Friday, March 16, 2018

AASWomen Newsletter for March 16, 2018


AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 16, 2018
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Christina Thomas, and Maria Patterson

This week's issues:

1. Autism Isn't the Problem              
2. Science — without the mansplaining
3. Same Course, Different Ratings
4. Female researchers publish childcare recommendations for conference organizers
5. Watch: Female Astronauts Speak About Women in STEM
6. Senior female scientist dropout rate causing concern
7. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

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1. Autism Isn't the Problem
From: Pat Knezek via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The below post was written by a contributor who wishes to use the pseudonym ExUngueLeam.

As a woman with Asperger’s, I have the dubious of honor of regularly fielding a particular set of questions about harassment and bullying in academia. These questions usually go something like: "If a colleague or student of mine is on the autism spectrum, and they are bullying or harassing someone, don't I need to accommodate for that? If I hold them accountable for their bad behavior, isn't that... ableist?"

Read more at


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2. Science — without the mansplaining
From: Megan Watzke [mwatzke_at_cfa.harvard.edu]

It’s been a rough year or so if you are a woman. Or a person who loves science. (Or part of any underrepresented group for that matter).

A quick online search easily locates where science intersects with the #metoo movement. (See the #astroSH hashtag as one example, including new allegations against a famous physicist/cosmologist just a couple of weeks ago). And despite decades of effort, the number of women and minorities in highest levels of academic science remain painfully low due to a variety of factors.
Read more at


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3. Same Course, Different Ratings
From: Alexander Rudolph [alrudolph_at_cpp.edu]

“Our analysis of comments in both formal student evaluations and informal online ratings indicates that students do evaluate their professors differently based on whether they are women or men,” the study says. “Students tend to comment on a woman’s appearance and personality far more often than a man’s. Women are referred to as ‘teacher’ [as opposed to professor] more often than men, which indicates that students generally may have less professional respect for their female professors.”

Read more at


Find the original study at


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4. Female researchers publish childcare recommendations for conference organizers
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

An on-going concern is the lack of childcare at professional conferences. While there are small grants that can cover some of the expenses, “parents with young children are often excluded from fully participating in academic conference activities.” A group of women has made some recommendations.

Read the recommendations at


Read the original “opinion” piece at


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5. Watch: Female Astronauts Speak About Women in STEM
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

“The countdown to National Geographic's upcoming miniseries One Strange Rock has begun, with two weeks to go before the series premiere. The brainchild of filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), producer Jane Root, and her production company, Nutopia, One Strange Rock will feature interviews with real-life astronauts -- including Mae Jemison, Nicole Stott, and Peggy Whitson, who opened up about women in STEM.”

Read more and see the video at


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6. Senior female scientist dropout rate causing concern
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

“Women and men enter the life sciences workforce with advanced degrees at roughly the same rate … but only 17 per cent of senior academics in Australian universities and research institutes were women, according to the Office of the Chief Scientist, and women were a minority of National Health and Medical Research Council fellows.”

Read more at


[Ed. note: requires a subscription]
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7. 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.

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8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

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9. Access to Past Issues

  
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.