Women In Astronomy: AASWOMEN Newsletter for August 01, 2014

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of August 01, 2014
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Meredith Hughes, & Elysse Voyer

This week's issues:

1. Please do not disturb: Pumping in progress
From: Laura Trouille via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

This is the sign that adorns my office doorknob every day around noon and again at 3. And this is more or less what I look like as I pump -- yes, quite the fashion statement. Thankfully my officemate is comfortable with my pumping in our office. More importantly, however, is that I have the convenient option to use the new lactation room in my building.

Northwestern University's Tech Building is no exception. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers to allow time for pumping as well as a reasonable space (that's not a bathroom!) to pump. Specifically, the law requires that employers "provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express milk." Moreover, employers must "provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public" for nursing employees.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/please-do-not-disturb-pumping-in.html

2. Working Toward the Ideal Astronomy Department
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

[Today's guest blogger is Bruce Balick. Bruce is a former member of the AAS Council, a former department chair, and the past Chair of the Faculty Senate at the University of Washington. He has been interested best practices for recruiting and retaining outstanding young faculty with long and productive academic careers ahead of them. -Eds]

There comes a time in the lives of some academics when they wonder whether they are a happy fit into the their department (or similar professional unit). To quote from an article in STATUS by Meg Urry, "Many of us have worked in unpleasant environments. What happens? You spend a lot of time thinking about the sources of friction, complaining to yourself and to others about the bad things that have happened, trying to calm distraught colleagues so they won't leave."

Frustrated department members must wonder whether they or the larger unit are to blame. Then they ask whether there are some objective standards that they are useful for answering this question.

Yes, there are.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/07/working-toward-ideal-astronomy.html

3. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Image Processor for STScI
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 Lisa Frattare, an astronomer turned Master Astronomical Image Processor at the Space Telescope Science Institute and Coordinator for the summer student program. She is very satisfied with her work-life balance within a very family-friendly environment. If you have questions, suggestions, advice to share, etc. about this career path, please leave a comment below.

To read more, please see

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

4. Want to Be a PI? What Are the Odds?
From: Carol Jones [cejones_at_uwo.ca]

Here is an interesting article with a link to an app that lets you calculate whether or not you have the credentials to become a PI:

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2014_06_02/caredit.a1400136

Note the statement in the article that explains the research, "With equal credentials, women's probability trails that of men--always."

5. Unheard Voices: Multicultural Astronomy and Women In Astronomy
From: Andrew Fraknoi [fraknoiandrew_at_fhda.edu]

"Unheard Voices," a set of resource guides about the astronomy of many cultures and about the contributions of women to astronomy, compiled by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College) is now available on the Multiverse web site at:

http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Learning-Resources/Educator-Resource-Guides

The two new resource guides are designed specifically for instructors and students in introductory college science courses (such as Astro 101), but can be used by anyone who is teaching, explaining, or learning astronomy or earth and space science. Sponsored by the Heliophysics Forum of the Space Missions Directorate at NASA, the guides include written, on-line, and audio-visual materials, many of which can be used directly in the classroom, for student papers, or personal enrichment.

"Unheard Voices 1: The Astronomy of Many Cultures" features the contributions to astronomy of African, Asian, Hispanic, South Pacific, Islamic, and Native American cultures, together with a section on reports and articles for achieving greater diversity in science. (15 pages)

"Unheard Voices 2: Women in Astronomy" features sections on: the history of women in astronomy in general, materials on selected women astronomers of the past, issues facing women in astronomy today, and materials on selected contemporary women astronomers. (13 pages)

Multiverse -- formerly known as the Center for Science Education at the University of California, Berkeley -- offers a website with a wide range of resources, information, and programs, to help educators and their students learn about the universe in a more multi-cultural context.

6. In Silicon Valley, women still a rarity in the top ranks
From: Elysse Voyer [elysse.voyer_at_gmail.com]

by Verne Kopytoff

When meetings are called among top executives at Netgear, a maker of Internet routers, several women take seats at the table. It's a similar scene when the company's board gets together to talk budgets, deals, and earnings.

Eighteen-year-old Netgear (NTGR) is an anomaly in Silicon Valley, where tech companies are largely all-male clubs with few women in senior roles. Nearly one-third of the Netgear's senior leaders are women, which is both a source of pride for chief executive Patrick Lo and a deliberate strategy.

"It's absolutely imperative to get enough women in the management ranks to understand the customer's needs," he said. "Over the last 15 years, we have faced off with a lot of tech companies that are--as you described, all male--and we won. So that tells you something."

To read more, please see

http://fortune.com/2014/07/08/silicon-valley-women-gender-gap

7. The First Female Astronomer
From: Elysse Voyer [elysse.voyer_at_gmail.com]

by Mario Livio

In 2009 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) held its general assembly in Rio de Janeiro. Of the 2,109 participants, 667 (or 31.6 percent) were women. Indeed, in recent years, the fraction of women among astronomers has been growing continuously. But who is considered to have been the first female astronomer? Most would agree that this title belongs to Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350-415 C.E.), a remarkable philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer.

To read more, please see

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mario-livio/the-first-female-astronomer_b_5568077.html

8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email toaaswomen_at_aas.org

All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address.

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org

Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)

To unsubscribe by email: aawlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org

Join or leave AASWomen, or change your membership settings: