reports

CNSTAT Releases Third Data Infrastructure Report in Series Intended to Modernize Data Collection

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has released its third and final report in an ongoing series of data infrastructure reports intended to modernize and enhance data collection (previous COSSA coverage). This latest report, Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Managing Privacy and Confidentiality Risks with Blended Data, builds off the previous two reports on mobilizing data and blending data from various sources by addressing concerns about mitigating privacy and confidentiality risks within the data infrastructure. The report provides potential policy approaches to protecting data privacy as well as a suggested framework…

APA Releases Report on Countering Misinformation

The American Psychological Association (APA) released a comprehensive report addressing the challenges of misinformation, particularly in the realm of health, well-being, and civic life. Providing eight recommendations for a collaborative effort between scientists, policymakers, media professionals, and the public to combat the spread and impact of misinformation: APA is a COSSA governing member. To read the full report, visit here.

COSSA Releases 2022 Annual Report

COSSA’s 2022 Annual Report is now available. Check it out to learn more about COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year. Find out how your organization can become a member of COSSA on our website.

NASEM releases Behavioral Economics: Policy Impact and Future Directions Report

The Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a new report titled Behavioral Economics: Policy Impact and Future Directions. As a field developing strongly since the mid-20th century, behavioral economics has produced influential research from its findings between economists and psychologists. In this report, the contributions and impacts of the field are assessed across seven public policy fields: health, retirement benefits, climate change, social safety net benefits, climate change, education, and criminal justice. In addition to discussing the application of behavioral economics into governmental outputs, the report addresses ways to…

JASON Releases Report on NSF’s Pending Research on Research Security Program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has commissioned a report by JASON, the independent scientific and national security advisory body, on NSF’s proposed “Research on Research Security” program. This program has been in development as part of the push towards securing the U.S. research enterprise over the past few years, and is intended to provide funding to scientifically examine aspects of research security (see previous coverage). The JASON report aims to consider what this program might look like at NSF and how it would impact research security policy throughout the federal government. Notably, the JASON report states that the “social sciences…

Science is US Report Shows Impact of STEM on U.S. Workforce

On March 1, Science is US released the People of Science report, an analysis of the impact of the STEM workforce on the U.S. economy. According to the report, 34.3 percent of the U.S. workforce engaged with STEM in some capacity in 2021, accounting for $9.45 trillion – or 40.5 percent – of U.S. GDP. The report defines the STEM workforce broadly as people who spend the vast majority of their job tasks engaging in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine and includes a list of qualifying occupations that contributed to the STEM workforce. Among the listed occupations are social…

National Academies Release Report on Antiracism in Science Organizations

On February 14, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) held a webinar marking the release of a report on Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations. The report aims to identify structural barriers to participation in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) by minoritized individuals and provides recommendations on how the scientific community can instigate meaningful changes to remove these barriers and instill principles of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI). The report offers the following recommendations to the scientific community: The report can be read in full on the NASEM website.

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Releases Biennial Diversity and STEM Report

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released the 2023 edition of the report, Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities. This biennial report provides data and insights into the demographics of the STEM workforce, including wage and STEM unemployment among underrepresented groups. With the report, NCSES seeks to understand how representation within STEM continues to change. The report found that women comprise 35 percent of the STEM workforce, underrepresented minorities comprise 24 percent, and persons with disabilities comprise 3 percent. The report also found that the number of…

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics to Release Biennial Diversity and STEM Report

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), within the National Science Foundation (NSF), will release its biennial report, Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities, on January 30. The report was last released in 2021 under the title, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (WMPD), and provides statistical information on women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering education and employment. NCSES will host an informational webinar on the results of the Diversity and STEM report on January 31. Register for the event here.

