Women In Astronomy: AASWomen Newsletter for November 12, 2021

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of November 12, 2021
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Jeremy Bailin, and Alessandra Aloisi

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]

This week's issues:

An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.

1. Crosspost: Joanne Cohn and the email list that led to arXiv
From: Bryne Hadnott via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

By Toni Feder

Before there was arXiv, there was Joanne Cohn. In the late 1980s, she was a postdoc at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, working in the heady, fast-paced field of string theory. She started an informal exchange of string theory manuscripts that eventually became the arXiv preprint server, which has since revolutionized the way scientists share ideas and announce findings.

This past summer, arXiv marked its 30th birthday. According to its website, it receives some 16,000 manuscripts each month, and more than 1.97 million papers have been submitted to date. About 30 million manuscripts are downloaded monthly.

2. Paper on predicting astronomy careers from publication metrics withdrawn
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

A paper by astronomer John Kormendy that aimed to predict the future research careers of astronomers based on the number of citations their papers received was withdrawn after it came under intense criticism for methodological flaws and for its likelihood of reinforcing existing biases against women and minoritized scientists.

3. Astronomers Say More Diversity Needed in Field as Men Greatly Outnumber Women: Survey
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]

By Alyse Messmer

"The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued a report Thursday, calling for more diversity in the field among other goals for the next 10 years.

The survey of astronomers is done every 10 years and aims to draw various inputs from mostly U.S.-based scientists. The 614-page report stressed the importance and need for greater diversity in a field that is still predominantly male.

It urged NASA and the National Science Foundation And Energy Department to also treat harassment and discrimination "as forms of scientific misconduct," and to add more diversity to its upper levels. The report also calls on NASA to consider and prioritize a science team's diversity when doling out money for projects or research."

4. Confronting Inappropriate Behavior and Harassment in Physics
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]

By Susan Blessing

This month’s Back Page article is horrifying. For most of us, it is easy to say “that doesn’t happen here” because the author hasn’t named people, places, or her field. However, it could be happening at your institution, or mine.

Tales of not being able to go to HR and of not being heard by supervisors are all too common—these are difficult issues to deal with, and people shy away from confronting others about their inappropriate behavior, even when they are witnesses.

Read the back page article at

https://aps.org/publications/apsnews/202111/backpage.cfm

5. Free Workshop for Early-Career Astronomers Who Want to Do Better Outreach
From: Andrew Fraknoi [fraknoiandrew_at_fhda.edu]

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the NSF On the Spot Feedback (OTSF) project are sponsoring a free skill-building workshop -- and an ongoing community of practice -- to support early-career astronomers in providing effective outreach to schools, families, and the public. Working with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), the Portal to the Public Project, and other outreach organizations, the AAS Astronomy Ambassadors program (now in its tenth year) offers two days of hands-on training, extensive resources, and pre-tested activities – plus the opportunity to join a like-minded group of peers. We are seeking a cohort of new AAS Astronomy Ambassadors for 2022.

For more information about the workshop and a link to the online application, see

https://aas.org/form/aas239-astronomy-ambassadors-application

6. Senators launch bipartisan Women in STEM Caucus
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Rebecca Klar

"Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) are launching a bipartisan caucus focused on creating more access and pathways for women and girls to participate in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.

The caucus will offer a platform for lawmakers and industry leaders to discuss solutions to address the lack of diversity in STEM, the senators said."

7. Scientists count the career costs of COVID
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Another study has shed light on the effects of the pandemic on the productivity of women. The authors "showed that the pandemic changed the priorities of academic mothers in a direction that is unfavorable to their careers: mothers devoted most of their time to teaching duties and stopped research. Moreover, they felt an increased gap in their relative competitiveness with male and childless colleagues."

Read a summary here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03040-1

Read the peer-reviewed journal article here:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616696.2020.1809690

8. IAU Women in Astronomy working group survey
From: Kimberly Arcand [kkowal_at_cfa.harvard.edu]

The IAU Women in Astronomy Working Group is conducting a survey to study the career challenges faced by women in astronomy and STEM. The survey will be used to create awareness and inform the community about career challenges faced by Women in Astronomy and STEM career worldwide, and can be taken anonymously.

Take the survey at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScS4jZu5Ee8_ca2nNjlSXbC04AG0EOfuT2WsTawIIeQjEb43A/viewform

9. Women in Science. Lessons from the Baby Boom
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research has studied the careers of scientists of the baby boom generation, and particularly the unique career trajectories of scientists who are mothers, whose careers tended to have later but longer peaks of productivity than those of other scientists. This delay had a measurable impact on their rates of getting tenure (27% compared to 48% for fathers or 46% for women without children).

Read the full report at

https://www.nber.org/papers/w29436

10. Job Opportunities

For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here: https://aas.org/comms/cswa/resources/Diversity

- Professor Harry Messel Research Fellowship (Women Only), University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
https://usyd.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/USYD_EXTERNAL_CAREER_SITE/job/Camperdown-Campus/Professor-Harry-Messel-Research-Fellowship--Women-Only-_0085942-1

- Dean's Postdoc, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
https://careers.ua.edu/jobs/post-doc-visiting-scientist-physics-astronomy-phay-514691-tuscaloosa-alabama-united-states

- Assistant Professor in Physics & Astronomy, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
https://appstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/30592

- Postdoctoral Fellow, Adler Planetarium / Northwestern University CIERA Center for Astrophysics, Chicago/Evanston, IL
https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/6644d399

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13. Access to Past Issues

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Women In Astronomy

Friday, November 12, 2021

AASWomen Newsletter for November 12, 2021

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