Issue of May 10, 2013
eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy
This week's issues:
1. En'hedu'anna - Our First Great Scientist
3. The BBC Academy and Women Experts
4. Closing the Gender Gap for Women in Science
5. Spotlight on Women in Science
6. Now Accepting Applications for the 2013 Blewett Fellowship
7. Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics
9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. En'hedu'anna - Our First Great Scientist
From: Sethanne Howard via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[This week’s guest blogger is Sethanne Howard, an astronomer who has held positions with U.S. national observatories, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Navy. She was also Chief of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, 2000-2003. Her research specialty is galactic dynamics. She has also been active in science education, especially concentrating on the history of women in science. -- eds.]
In this blog post, Dr. Howard writes about the first known recorded scientist - who happens to be a woman. En'hedu'anna (c. 2300 BCE), was the en-priestess of the city of Ur. "She was the chief astronomer-priestess and as such managed the great temple complex of her city of Ur. She ontrolled the extensive agricultural enterprise surrounding the temple as well those activities scheduled around the liturgical year."
To read what we now know about this fascinating woman, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/enheduanna-our-first-great-scientist.html
Back to top.2. My Mother's Legacy
From: Nicholas McConnell via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[Today's guest blogger is Nicholas McConnell. Nicholas earned his PhD in 2012 and is now the Beatrice Watson Parrent Fellow at the Institute for Astronomy (University of Hawaii). His research focuses on supermassive black holes and giant elliptical galaxies. --eds.]
"This essay is about my mother. It is in part a shameless effort to earn family brownie points by "timely" blogging. Nonetheless, my mother's attitudes form one of the windows through which I try to examine gender issues in astronomy, and they inform my actions toward male and female colleagues. As I share her story I hope that others in this forum find common threads with their own."
To read more, please see http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-mothers-legacy.html
Back to top.3. The BBC Academy and Women Experts
From: Carole Mundell [cgm_at_astro.livjm.ac.uk]
The BBC, through its academy programme, has begun to try to address the lack of representation of women experts on air and on screen. More details and short videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/bbcexpertwomen
Back to top.4. Closing the Gender Gap for Women in Science
From: Caroline Simpson [simpsonc_at_fiu.edu]
[An interesting article from a graduate-student run magazine at the University of Toronto - eds.]
When it comes to closing the gender gap, Canadian scientists have observed somewhat reasonable progress being undone by steps taken in the opposite direction. [...] Following these statistics, the federal government commissioned a report by the Council of Canadian Academics, which aimed to investigate the potential cause of the imbalance, and to elucidate obstacles faced by female scientists as a whole. While the report found Canada to be lacking in terms of promoting gender equity for various reasons, another article attributed the gender disparity to be a result of women choosing alternative career paths due to a purported ‘lack of interest’ in the sciences. Another hypothesis could be that women forgo advancements in their careers in order to devote time to raising a family. These controversial claims sparked discussion between several professors in the University of Toronto’s Department of Immunology. With support from Trinity College, they hosted a roundtable discussion titled “Work-Life Balance and Career Trajectories for Women in Science.”
To read the entire article, see http://www.immpressmagazine.com/closing-the-gender-gap-for-women-in-science
Back to top.5. Spotlight on Women in Science
From: Caroline Simpson [simpsonc_at_fiu.edu]
[Originally published in Nature - eds.]
For she's a jolly good fellow: Creative ways to support women in science could increase their presence and improve retention.
WHEN Jennie Lill recently advertised a senior position at Genentech, the pharmaceutical company where she works, she was inundated with responses. The problem was, only nine out of the hundreds of applicants were women. “I really had to use all of my contacts to get more women to interview,” she says. “And in the end, when there's just not that pool of applicants, there's only so much you can do."
Lill's efforts were part of a recent initiative to increase the number of female scientists at the company, under which managers must ensure at least 30 per cent of interviewees for any position are women. It's progress, says Lill, but the dearth of female applicants highlights deeper gender imbalances in scientific professions.
See the full article at: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038%2Fnj0406
Back to top.6. Now Accepting Applications for the 2013 Blewett Fellowship
From: WIPHYS, May 6, 2013
The Blewett Fellowship enables women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt those careers. Applications are due June 1, 2013. Learn more and apply at
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/blewett/index.cfm
Back to top.7. Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics
From: WIPHYS, May 6, 2013
[Remember to replace the "_at_" in the email address below -- eds.]
A new email list was created to share news, announcements, and deadlines related to the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics. To join the list, email women_at_aps.org with the subject “Subscription to CUWiP email list”.
Back to top.8. 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
** A variety of openings are available at AURA: http://www.aura-astronomy.org/hr/joblist.asp
** NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships http://www.nsbp.org/en/jobs/v/1085
** Director of LEOTeach, an initiative for the recruitment and preparation of STEM Teachers, Texas Aamp;M University-Commerce tamujobs.tamu.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=203513
Back to top.9. 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.10. 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.
Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)
To unsubscribe by email:
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To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:
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Google Groups Subscribe Help:
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Back to top.11. 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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