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Attendance at conferences, lectures, granting agency panels, and networking workshops are primary means by which scholars build their research programs through recruiting students, developing collaborations, and inspiring further research. Travel as a critical component of the scientist's job description is often overlooked by early-career women in academia. In fact, women in particular typically reduce their travel due to children and other family obligations (e.g., elder care).

The STEM Family Travel Initiative is a program aiming to remove travel-related barriers to the professional advancement of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) researchers with childcare and dependent-care responsibility. Our goal is to promote women and dual career couples. We serve the Five-Colleges as well as faculty and post-docs from across the country. Scientists at National Labs and in industry are also welcome and encouraged to join our childcare networks, to share information and coordinate childcare with other parents attending conferences and other STEM events.

The goals of the STEM Family Travel Initiative are:

To provide education on the importance of travel and mechanisms that facilitate it
To construct a post-doc/ faculty travel network at the local and national levels to facilitate travel for academics with dependent care needs
To provide funding to defray the costs of dependent care during travel for Five College faculty and post-docs.
To advocate for faculty women and dual career couples to professional societies, and conference and workshop organizer

Funding provided by

STEM Family Travel Initiative

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