Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for July 11, 2014

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of July 11, 2014
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Meredith Hughes, & Elysse Voyer

This week's issues:

1. NSF Support of Women in Academia Since 1982

2. ADVICE: Affordable Suggestions for Department Chairs

3. Stop Interrupting Me: Gender, Conversation Dominance, and Listener Bias

4. Are Review Panel Discussions Gendered? The View from Sweden

5. Your Unconscious Gender Bias Could Kill You

6. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Head of Bioinformatics

7. APS Tool for Institution Comparison

8. Study Finds Top Male Scientists Tilt Toward Hiring Men

9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

11. Access to Past Issues

1. NSF Support of Women in Academia Since 1982
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The Boston meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in February, 2013, included a session on twentieth-century women in science. This report, the second of two on this session, is based in part on the presentation by Sue V. Rosser, which was entitled, "Policy-Making for Women in Science: From NSF Visiting Professorship for Women to ADVANCE."

[...]

The NSF has been supporting women's advancement in science, engineering, and mathematics careers since at least the early 1980's. Foremost among the early programs was the Visiting Professorships for Women (VPW) Program, launched in 1982. By funding mid-career and senior women scientists and engineers to make 6- to 18-month visits to institutions of their choice for research purposes, the program aimed to make those women more visible as role models for younger women at the host institutions. The last awards under this program were made in 1996.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/06/nsf-support-of-women-in-academia-since.html

2. ADVICE: Affordable Suggestions for Department Chairs
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Fran Bagenal from the University of Colorado started this list of suggestions for improving the department climate and helping with the recruitment of students from underrepresented groups. Readers of the "Diversity in Physics and Astronomy" Facebook page made addition contributions.

1 - Once a month or so invite about 4 students for lunch/tea in your office and ask them (i) what's going well, (ii) what could be improved in the department. More than 3 less intimidating, less than 6 allows everyone to speak. Pick specific groups or mix them up.

2 - Make a study area that is inviting & comfortable. Challenge the students to come up with ideas for wall hangings celebrating scientific achievements from a diverse group of achievers.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/advice-affordable-suggestions-for.html

3. Stop Interrupting Me: Gender, Conversation Dominance, and Listener Bias
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

I've lost track of the number of times I've experienced the following scenarios:

1) During a heated discussion-speaking clearly and out loud-I say something that no one appears to hear. A man repeats it minutes, maybe seconds later, to accolades and group discussion.

2) I am participating in a group interview of a candidate. When he answers questions he looks directly at the men in the room, but never or rarely looks at me-even when I was the one to ask the question. He asks questions of the men only-even questions which I am clearly the most appropriate person to address.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/stop-interrupting-me-gender.html

4. Are Review Panel Discussions Gendered? The View from Sweden
From: David Charbonneau via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Just after submitting your grant application, you might wonder how it will be viewed by the panel. Is your research broad, independent, and showing great potential? Or, is the work unfocussed, isolated, and ultimately betraying you as inexperienced? The answer, at least in Sweden, might depend on your gender.

This past week I attended the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science 2014 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. For US readers, think of this as a little like a European AAS. On Wednesdayafternoon there was a Special Meeting on Myths and Facts About Women in Astronomy. The session was devoted to data about the participation of women in astrophysics, and the organizers focussed on avoiding speculation and myths -- just the facts, please.

[...]

For me, the standout talk was by Johanna Andersson, the Head of Equality Work at Chalmers University in Sweden. She described being invited by a faculty member to sit in on a scientific review panel, and immediately noting the different adjectives used to described the work of men and women.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/are-review-panel-discussions-gendered.html

5. Your Unconscious Gender Bias Could Kill You
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

If you've been a long-time (or even recent reader) of AAS Women, you will be familiar with the many perils of unconscious bias. You will be aware that unconscious bias related to gender can result in unintended discrepancies in women's salary, citation count, award recognition, funding, mentoring opportunities, and of course, flat-out discrimination. All these things are bad for women generally and for equality in science, specifically. Just in case you are still not convinced that gender bias is not a big deal and doesn't apply to you, did you also know that your unconscious gender bias could kill you? Seriously.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/your-unconscious-gender-bias-could-kill.html

6. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Head of Bioinformatics
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 Alicia Oshlack, an astronomer turned Head of Bioinformatics for Murdoch Children's Research Institute at the Royal Children's Hospital.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/career-profiles-astronomer-to-head-of.html

7. APS Tool for Institution Comparison
From: WIPHYS, June 30, 2014

APS created the institution comparison site to allow U.S. institutions to see how they compare nationally in terms of producing physics degrees and encouraging diversity among these degrees.

Check it out here

http://www.aps.org/programs/education/statistics/compare.cfm

8. Study Finds Top Male Scientists Tilt Toward Hiring Men
From: Nancy Morrison [nancy.morrison_at_utoledo.edu ]

The July 1st Boston Globe had a good article on this study about the life sciences, which is in its early on-line edition in the PNAS. Probably no one who reads this newsletter will be surprised to learn that male lab supervisors are more likely to hire men than women grad students and postdocs, compared to female lab supervisors. It might be a little surprising that this bias is stronger among more senior and well-rewarded men. Or maybe not. Anyway, the study seems well-designed and worth pursuing.

The article:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2014/06/30/elite-male-professors-train-fewer-women-biologists/12QftpnonxwAJ9JyIHCLfP/story.html

The study:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/06/25/1403334111

9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

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10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

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