RAND Women to Watch
Women have been at the core of RAND's success since its earliest days. The diversity of talent and experience among women at RAND—in both research and leadership—is reflected in the quality and impact of our work. From providing evidence that informed the debate over the Affordable Care Act, to quantifying the benefits of prisoner education, or providing insights into counterterrorism strategies, women at RAND are tackling our most complex policy questions.
This Month's Woman to Watch
Katherine E. Watkins
Senior Physician Policy Researcher
Katherine Watkins is a senior physician policy researcher at RAND and a board-certified practicing psychiatrist. She combines a research background in substance abuse and mental health treatment services with a clinical background in treatment for substance use and co-occurring disorders. She has trained substance abuse providers to deliver evidence-based mental health services to individuals with drug and alcohol problems. She is particularly interested in increasing access to treatment for vulnerable populations and in improving care for individuals with co-occurring mental disorders and substance abuse.
Quoted
Selected Research
Our Work Addresses Key Policy Questions About Gender
Gender Equity in the Workplace
Despite gains in recent decades, women continue to receive lower pay, experience lower workforce participation, and may miss career advancement opportunities due to motherhood. RAND's research has examined the challenges and discrimination women face in many settings, as well as the impact of parenting and family life on career outcomes.
Women's Health
Women have unique health needs, and face inequity in both quality and outcomes of health care. RAND's work has highlighted gender gaps in health care access and quality, measured the health needs of specific female populations, evaluated programs aimed at improving outcomes, and demonstrated how policy impacts women's options.
Female Populations
Women and girls face barriers to fully participating in society, including gender-based and intimate-partner violence, sexual assault, unmet health needs, and discrimination. RAND research has examined the needs of women refugees and migrants, gender disparities in health care, the effects of homelessness on women, and the impact of stress on girls.
Notable Women in RAND's History
Roberta Wohlstetter
Wohlsetter first published at RAND in 1948. She was a military historian best known for her book Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision, considered by many to be the definitive analysis of the intelligence failures that led to the attack. Learn more »
Margaret Mead
Mead was an American cultural anthropologist. She studied Russian culture and attitudes toward authority while at RAND from 1948 to 1950. Learn more »
Leona Woods Marshall Libby
Libby was an American physicist who helped build the first nuclear reactor. She worked at RAND from the mid-1960s until 1976. Learn more »
Nancy Nimitz
Nimitz joined RAND in 1952 and specialized in economic studies of Soviet agriculture. Her work involved research on Soviet national income and product.
Linda Darling-Hammond
Darling-Hammond is the president of the Learning Policy Institute and one of the most influential people affecting educational policy in the United States. She served as the director of RAND's education program from 1984 until 1989. Learn more »
Rose Gottemoeller
Gottemoeller is NATO's Deputy Secretary General, the first woman ever appointed to that post. She was a researcher at RAND from 1977 until 1993. Learn more »
Tora Bikson
Bikson, a nationally known advocate for ethics in social science research, worked at RAND from 1974 until 2013. She was among the first experts to address the United States' rules for human subjects protection in research in the social and behavioral sciences. Learn more »
Nicole Lurie
Lurie is the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the United States Department of Health and Human Services . While at RAND from 2002 to 2009, she was the Paul O'Neill Alcoa Professor of Health Policy. Learn more »