Issue of November 2, 2012
eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy
This week's issues:
1. Does Organizational Culture Matter?
2. One Small Step (By a Mid-Career Scientist)
3. Different Opinions on Women Underrepresentation in Physics
4. Throw Off the Cloak of Invisibility
5. Look Up!
8. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
10.Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. Does Organizational Culture Matter?
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Yes! The reactions to an infamous letter to graduate students from the Academic Program Committee of a major astronomy department make the point clearly enough. So does the damaging effect of continued sexism in physics. I thought we had made more progress on these issues. Many years ago, the head of my department told proudly how he would come in on weekend mornings and walk around to see which junior faculty were at work. I don’t recall if I was tenured at the time, but I do recall being miserable. Although I remained at that university, I chose not to propagate the mythology of 80-hour work weeks or the prevailing attitudes that women were less qualified for the top ranks.
Dysfunctional and excellent organizations both contain good people. In my experience it is not the people but the institutional culture that …
[To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com ]
Back to top.2. One Small Step (By a Mid-Career Scientist)
From: L. Trouille via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
As a mid-career scientist at a large public university, I find myself increasingly frustrated with policies and procedures with which I disagree but feel powerless to do anything about. However, recently, I found myself in a position to strike a (teeny, tiny) blow for change -- and I took it …
[To read more, please see (scroll down)
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com ]
Back to top.3. Different Opinions on Women Underrepresentation in Physics
From: N. Gehrels via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
I saw an interesting article in BuzzFeed ** about a published study on gender differences in physics and biology. The paper is titled "Gender Segregation in Elite Academic Science" and is by sociologists E. Ecklund, A. Lincoln and C. Tansey. The article took a new approach in this field, not just quoting employment or student statistics but surveying 2500 physicists at elite institutions for their opinions. The survey asked scientists why they felt there is so much more underrepresentation of women in physics than in biology. The survey was followed up by interviews with 150 respondents. There were significant differences in the views expressed by men and women, but not between physicists and biologist. Men tended to not notice...
[To read more, please see (scroll down)
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com ]
Back to top.4. Throw Off the Cloak of Invisibility
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
'Throw Off the Cloak of Invisibility' is a 22 October 2012 Nature Article by R. Taylor on improvements by Wikipedia to recognize important the contributions by women in science. Although a step in the right direction, the efforts are long overdue, notes Taylor. Some women like Ada Lovelace Day is often remembered not for her contributions in mathematics but as the daughter of the poet Byron. By making strides to increasing the numbers of notable women scientists and the length of entries, Wikipedia may help improve how women scientists are portrayed.
However, I have to add that although Wikipedia's efforts are laudable, 'unconscious bias' still does not exist as an entry in Wikipedia.
To read the article, please see
http://www.nature.com/news/throw-off-the-cloak-of-invisibility-1.11638
Back to top.5. Look Up!
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
'Look Up!' is a new book written, illustrated, and published by Robert Burleigh, Raul Colon, and Simon amp; Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, respectively, for the 4-8 year age group. The biography is of Henrietta Levitt, the first person to discover the importance of stellar brightness, which is used to find distances to galaxies via the period-luminosity relationship of Cepheid variable stars. The picture book is inspirational for girls (and boys) aspiring to become future scientists. This book might make a nice gift for the upcoming holiday season. An example of where the book can be purchased is
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/look-up-robert-burleigh/1112483562
Back to top.6. Amelia Earhart Fellowship
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship program awards 35 women of any nationality $10,000 for pursuits of a Ph.D degree in aerospace-related sciences. Fellows have gone on to become astronomers, astronauts, professors, business owners, heads of companies, etc. Applications are due by November 15, 2012. To read more on the requirements, please see
http://www.zonta.org/WhatWeDo/InternationalPrograms/AmeliaEarhartFellowship.aspx
Back to top.7. Job Opportunities
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:
http://www.aas.org/cswa/diversity.html#howtoincrease
* Tenured-track faculty position at Rice University, Houston, TX (scroll down)
http://physics.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=65&linkidentifier=id&itemid=65
Back to top.8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_aas.org
All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address.
When submitting a job posting for inclusion in the newsletter, please include a one-line description and a link to the full job posting.
Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.
Back to top.9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.
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Back to top.10. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
Back to top.
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