Scientists, engineers, and medical professionals play a vital role in building the 21st- century science and technology enterprises that will create solutions and jobs critical to solving the large, complex, and interdisciplinary problems faced by society: problems in energy, sustainability, the environment, water, food, disease, and healthcare. As a growing percentage of the scientific and technological workforce, women need to participate fully not just in finding solutions to technical problems, but also in building the organizations responsible for the job creation that will bring these solutions to market and to bear on pressing issues. To accomplish this, it is important that more women in science and engineering become entrepreneurs in order to start new companies; create business units inside established organizations, mature companies, and the government; and/or function as social entrepreneurs focused on societal issues. Entrepreneurship represents a vital source of change in all facets of society, empowering individuals to seek opportunity where others see insurmountable problems.

From Science to Business: Preparing Female Scientists and Engineers for Successful Transitions into Entrepreneurship is the summary of an August 2009 workshop that assesses the current status of women undertaking entrepreneurial activity in technical fields, to better understand the nature of the barriers they encounter, and to identify what it takes for women scientists and engineers to succeed as entrepreneurs. This report focuses on women's career transitions from academic science and engineering to entrepreneurship, with a goal of identifying knowledge gaps in women's skills as well as experiences crucial to future success in business and critical for achieving leadership positions in entrepreneurial organizations.

From Science to Business makes the case that in addition to educating women scientists and engineers in rigorous problem solving, it is equally important to provide exposure and training to impart the skills that will enable more women to move from the role of expert to that of leader in dynamic new business enterprises. This book will be of interest to professionals in both academia and industry, graduate and post-graduate students, and organizations that advocate for a stronger economy.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE FOR FROM SCIENCE TO BUSINESS: PREPARING FEMALE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FOR SUCESSFUL TRANSITIONS INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKSHOP
• COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
  POLICY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• 1. ENTREPRENEURIAL CAREERS OF WOMEN
  E. J. Reedy.
  • E. J. Reedy, Manager in Research and Policy at The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• 2. PANEL I: FROM BENCH TO BUSINESS: CAREER PATHS FOR PH.D.S
  Laurel Smith-Doerr, Lydia Villa-Komaroff, and Susan Windham-Bannister.
  • Laurel Smith-Doerr, Associate Professor of Sociology, Boston University
  • Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Chief Scientific Officer, Cytonome/ST, LLC
  • Susan Windham-Bannister, President and CEO, Massachusetts Life Science Center
• 3. PANEL II: ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP IN BIOTECHNOLOGY CAREERS
  Judy Heyboer, Barbara Wallner, and Lydia Villa-Komaroff.
  • Judy Heyboer, Human Resources Consultant, Former Senior Vice President, Genentech, Inc.
  • Barbara Wallner, President and CEO , Chymic Therapeutics, Inc.
  • Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Chief Scientific Officer, Cytonome/ST, LLC
• 4. PANEL III: EDUCATION TO PREPARE FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL CAREERS
  Sheldon M. Schuster, Gail Naughton, Michael Teitelbaum, and Jessica Townsend.
  • Sheldon M. Schuster, President, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences
  • Gail Naughton, Dean, College of Business, San Diego State University and Founder, Advance Tissue Science, Inc.
  • Michael Teitelbaum, Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Jessica Townsend, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Olin College
• 5. STUDIES ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  Caroline Simard, Anita Borg, and Manwai (“Candy”) Ku.
  • Caroline Simard, Director of Research and Executive Programs, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
  • Manwai (“Candy”) Ku, Researcher, Stanford University
• 6. PANEL IV: ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIPS IN SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES: INTRAPRENEURSHIP IN CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND TRADITIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  Sharon Nunes, Maxine L. Savitz, Judith Giordan, and Lucinda Sanders.
  • Sharon Nunes, Vice President, IBM Green Innovations
  • Maxine Savitz, General Manager for Technology Partnerships, Honeywell (retired) and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Conservation at the U.S. Dept. of Energy
  • Judith Giordan, Senior Advisor, National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance
  • Lucinda Sanders, CEO and Co-founder, National Center for Women & Information Technology
• 7. THEMES FROM THE WORKSHOP AND CLOSING REMARKS
• APPENDIX A FROM SCIENCE TO BUSINESS: PREPARING FEMALE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSITIONS INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• APPENDIX B COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
  MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES
• APPENDIX C SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
• APPENDIX D WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

Rapporteurs: Catherine Jay Didion, Rita S. Guenther, and Victoria Gunderson.

This study was supported by the National Sciences. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.