Issue of May 30, 2014
eds. Nick Murphy, Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner & Meredith Hughes
This week's issues:
2. NASA Astrophysics Senior Review
4. ADVICE: Suggestions for Serving on a Scientific Organizing Committee
6. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Tenured Faculty
7. Response: Gender Bias in Oral Exams
10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. Change in AASWOMEN Editors
From: AASWOMEN Editors [aaswomen_at_aas.org]
The AASWOMEN Editors welcome Dr. Meredith Hughes to our editorial ranks. Meredith is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Wesleyan University. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard in 2010 before becoming a Miller Fellow at UC-Berkeley. Her research interests include planet formation, circumstellar disk structure and evolution, and radio astronomy. Meredith has been a member of the CSWA since 2012, and led the 2013 CSWA Demographics Survey.
We also thank Dr. Michele Montgomery who will soon be completing her duties as Senior Editor and rotating off of the AASWOMEN editorial team. Michele has been an AASWOMEN editor since 2009, and we are extremely grateful for her years of service. The new Senior Editor will be Dr. Nick Murphy, who has been an AASWOMEN editor since 2012.
Back to top.2. NASA Astrophysics Senior Review
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[The main panel of the 2014 NASA Astrophysics Senior Review had 10 members; none were women. I asked Paul Hertz what had happened to diversity. This is his formal response.]
Response to Joan Schmelz, Chair, Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy
Paul Hertz Director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters May 28, 2014
The Senior Review of NASA Operating Missions is the formal review of operating missions and projects carried out every two years as required by law. The purpose of the Senior Review is to:
* Prioritize continued funding of the operating missions and projects;
* Define an implementation approach to achieve astrophysics strategic objectives;
* Provide programmatic and budgetary direction to missions and projects for the upcoming two fiscal years; and,
* Issue initial funding guidelines for the following two fiscal years.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/05/nasa-astrophysics-senior-review.html
Back to top.3. Harassment from Students
From: Hannah Jang-Condell via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The recent discussions on harassment in astronomy have been really thought-provoking and inspiring. But yet another form of harassment that those of us in academia have to face is harassment from students. This can take all sorts of forms, but in the end it all comes down to a lack of respect from (usually male) students simply because you're a woman. The trouble is that the advice you get on how to deal with harassment from peers or superiors is often not useful or appropriate for dealing with harassment from those junior to you. If it happens during class and is clearly disruptive, you can simply ask the student to leave. But just as many serial harassers have become more sneaky in how they operate, students can be pretty sneaky, too.
I'd like to pose here a couple of scenarios and ask what you would advise someone to do in these situations.
To read and respond to Hannah's scenarios, please visit
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/05/harassment-from-students.html
Back to top.4. ADVICE: Suggestions for Serving on a Scientific Organizing Committee
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[Today's advice comes from Nancy Brickhouse, the Senior Science Advisor at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a member of the AAS council. Her research interests include solar and stellar coronal physics, plasma spectral modeling, atomic data for astrophysics, UV to X-ray spectroscopy of diverse objects, and physical processes in astrophysical plasmas. She is a leader of the ATOMDB Project, which uses collisional and radiative atomic data to generate spectral models needed for high-energy astrophysics.]
How do SOC members ensure an appropriate level of diversity among conference invited speakers if the committee chair does not provide leadership? Here are some suggestions.
* When asked to serve on a SOC, make sure you understand the ground rules at the beginning.
* Ask what the schedule for decision-making is, and make sure there is enough time to think through issues of balance; put the schedule on your calendar and check with the SOC chair if you haven't heard back by the date promised.
* Make sure that you have time to participate fully.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/05/advice-suggestions-for-serving-on.html
Back to top.5. Female Privilege?
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
This blog focuses on a lot of the challenges of being a woman in astronomy (and STEM in general). We talk about sexism (of both the explicit and benevolent variety), unconscious and implicit biases, the wage gap, the gender gap, the two-body problem, the leaky pipeline, the impostor complex, work-life-family balance issues, sexual harassment... the list goes on and on. But are there any advantages to being a woman in STEM? Is there female privilege?
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/05/female-privilege.html
Back to top.6. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Tenured Faculty
From: Laura Trouille via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.
Below is our interview with Caroline Simpson, an astronomer turned professor. She is a tenured faculty in astronomy at an urban, minority serving, 'Research High Activity' institution. If you have questions, suggestions, advice to share, etc. about this career path, please leave a comment below.
To read the interview with Caroline Simpson (former AASWOMEN Editor!), please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/05/career-profiles-astronomer-to-tenured.html
Back to top.7. Response: Gender Bias in Oral Exams
From: Shannon Curry [smcurry_at_ssl.berkeley.edu]
Regarding your Request for Info on Gender Bias in Oral Exams (AASWOMEN Newsletter, May 23, 2014) -- I am now a post-doc at UC Berkeley but recently took oral exams at U. Michigan a few years ago and found this really helpful
http://www.refinery29.com/2013/10/55289/uptalk-communication-mistakes
Body language, verbal transitions / qualifiers and apologetic fillers can set a negative or inferior tone and I was guilty of almost all of these!
Back to top.8. Fellowship Opportunities
From: WIPHYS Posting for May 29, 2014
* The 2014 Blewett Fellowship: Deadline is June 1
The Blewett Fellowship enables women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt those careers. Applications are due June 1, 2014.
Learn more and apply here
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/blewett/index.cfm
* Fulbright Israel Post-Doctoral Fellowships for American Researchers in All Physics Disciplines: Deadline is August 1
The United States-Israel Educational Foundation (USIEF), the Fulbright commission for Israel, offers fellowships to American post-doctoral researchers in support of work to be carried out at Israeli universities during the course of the 2015-2017 academic years. Application Deadline is 1 August, 2014.
View the full announcement here
* Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM): Deadline is October 3
PAESMEM recognizes individuals for their mentoring of persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, persons with disabilities, persons from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and early career scientists and engineers. Historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields include African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans.
Learn more here
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14567/nsf14567.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
Back to top.9. 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
* LSST Deputy Director, AURA/LSST, Tucson, AZ
https://rn11.ultipro.com/spa1004B/JobBoard/JobDetails.aspx?__ID=*E9E51BA51066967F
Back to top.10. 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.11. 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:
Send email to aawlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have UNsubscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.
To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:
https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist
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:
http://support.google.com/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46606
Back to top.12. 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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