Issue of August 25, 2023
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Help wanted: CSWA blogger
2. CSWA Statement on Harassment
3. Dear Colleague Letter: Fostering Harassment-Free STEM
4. Why Does Physicist Barbie Want to Wear Pants?
5. Caroline Herschel was England’s first female professional astronomer, but still lacks name recognition two centuries later
6. This book dissects the years-long battle for gender equality at MIT
7. August 26th is Women's Equality Day
8. Book Review: “Writing for Their Lives” – How Women Established a Beachhead for Science Journalism
9. How Space Pride is campaigning for change in the space sector
10. Job Opportunities
11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
13. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
The AAS Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) is looking for a new chief blogger to maintain the Women In Astronomy blog. If you are interested, please contact Karly Pitman at pitman_at_SpaceScience.org.
The blog can be found at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/
CSWA has received information that multiple scientists have received abusive communications by email or online (i.e., on Twitter) for shared authorship with individuals who have received censures from our professional community. Some of the scientists who have reported receiving ill treatment are early career and some are women. Broader discussions on these kinds of interactions and related larger issues are ongoing within the AAS Leadership, including the Code of Ethics committee and Ethics Working Group, and within the larger astronomical community. Intimidation, bullying, harassment, and physical and mental threats to colleagues, no matter whether it's in person or via e-mails, calls, social media posts, or other allegations, are never okay.
The underlying principle behind the AAS Code of Ethics is “All people encountered in professional life should be treated with respect. At no time is abusive, demeaning, humiliating, or intimidating behavior acceptable.” It is the responsibility of all members of our community to read it and abide by our Code of Ethics. If you receive such treatment you may report it to the Code of Ethics Committee by submitting a complaint at https://aas.org/policies/ethics.
Read more at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2023/08/cswa-statement-on-harassment.html
[The National Science Foundation] has undertaken a number of initiatives, including implementation of its harassment notification award term and condition, code of conduct prerequisites for NSF-funded conferences and travel, and requirements for plans for safe and inclusive work environments for proposals involving off-campus and off-site research. NSF also continually promotes the sharing of promising practices to address harassment in science.
Read more at
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23140/nsf23140.pdf
By Natasha Holmes
"If “femininity” and “physicist” cannot coexist even in Barbieland, how are we ever to support their coexistence in the real world?"
Read more (free login required) at
By Kris Pardo
"Caroline Herschel, [England's] first professional female astronomer, made contributions to astronomy that are still important to the field today. But even many astronomers may not recognize her name."
Read more at
By Manuela López Restrepo
"In their pursuit of science and discovery, the few female scientists at MIT in the late 20th century found themselves faced with hurdles related to their gender, rather than their research. So they did what scientists do: they quantified it. One journalist took notice."
Read more at
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/21/1195078546/mit-book-science-the-exceptions-nancy-hopkins-kate-zernike
By National Women's History Project
"In 1973, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as "Women's Equality Day." The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting (most) women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls.
The observance of Women's Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women's Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, and other activities."
Read more at
https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/resources/commemorations/womens-equality-day/
By Pat Reber
"Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette, a historian who has taught at MIT, John Hopkins, and George Washington University, found herself recovering from surgery during the pandemic. Engaged as a research associate at Smithsonian Institution Archives, she contributed to the archive’s blog, “The Bigger Picture,” sharing what she was discovering about the early history of science journalism.
In fact, she found it was women who led the way to interpret for the general reader the 20th century’s explosion of scientific research. LaFollette’s blog contributions led to publication of this book."
Read more at
By Anna Demming
"A new charity called Space Pride wants to challenge the space industry’s outdated attitudes to diversity by hosting a fashion gala at a major space congress in Milan next year."
Read more at
https://physicsworld.com/a/how-space-pride-is-campaigning-for-change-in-the-space-sector/
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#howtoincrease
- PhD Positions in Solar System Science, Göttingen, Germany
https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/applynow
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Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
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