AWIS Webinar
How Science Policy Shapes Women's Science Careers
Led by: Dr. Julia Omotade
Thursday, April 23, 2026
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET
About the Session
Policy decisions shape the systems that influence scientific careers. Funding priorities, training pathways, hiring practices, and promotion structures all connect back to policy—affecting who enters, advances, and remains in STEMM fields.
In this session, Dr. Julia Omotade will explore how both public and institutional policy act as upstream forces shaping career pathways, with disproportionate effects on women at key transition points. She will examine how broader policy shifts connect to everyday professional realities and why policy literacy matters for scientists at every career stage.
Aligned with AWIS Advocacy Days, this session will also include practical reflection on advocacy—how scientists can better understand the policy landscape surrounding their work, recognize where policy affects their institutions and career trajectories, and identify meaningful ways to engage in informed advocacy conversations.
Attendees will walk away with:
- A clearer understanding of how public and institutional policy shape scientific career pathways
- Insight into where and why women disproportionately exit across career stages
- Greater awareness of the policy levers influencing funding, training, and advancement
- Practical ways to identify policy-driven constraints in their own career paths
- Approaches for engaging in informed, high-impact advocacy
This session is designed for scientists, professionals, and leaders interested in understanding how policy decisions shape the scientific workforce and what role advocacy can play in strengthening STEMM careers.
Speaker
Dr. Julia Omotade is a cellular and molecular neuroscientist whose expertise spans the academic, nonprofit, and policy sectors. She received her PhD from Emory University, where she used advanced microscopy to investigate mammalian brain development and synapse formation, contributing to our knowledge of neuronal growth, plasticity, and repair.
Currently, Dr. Omotade is a Senior Science Policy Specialist at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), where she serves as a trusted voice in our nation’s pressing biomedical policy issues. Her portfolio includes scientific training of and diversity, equity and inclusion in the US scientific biomedical workforce; sexual harassment in academic medicine; and new, national and regional research initiatives.
Prior to joining AAMC, Julia was a Senior Healthcare and STEM Executive Search Consultant at Isaacson, Miller, where she recruited leaders to drive discovery, health, education, and patient care in our nation’s scientific enterprise.
Zoom captioning and a video recording will be available.
This webinar is FREE for all to attend. (Not a member? Join AWIS to attend to all webinars for free and gain access to other great resources!)