Issue of December 11, 2015
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Elysse Voyer, & Heather Flewelling
This week's issues:
1. AAS President's Column: Rethinking the Role of the GRE
2. DPS member Lucy McFadden Elected AAAS Fellow
3. What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?
4. Agency Policies on Sexual Harassment Issues in Conduct of Research Awards
5. Scientific groups revisit sexual-harassment policies
6. Astronomy Allies Team Up to Confront Sexual Harassment
8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
1. AAS President's Column: Rethinking the Role of the GRE
From: Christina Richey via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[This post, by Meg Urry (President of the AAS) was originally posted by the American Astronomical Society.]
An Open Letter to Chairs of Departments That Grant Degrees in the Astronomical Sciences:
I am writing about an issue of concern to the American Astronomical Society (AAS), namely, graduate admissions. In January, the AAS Council will discuss and vote on whether to issue a statement on behalf of the Society (appended at the end of this letter) that makes a case for why the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and the Physics GRE (PGRE) should be optional; or, if they are used, why there should be no fixed cutoff score; and why the demographics of the applicants may need to be taken into account explicitly. I write in advance of that action because the season of graduate admissions is upon us. I hope you will read this letter and draft statement and circulate it to your graduate admissions committee. If you have any comments or concerns, I hope you will send them to me and/or council@aas.org.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2015/12/aas-presidents-column-rethinking-role.html
Back to top.2. DPS Member Lucy McFadden Elected AAAS Fellow
From: Anne Verbiscer [av4n_at_cms.mail.virginia.edu] via the DPS mailing list
DPS Member (and currently serving DPS Vice-Chair) Dr. Lucy McFadden has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Dr. McFadden was among 347 new fellows elected his year nation-wide, including just 5 in the Astronomy subsection. Congratulations Dr. McFadden!
To read more, please see
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/aaas-names-nasa-goddard-scientists-2015-fellows http://www.aaas.org/elected-fellows
Back to top.3. What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?
From: Kevin Marvel [kevin.marvel_at_aas.org]
by James Heskett
A recent study concluded that gender inequality is costing the global economy $12 trillion annually, with North America accounting for 25 percent of that total followed by China’s 20-plus percent. If diversity and gender equality have so much potential for improving business, why don’t we see more of it faster? What will be necessary to make it happen?
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-will-it-take-to-achieve-gender-equality-in-leadership
Back to top.4. Agency Policies on Sexual Harassment Issues in Conduct of Research Awards
From: Jim Ulvestad [julvesta_at_nsf.gov]
At the November 12 meeting of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), NSF, NASA, and DOE gave a joint presentation entitled “Agency Policies on Sexual Harassment Issues in Conduct of Research Awards.” For those who might be interested in practices at the agency level, as well as the overall approach in the Executive Branch, the presentation is posted in the information from that meeting, accessible at
To read more, please see
http://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134636&org=AST
Back to top.5. Scientific groups revisit sexual-harassment policies
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]
By Helen Shen
When Heather Flewelling, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu, was stalked by another scientist at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in 2014, her friends sprang into action. They escorted her between sessions to keep her safe — an experience that inspired Flewelling to help create Astronomy Allies, a volunteer group that aids people who experience harassment at AAS conferences.
To read more, please see
http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-groups-revisit-sexual-harassment-policies-1.18790
Back to top.6. Astronomy Allies Team Up to Confront Sexual Harassment
From Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]
By Sophia Chen
Street drawing for Astronomy Allies on sexual harassment Photo: womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
When a fellow astronomer sexually harassed Heather Flewelling at an American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference, she didn’t report him. At least not at first.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me,” says Flewelling, a researcher at the Institute for Astronomy in Hawaii. “So I just kept it to myself.”
But her harasser didn’t stop. It happened again — and again. Flewelling felt physically threatened enough that it was affecting her participation in the conference. Between lectures, she would text a close friend, Carnegie Observatories postdoc Katey Alatalo, to walk with her from lectures or networking events in order to avoid interacting with her harasser. Finally, a few days after he harassed her again during the January 2014 AAS Meeting, Flewelling reported him.
To read more, please see
http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201512/astronomy.cfm
Back to top.7. 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
- Dennis Sciama Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, UK. Advert on AAS Job Register: https://jobregister.aas.org/node/52126
- Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/dorothy-hodgkin
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:
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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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