NIH Releases UNITE Progress Report for 2021-2022

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released the inaugural progress report covering fiscal years (FY) 2021-2022 for the UNITE Initiative, the agency-wide program comprised of five committees charged with identifying and addressing structural racism within the NIH research community and the greater biomedical research enterprise (see previous COSSA coverage). This progress report is the first such report on the UNITE Initiative and aims to describe NIH’s actions since the Initiative’s establishment in 2021 in identifying and addressing structural racism as well as areas that still need to be addressed. The report cites actions that have been taken to address…

CNSTAT Releases Report on a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) recently released the report Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Mobilizing Information for the Common Good. The report offers an ambitious vision and roadmap for bringing the U.S. data infrastructure in line with the nation’s need for reliable, accessible statistics and social and economic research. During a recent seminar celebrating CNSTAT’s 50th anniversary, CNSTAT Chair Robert Groves of Georgetown University offered additional context for the report, noting the convergence of increasing survey costs, all-time low response rates, and the unprecedented amount of digital data now…

National Academies Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education Release Year Three Annual Report

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the Year Three Annual Report for the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education and held the Fourth Annual Public Summit last week. The report builds off of the 2018 report, Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (see previous COSSA coverage). The Action Collaborative focuses on raising awareness, sharing evidence-based policies and strategies, developing standards for measuring progress, and setting shared research agenda related to eradicating harassment in higher education settings. The Year Three Annual Report highlights the improvements the National Academies…

White House Releases Biennial Report on International Science & Technology Cooperation

In September, a subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report on international collaboration related to science and technology. The report, which is a Congressionally mandated biennial document, identifies strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. approach to international scientific collaboration and offers recommendations on how to strengthen U.S. leadership in international science and technology. The report acknowledges that the U.S. remains a global leader in many areas of science and is successfully attracting and retaining talented foreign scientists. However, it also notes that other countries…

COSSA Releases 2021 Annual Report

National Academies Release New Report on Ontologies in the Behavioral Sciences

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a new consensus study report titled Ontologies in the Behavioral Sciences: Accelerating Research and the Spread of Knowledge. The report offers a description of ontologies, or frameworks for organizing existing knowledge, and ways they can be used to support behavioral science. In addition, the report offers several recommendations for science stakeholders to best use ontologies to advance behavioral science research, including federal agencies and professional organizations. Some of these recommendations include: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) should create agendas for advancing behavioral science…

NSF Releases Report on Social Science Doctoral Recipients

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), the principal statistical agency within the National Science Foundation (NSF), released a report on “Doctorate Recipients in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).” The report is part of a series of profiles highlighting trends in education related to each of NSF’s seven research directorates. The SBE report presents data on doctorates received in psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and other social sciences from NCSES’s Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients. The full report and associated data tables are available on the NCSES website. Back to this issue’s…

National Academies Release Report on Strengthening Support Systems for Military Families

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) released a consensus study report on the social challenges affecting the families of military service members and potential solutions. The report covers a wide array of issues including the well-being of military families, demographic characteristics of military families, opportunities and challenges of military life, stressors affecting military children, high-stress events, and the efficacy of existing military family support systems. The report also illustrates several recommendations for the Department of Defense (DOD) to address these issues including standardizing definitions of “family well-being,” improving understanding…

Read COSSA’s 2018 Annual Report

COSSA’s 2018 Annual Report is out now. Check it out to learn more about COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year. Find out how your organization can become a member of COSSA on our website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.

Academies Report Recommends Strategies to Address Sexual Harassment in Academia

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released a new consensus study report, Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report details the impacts of sexual harassment in terms of damage to research integrity and loss of talent and argues that institutions should view sexual harassment as “equally important as research misconduct in terms of its effect on the integrity of research.” The report makes seven broad recommendations for how academic institutions can better address and prevent sexual harassment: address gender harassment (sexist hostility and crude behavior); move beyond legal…

Read COSSA’s 2017 Annual Report

COSSA’s 2017 Annual Report is out now. Check it out to learn more about COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year. Find out how your organization can become a member of COSSA on our website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.

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