women in science

Oak Ridge Associated Universities' (ORAU) Research and University Partnerships Office recently awarded $150,000 to the University of Memphis team, led by Dr. Firouzeh Sabri (Physics and Materials Science), along with co-PI’s Dr. Helen Sable (Psychology) and Dr. Jaime Sabel (Biological Sciences). The UofM team will work in collaboration with ORAU-Directed Research and Development (ODRD)-ORISE’s (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) Dr. Laura Davenport, to investigate critical review and analysis of barriers to entry for post-secondary women in in physical sciences and the impact of the pandemic on an already imperfect culture.

Letters of recommendation have a profound impact on one’s career development. Increasing diversity in disciplines such as physics requires a multifaceted investigation of barriers to entry. The award received by the UofM-ORAU team will focus on carefully analyzing recommendation letters written on behalf of women and will contribute to a better understanding of how men and women do science differently and the differences in their behavioral characteristics. The results of this study will likely lead to a series of workshops designed to shed light on different behaviors and characteristics between men and women and how these impact their scientific approach and their perceived drive. Differences in approach can be misinterpreted and lead to conscious or unconscious bias by the recommender. The pandemic has magnified barriers to entry for women and makes the need for this study of paramount importance.   

The award is funded through the ORAU Program. ODRD is an investment program that provides a path for funding innovative research-based approaches or solutions that capitalize on the core capabilities of ORAU and the research interests of their member universities. This year, ODRD projects focus on public health, data science and analytics and equity, inclusion and diversity studies.

Read full press release: "Research in progress: How the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified barriers to career development for women in science," from ORAU here. For more information on this award, contact Sabri at fsabri@memphis.edu.