AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of February 12, 2016
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Elysse Voyer, & Heather Flewelling
This week's issues:
1. #AstroSH
2. Two Latinas at Forefront of Historic Science Discovery
3. Science Funders Struggle to Deal with Sexual Harassers
4. The sexual misconduct case that has rocked anthropology
5. IT IS TIME: My personal journey from harassee to guardian
6. International Day Of Women In STEM Celebrates The Success Of Females In The Sciences
8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
1. #AstroSH
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Years ago, when I was a graduate student, I saw a professor in the astronomy department behave lecherously toward an undergraduate woman. I soon learned that the professor had a reputation for groping, kissing and talking about sex with female students. People had attempted to confront him directly and to report him to the department without success. The professor’s abuse followed a specific pattern: First he would claim that he had no idea his actions were inappropriate or unwanted. He would vow never to do it again. And then he would repeat the exact same behavior with a new, unsuspecting student.
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2016/02/astrosh.html
Back to top.2. Two Latinas at Forefront of Historic Science Discovery
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]
by Daniela Franco
One of the biggest discoveries in science was announced Thursday: the detection of gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes, a discovery that confirms many of Albert Einstein's theories about the universe. At the forefront of this exciting discovery are Gabriela González and France A. Córdova.
Read more at
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/two-latinas-forefront-historic-science-discovery-n516716
Back to top.3. Science Funders Struggle to Deal with Sexual Harassers
From: Daryl Haggard [daryl.haggard_at_mcgill.ca]
by Alexandra Witze
Fabricating, falsifying or plagiarizing data can get a grant yanked or a researcher blacklisted for breaking the professional code of science. Now, some funders are facing a fresh challenge: what to do with grants given to scientists who commit sexual transgressions. The US government does not classify sexual infractions as research misconduct. Instead, as recent high-profile cases illustrate, the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) must navigate a relatively new legal landscape when confronted with sexual harassment by grant recipients. What is clear, specialists in research ethics say, is that agencies, institutions and researchers all need to improve their response to such behaviour.
Read more at
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-funders-struggle-to-deal-with-sexual-harassers
Back to top.4. The sexual misconduct case that has rocked anthropology
From: Daryl Haggard [daryl.haggard_at_mcgill.ca]
by Michael Balter
On a cold evening last March, as researchers descended upon St. Louis, Missouri, for the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA), a dramatic scene unfolded at the rooftop bar of the St. Louis Hilton at the Ballpark, the conference hotel. From here, attendees had spectacular views of the city, including Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch, but many were riveted by an animated discussion at one table. Loudly, and apparently without caring who heard her, a research assistant at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City charged that her boss—noted paleoanthropologist Brian Richmond, the museum’s curator of human origins—had “sexually assaulted” her in his hotel room after a meeting the previous September in Florence, Italy. (She requested that her name not appear in this story to protect her privacy.) Over the next several days, as the 1700 conference attendees presented and discussed the latest research, word of the allegations raced through the meeting.
Read more at
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/sexual-misconduct-case-has-rocked-anthropology
Back to top.5. IT IS TIME: My personal journey from harassee to guardian
From: Daryl Haggard [daryl.haggard_at_mcgill.ca]
by Dr. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann
[Today’s guest post is by Dr. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Ackermann’s story accompanies this article, out today in Science.]
When I was 15, my high school history teacher asked me out on a date (I declined). In first year as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, I had a graduate student tutor invite me to a party at his flat, and when I (fortunately, and to the tutor’s surprise) showed up with a friend there was no one else there. When I was near graduation the Dean ‘joked’ about how he had assumed I was just there for an “MRS degree”. In second year graduate school at University of Arizona, I went to the office hours of a professor I was taking a course from. He asked me to close the door, then aggressively propositioned me. That same year, my supervisor at that institution grabbed my ass at a conference event. I moved to Washington University in St Louis for my PhD, where I was lucky to have really great, completely professional relationships with my advisors. Then I went into the field. For the very first time I had the pleasure of handling and studying hominin fossils. When photographing a famous one, the professor responsible for access starting photographing me from behind, and commenting on the “light streaming through my golden hair.” As I quickly gathered my things to leave, he blocked the doorway and gave me a juicy ‘goodbye’ kiss. Back in St Louis, a peer of mine told me that at a bar the previous night one of the evolutionary biology professors had engaged in a conversation with the other (male) graduate students about whether they would have sex with me if my husband were watching. Just a few years ago at a conference, a senior male colleague told me out of the blue that I was “too good looking for my own good.” This is just a sampling of the things that have happened to me in my post-pubescent life that might be construed as sexually inappropriate or sexual harassment. I am certain many people in my field can make a comparable list of their own.
Read more at
Back to top.6. International Day Of Women In STEM Celebrates The Success Of Females In The Sciences
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]
by Lauren Keating
Today marks the first-ever International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to celebrate the achievements made by females in all areas of science, technology and math. The United Nations previously announced the resolution to establish Feb. 11 as the annual day to commemorate women in STEM back in December, finally paying credit where credit is due. Throughout history, women have failed to be as recognized as their male counterparts — who continue to dominate the fields — for their breakthroughs.
Read more at
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
- Research Associate https://cw.na1.hgncloud.com/nrao/loadJobPostingDetails.do?jobPostingID=102240&source=jobList
- Assistant Scientist/A https://cw.na1.hgncloud.com/nrao/loadJobPostingDetails.do?jobPostingID=102320&source=jobList
- Radar Tracking Engineer (Open Rank) https://cw.na1.hgncloud.com/nrao/loadJobPostingDetails.do?jobPostingID=102360&source=jobList
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:
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To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:
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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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