Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for October 05, 2018

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of October 05, 2018
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride

This week's issues:

1. Donna Strickland and Frances Arnold win Nobel Prizes
From: Cristina Thomas via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The winners of the Nobel Prizes were announced this week and two women, Donna Strickland and Frances Arnold, have been honored for their extraordinary contributions to the sciences.

2. What the Nobels are - and aren't - doing to encourage diversity
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu] and JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

The Nobel Prize committee is reminding nominators that diversity matters by explicitly asking them to "consider diversity in gender, geography and topic for the 2019 prize". These measures should help to ensure that outstanding scientists are not overlooked.

3. Women of Color in STEM programs research study
From: Kerrie Wilkins-Yel [kgwilkin_at_indiana.edu]

My team and I are currently conducting a study that seeks to understand the gendered and racialized experiences that graduate and post-doctoral women of color may experience in their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.

In order to participate in this study, students must: (a) identify as female; (b) belong to any of the following racial/ethnic group(s): Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Native American, Asian American, Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander; (c) be currently enrolled in a graduate or post-doc program in the physical sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

To participate, please click on the following link:

http://bit.ly/STEM-WOC

4. NAS gathering on preventing sexual harassment
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]

"On November 9, 2018, join the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for a convocation on developing and implementing policies, procedures, and practices to prevent sexual harassment in academia. Building on the recommendations in the recent report Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine, this event will bring together academic leaders, Title IX and diversity officers, ombudsmen, researchers in sexual harassment, and leaders from professional societies, foundations, and federal agencies to discuss strategies and share promising practices."

5. Cern scientist: 'Physics built by men - not by invitation'
From: Alexander L. Rudolph [alrudolph_at_cpp.edu] and Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]

"A senior scientist has given what has been described as a 'highly offensive' presentation about the role of women in physics, the BBC has learned.

At a workshop organised by Cern, Prof Alessandro Strumia of Pisa University said that 'physics was invented and built by men, it's not by invitation'."

Strumia has since been suspended from Cern:

https://phys.org/news/2018-10-cern-scientist-offensive-women-science.html

6. The alpha males of physics
From: Heather Flewelling [heather_at_ifa.hawaii.edu]

"The next day after the Strumia scandal, Donna Strickland was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics, first woman in 55 years. The Canadian (who incidentally is probably the only Nobel awardee of last decades not being a full professor) shares the Prize with two men, the US-American Arthur Ashkin and Gerard Mourou, institute director at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris area, France. And the laser optics physicist Mourou is apparently a kind of alpha male who doesn’t waste time on arguing about the alleged science of female inferiority in seminars, like Strumia does. Mourou made it perfectly clear already in a 2013 video what the roles of males and females in physics are."

https://forbetterscience.com/2018/10/02/the-alpha-males-of-physics

7. California has a new law: No more all-male boards
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Publicly traded firms in California are now required "to place at least one woman on their board of directors by the end of 2019 — or face a penalty....It also requires companies with five directors to add two women by the end of 2021, and companies with six or more directors to add at least three more women by the end of the same year."

8. Saving the World, One Science Fair at a Time
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

"When I was 16, I participated in the Montgomery County, Maryland science fair. My entry was - as I recognized even at the time - a fairly middling effort, more a research project than an original experiment. I was not surprised when I walked away with an appropriately middling 'honorable mention' in my category. It was an inspiring experience anyway, for reasons that are perceptively captured in the marvelous new documentary Science Fair."

9. Job Opportunities
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their
organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:
https://cswa.aas.org/diversity.html#howtoincrease

- 4 Tenure-Track Assistant or Associate Professors, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/2f7fc75a

- Tenure-Track Assistant or Associate Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Hilo https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/758917b1

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Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

	Katie Eckert
	Regina Jorgenson
	JoEllen McBride
	Christina Richey
	Joan Schmelz

Friday, October 5, 2018

AASWomen Newsletter for October 05, 2018