Women In Astronomy: AASWOMEN for May 4th, 2012

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of May 4, 2012
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery

[This week's guest editor is Daryl Haggard. Daryl is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) at Northwestern University. She studies AGN and their host galaxies, accreting compact binaries, and accretion-driven outflows using multi-wavelength and time domain surveys.]

This week's issues:

1. CSWA Annual Report

2. Girls Like STEM! How can we translate that interest into a career?

3. Another inspiring video of young women in STEM

4. Interesting article about women in academia

5. Why Aren't More Women in Science Fields?

6. Gender-Neutral Acknowledgments

7. 2012 Mentoring Conference at UNM

8. 2012 AAAS Mentor Awards

9. Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program for Young Women

10. Job Opportunities

11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

13. Access to Past Issues

1. CSWA Annual Report
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]

CSWA has just completed the 2012 Annual Report of its activities for the AAS. This document includes summaries of the panel discussion at the Boston AAS meeting entitled, "Transforming Cultural Norms: Mentoring/Networking Groups for Women and Minorities" as well as the special session at the Austin AAS Meeting entitled, "Increasing Diversity in Your Department." It also summarizes our efforts to improve communications between the committee and the community. These efforts include STATUS, our semi-annual magazine, as well as our web site, blog, facebook page, and twitter account. The report also summarizes CSWA's "Recommendations to the NSF Career-Life Initiative" and our new survey of "Parental Leave and Childcare for Graduate Students."

The 2012 Annual Report, along with older reports going back to 2003, is posted on our web site:

http://www.aas.org/cswa/annualreports

2. Girls Like STEM! How can we translate that interest into a career?
From: Julia Kamenetzky via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

[This week's guest blogger is Julia Kamenetzky. Julia Kamenetzky is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research focuses on extragalactic submillimeter spectroscopy with Z-Spec and Herschel.]

When discussing the representation of women in STEM fields, it’s important to ask: are girls even interested in science? Proponents of gender essentialism, the belief that men and women are fundamentally different, might assume that women are underrepresented in STEM because they simply aren’t interested. Why should we push people into careers that don’t interest them? Or perhaps even worse, why should we push people into careers that they aren’t "good" at?

To read more:

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

3. Another inspiring video of young women in STEM
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

I got this link from AWIS, the Association for Women in Science. Their LinkedIn page gives a lot of great resources, and they offer many excellent professional development talks and workshops to members, usually through their many local chapters. Most important to me, they provide a community of people committed to advancing women in science, with many practical tips for all.

A link to the video:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/24/next-generation-girls-stem

4. Interesting article about women in academia
From: Ferah Munshi [ferahmunshi_at_gmail.com]

[This article is from a blog by Curt Rice at the University of Tromso in Norway. The additional links were the focus of a recent "Diversity Journal Club" held monthly in the Astronomy department at the University of Washington. -eds.]

Why women in science don’t want to work at universities

http://curt-rice.com/2012/03/19/why-women-in-science-dont-want-to-work-at-universities

and some background literature on the subject:

When Scientists Choose Motherhood (Wiliams amp; Ceci, 2012, American Scientist, 100, 2):

http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2012/2/when-scientists-choose-motherhood/1

5. Why Aren't More Women in Science Fields?
From: Daryl Haggard [dhaggard_at_northwestern.edu]

[An interview with Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, who was also featured in the NYTimes article "Giving Women the Access Code" included in the April 6, 2012 issue of AASWomen. -eds.]

Why aren't more young women pursuing careers in the 'hard sciences,' like computer science and engineering? That's what Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, has been wondering and researching for much of her career.

To read more and watch the interview:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2012/04/college_president_discusses_wo.html

6. Gender-Neutral Acknowledgments
From: Anonymous

A paper that a female astronomer reviewed appeared on arxiv with thanks to the reviewer for "his" comments in the acknowledgment section. Upon notification of the problem, the journal editor agreed that it should be fixed, adding "The implication that all anonymous referees are male is especially unfortunate given that the first author of the paper is also female." This is a reminder that all of us need to be careful about gender assumptions. Writing gender-neutral acknowledgments is not difficult and much preferred.

7. 2012 Mentoring Conference at UNM
From: Nancy Morrison [NMorris_at_UTNet.UToledo.Edu]

The Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexico is seeking proposals for its fifth annual Mentoring Conference. The conference will be held in the Student Union Building, situated on UNM's main campus, from Wednesday, October 24 thru Friday, October 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This year's conference theme is "Facilitating Developmental Relationships for Success" and calls for proposals that critically and innovatively analyze different types of developmental relationships and how they contribute to the long-term success and prosperity of an individual. The conference will allow professionals from a multitude of disciplines to share valuable insights that contribute to the future of mentoring.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Belle Rose Ragins, who teaches, consults, and conducts research on diversity, mentoring and gender issues. She has written more than 100 papers for presentations at national and international conferences and for publication in leading academic journals. She is co-author of Mentoring and Diversity: An International Perspective and co-editor of two books: The Handbook of Mentoring at Work and Exploring Positive Relationships at Work.

Proposals may be for papers, posters, or roundtable discussions and will be refereed.

Abstract proposal deadline: May 15, 2012

Early registration deadline: June 15, 2012

To learn more:

http://mentor.unm.edu/conference/index.html

8. 2012 AAAS Mentor Awards
From: WIPHYS, May 3, 2012

Apply by July 31

The two categories of the AAAS Mentor Awards, the Lifetime Mentor Award and the Mentor Award, honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the science and engineering PhD workforce. These groups include: women of all racial or ethnic groups; African American, Native American, and Hispanic men; and people with disabilities.

For more information and the criteria please visit the website:

http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/mentor

The application PDF can be downloaded and filled out electronically for increased efficiency and accuracy. Enhanced tables and clarifying language help to highlight the spirit of the award, PhD completion and institutional change in underrepresented groups.

9. Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program for Young Women
From: WIPHYS, May 3, 2012

Apply by May 31

Virgin Galactic Future Astronauts Jann Bytheway and Global recording artist/UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador Sarah Brightman have, by generous donations, created the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program, which will be managed through a partnership with UNCF, one of the nation’s largest private providers of minority scholarships. The Bytheway and Brightman STEM Scholarship Program will help young females in the US pursue STEM education throughout their four-year college career, providing a much needed boost to the current participation of females in this area. The first scholarships will be awarded this fall.

Find more info here:

http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/item/virgin-galactic-virgin-unite-uncf

10. Job Opportunities

One Year Faculty Position in Astronomy and Physics at Mount Allison University in Canada:

http://www.mta.ca/hr/employment/empopp_acad.htm#physics_term

11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

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12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

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