Issue of October 10, 2014
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Meredith Hughes, & Elysse Voyer
This week's issues:
1. Perspectives from Computer Science: Silent Technical Privilege
3. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Tenured Full Professor
5. Workplace Diversity and Productivity
6. Why Women Haven't Won a Physics Nobel Prize in 50 Years
7. These Women Should Win a Nobel Prize in Physics
8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
1. Perspectives from Computer Science: Silent Technical Privilege
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
On Friday, October 3 MIT hosted a symposium addressing the well-known story told by Virginia Valian in Why So Slow? It was a big hit with the audience of more than 200 students, staff and faculty who came to hear an outstanding panel talk about the problems and solutions. Why did we hold this symposium and what did we learn?
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/10/perspectives-from-computer-science.html
Back to top.2. Do-It-Yourself Mentoring
From: Neil Gehrels via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Do-it-yourself mentoring sounds like an oxymoron, but the idea is that women can find mentors in not-obvious places if they look around. Here are a few stories of life experiences from women in my family on finding mentoring and getting inspired. In general, the lack of adequate role models and mentors can be a significant factor in hindering women scientists in their careers. Starting in childhood, girls will typically find fewer scientists or engineers of their gender in their families to look up to than boys do. This can be a serious impediment to considering science as a career since family experience plays a huge role in influencing our directions. Later in life, women will see fewer female scientists in senior positions as examples to strive for. The situation is improving with every year, but there are still challenges.
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/10/do-it-yourself-mentoring.html
Back to top.3. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Tenured Full Professor
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 Joan Schmelz, an astronomer turned faculty.
Read more at:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/10/career-profiles-astronomer-to-tenured.html
Back to top.4. The Women Tech Forgot
From: Matthew Greenhouse [matthew.a.greenhouse_at_nasa.gov]
by Nick Bilton
While spending the summer of 2007 in Aspen, Colo., Walter Isaacson and his wife, Cathy, spent much of their waking moments hounding their daughter to finish -- or even start, for all they knew -- her compulsory college essay. Finally, after hearing enough from her nagging parents, Betsy Isaacson locked herself in her bedroom until she emerged with a completed two-page essay.
“Congratulations, Betsy,” Mr. Isaacson recalls saying as they stood in the living room. “What did you write it about?”
“Ada Lovelace,” she replied. This was followed by a long, awkward silence. Mr. Isaacson, who was just beginning work on a biography of Steve Jobs, could not recall who Ms. Lovelace was.
Back to top.5. Workplace Diversity and Productivity
From: Nancy Morrison [nancy.morrison_at_utoledo.edu]
Today's Boston Globe has a nice story by Katie Johnston about a study by Sara Ellison of MIT and Wallace Mullin of GWU.
"Women, would you rather work only with other women?x"
"Men, are you in a better mood at the office when you're surrounded by male colleagues?
"Yes and yes, according to a recently published study on gender diversity in the workplace. It found employees are happier when they work with people of the same sex. The slightly puzzling flip side? Single-sex workplaces aren't nearly as productive as those where men and women earn their livings side by side."
To read more:
The research paper can be found here:
http://economics.mit.edu/files/8851
Back to top.6. Why Women Haven't Won a Physics Nobel Prize in 50 Years
From: Meredith Hughes [amhughes_at_wesleyan.edu]
by Matt Petronzio
Throughout her life, theoretical physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer was asked why girls should even bother studying science. She often answered with a question of her own: "Do girls only have to learn how to read just to study cookbooks?"
The answer, of course, was no, and she proved as much when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963 for her "discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure." Little did Mayer know, however, that she wasn't only the second female Nobel laureate in physics (after Marie Curie, in 1903), but she'd also be the last for more than 50 years — and counting.
Read more at:
http://mashable.com/2014/10/07/nobel-prize-physics-women
Back to top.7. These Women Should Win a Nobel Prize in Phsyics
From: Meredith Hughes [amhughes_at_wesleyan.edu]
by Gabriel Popkin
On Tuesday, the Nobel Committee will bestow everlasting glory and a sizable chunk of coin on one, two, or three of the world’s physicists. While prognosticators will argue until moments before the announcement about who is most likely to win, history suggests one pretty safe bet: The physicist (or physicists) speaking in December in Stockholm will be male.
Read more at:
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:
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.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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