Issue of May 17, 2013
eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy
This week's issues:
2. Too Few Women Fellows Down Under
3. Blog Posts on Academic Careers
5. Science Wonk: New Blog on the Intersection of Science and Politics
6. What to Do in Grad School to Prepare for a Possible Non-Academic Career
7. Lessons From Mom Serve a Yale Professor Well
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. Harassment Jeopardy
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
My actual title is "Teaching employees about harassment law and policy using a game show". But the game show was "Who wants to become avoid making someone a multimillionaire" and both titles were too long. The setting was an all-hands meeting of a university lab, where about 40 graduate students, postdocs, staff and faculty learned about laws and policies relating to harassment from an employment attorney. I summarize what I learned in hopes that others will find it useful. Nothing herein is legal advice, and you should consult an attorney on matters of the law.
Harassment claims at a university are handled under three different broad categories: federal law, state law, and employer policies. The relevant federal laws are the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Titles VI and VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and its amendments, Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Of these, Titles VI and IX and the Rehabilitation Act apply to educational institutions that accept federal funds; all others apply to employers. State laws vary of course, but generally include more extensive protections than the federal laws. Employer policies likewise often extend rights beyond those guaranteed by law.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/harrassment-jeopardy.html
Back to top.2. Too Few Women Fellows Down Under
From: Neil Gehrels via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
I read a World View article in Nature this week (2 May 2013) that shocked me. It is about how few women there are in the Australian Academy of Science and was written by Douglas Hilton, head of the Department of Medical Biology at University of Melbourne. The statistics he gives are eye-catching with only 8% of academy members being women … and the situation is even worse than that low number suggests.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/too-few-women-fellows-down-under.html
Back to top.3. Blog Posts on Academic Careers
From: Nancy Morrison [nmorris_at_utnet.utoledo.edu]
Yesterday, Cambridge physics professor Athene Donald (@AtheneDonald) tweeted two recent blog posts relevant to those beginning academic careers. It's UK-based advice, but it applies in the US, too.
'The Viva [i.e., PhD thesis defense] Experience'
'So, what’s the best preparation for the big day? Firstly, don’t worry about what you wear. The examiners don’t care as long as you turn up looking like you’re taking the exam seriously. I would not recommend a T-shirt and jeans, nor would I feel a 3 piece suit or a little black dress is a requirement .... Additionally, do think where the obvious 'big' questions are. I’d include in this category
-Why you did this work? -What were the most important things you found out? -What are the basic underlying principles? -What would you have done differently if you were starting again? -What do you think are the next experiments that need doing to follow up on your work?
To read more, please see:
http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/2013/05/08/the-viva-experience
'Will This Look Good on my CV?'
'This is a question I was asked recently in the context of outreach work (I answered yes), but it applies across the board. For those climbing the academic ladder specifically, it perhaps amounts to "does anything other than research count?" I would again say yes. So what follows are some thoughts on career progression provoked by a variety of recent conversations concerning different levels of seniority.'
To read more, please see:
http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/2013/05/14/will-this-look-good-on-my-cv
Back to top.4. Talk, Talk, Talk
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu]
Language Myth #6: Women Talk Too Much
No, they don’t. Rather, they don’t in every situation. Social context and relative power determine who talks more, men or women. Janet Holmes sets the record straight and establishes the reasons for the lingering myth of female chattiness. .... Despite the widespread belief that women talk more than men, most of the available evidence suggests just the opposite. When women and men are together, it is the men who talk most.
To read more, please see
http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/prejudice/women
Back to top.5. Science Wonk: New Blog on the Intersection of Science and Politics
From: Johanna Teske [jkteske_at_email.arizona.edu]
Science Wonk is a new blog/forum by Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz and Dr. Steve Croft, "devoted to scientists writing about the political landscape and how it affects their work." The welcome post reads,
"Welcome to ScienceWonk.org, a home for commentary at the intersection of science and politics. We hope to feature discussion from scientists on how the political landscape is affecting their work, with the goal of raising the voices of scientists in both politics and society at large. This blog is for anyone who might be interested in how politics and policy decisions influence scientific progress and our ability to share that progress with the world."
Dr. Croft's first post is a call to action for scientists to speak up and out about the discouraging state of federal science funding.
To read more, please see
Back to top.6. Rich Colleges, Poor Professors
From: Caroline Simpson [simpsonc_at_fiu.edu]
By Jane White
Melissa Bruninga-Matteau is a single mother who relies on food stamps and Medicaid to survive. Her take-home pay is $900 a month, of which $750 goes to rent and $40 goes to gas. Where does she work? If you're thinking a fast food chain, think again. She's a PhD who teaches humanities courses at a state college in Arizona.
To read more about the rise in adjunct professorships, please see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-white/college-professor-salaries_b_3271404.html
Back to top.7. Lessons From Mom Serve a Yale Professor Well
From: Gerrit Verschuur
A Life of Science Was in the Cards By Anjelica L. Gonzalez
I AM a proud member of a small, emerging class of minority women with careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the STEM fields for short. As a professor at Yale University and a scientist in the field of tissue engineering, or regenerative medicine, I’m often asked how I got to where I am. I usually respond with stories of my early interest in problem-solving and puzzles.
But if I really reflect on how I, a Latina from Las Vegas, was able to become a scientist at an elite university, it wasn’t my own curiosity. It was the influence of a blackjack dealer who also happens to be my mother.
My mother may not know the ins and outs of academia, but she taught me the essential ingredients needed to make it as a scientist in a white, male-dominated field.
To read more, please see
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/jobs/lessons-from-mom-serve-a-yale-professor-well.html?emc=eta1
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.
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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You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en
Google Groups Subscribe Help:
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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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