I am writing this on my way to Philadelphia, where I will be attending the Summit on Gender and the Postdoctorate, hosted by the National Postdoctoral Association. I'll post a report on the meeting next week, but for now I'll (finally!) post a summary of the Employment session at the AAS Meeting.
On Monday morning of the AAS Meeting, I went to the special session on Employment, organized by Anil Seth. (Full disclosure: I am a co-author on Anil's decadal white paper on Employment & Funding in Astronomy. There were four speakers on the Panel, Beryl Benderly, a writer for ScienceCareers at Science Magazine; Rachel Ivie, a statistician from the American Institute of Physics, well-known for her studies on women in physics and astronomy; Jim Ulvestad from the Employment Committee at the AAS; and Steve Beckwith, chair of Research for the U of C schools.
Showing posts with label AAS 215. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AAS 215. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Chilcare at 215th AAS Meeting
Don Kniffen of the CSWA has the following report on childcare usage at the January 2010 AAS Meeting:
In an effort to make the AAS
meetings more family friendly, at the 215th Meeting in DC in January
2010 there was an on-site childcare facility made available for a nominal rate
of $8 per hour per child. The CSWA and
the AAS advertised this service to ensure that all who wished to take advantage
of this program were aware of its existence. It appears the initial use was
modest (see statistics below) and the AAS and CSWA hope that, through increased
awareness and use by the community, it will become a regular feature of AAS
meetings. The following data were provided by the AAS on usage of the facility.
AAS Child Care Program Usage Statistics
Sunday:
|
January 3 - 6:00 pm to
|
10:00 pm
|
2 children total, 2 infants
|
Monday:
|
January 4 - 8:00 am to
|
6:00 pm
|
10 children total, 2
infants
|
Tuesday:
|
January 5 - 8:00 am to
|
6:00 pm
|
10 children total, 1
infant
|
Wednesday:
|
January 6 - 8:00 am to
|
6:00 pm
|
10 children total, 1
infant
|
Thursday:
|
January 7 - 8:00 am to
|
6:00 pm
|
2 children total, 1 infant
|
The ages
of the children ranged from 6 months through 12 years old as follows:
0 - 2 years old: 2 (25%)
3 - 5 years old: 4 (33%)
6 - 8 years old: 4 (33%)
9 - 12 years old: 1 ( 9%)
A total of 12 children from 8 families were
signed up for the program. The CSWA is encouraged by this initial response. If
members can confidently count on it being available, it will serve the society
and its members with young children well.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
215th AAS: Kartik Sheth
The next in the series of posts about the AAS Meeting comes from Kartik Sheth, member of the AAS's Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. Here's Kartik's entry:
The most amazing thing happened at this AAS for me. All of a sudden I was seeing a lot of diverse faces. A lot of young astronomers of color. I have been to nearly every AAS in the last decade and this was the first time I felt that I was witnessing a real sea change. I hope that this trend continues and we finally see some real change in the overall numbers of under-represented minorities in our field at all levels. Our CSMA informal dinner organized by eVite and word of mouth had over 55 people show up! It was a wonderful evening. The mentoring workshop organized by Dara Norman was a hit. So overall, I am really buoyed by all of this -- as a member of the CSMA and as the AAS Liaison to the national AIP committee on minorities, I feel that lots of little changes we have all been making are starting to pay off!
My other observation from this very large meeting was the incredible variety of excellent science and extra-science activities. I always felt I was missing something and wishing I could be in two or three places at once. I attended the leadership and negotiations workshops organize by Kelle Cruz and also the splinter session on "green" astronomy. The poster session was overwhelming but in spite of over a 3000 person meeting, I did manage to find nearly everyone I wanted to and ran into people often. Thank God for cell phones and Google searching on my phone! ;) Btw - I think the Marriott Wardman is an excellent setting for such a large meeting esp. with its generous lobby and bar (which has very poor service but otherwise ok).
The AAS party was a hit as always although perhaps we are getting too big for it? In spite of the very cold weather, Heaven and Hell was completely crowded with astronomers dancing into the wee hours of the morning drinking holy water. The DJ (in Heaven) at least was not the greatest with very short versions of songs in the mixes but still fun. Unfortunately I had a talk the next morning and had to be responsible and back at the hotel at a reasonable hour.
Overall a great meeting..I look forward to the next winter AAS in Seattle.
The most amazing thing happened at this AAS for me. All of a sudden I was seeing a lot of diverse faces. A lot of young astronomers of color. I have been to nearly every AAS in the last decade and this was the first time I felt that I was witnessing a real sea change. I hope that this trend continues and we finally see some real change in the overall numbers of under-represented minorities in our field at all levels. Our CSMA informal dinner organized by eVite and word of mouth had over 55 people show up! It was a wonderful evening. The mentoring workshop organized by Dara Norman was a hit. So overall, I am really buoyed by all of this -- as a member of the CSMA and as the AAS Liaison to the national AIP committee on minorities, I feel that lots of little changes we have all been making are starting to pay off!
My other observation from this very large meeting was the incredible variety of excellent science and extra-science activities. I always felt I was missing something and wishing I could be in two or three places at once. I attended the leadership and negotiations workshops organize by Kelle Cruz and also the splinter session on "green" astronomy. The poster session was overwhelming but in spite of over a 3000 person meeting, I did manage to find nearly everyone I wanted to and ran into people often. Thank God for cell phones and Google searching on my phone! ;) Btw - I think the Marriott Wardman is an excellent setting for such a large meeting esp. with its generous lobby and bar (which has very poor service but otherwise ok).
The AAS party was a hit as always although perhaps we are getting too big for it? In spite of the very cold weather, Heaven and Hell was completely crowded with astronomers dancing into the wee hours of the morning drinking holy water. The DJ (in Heaven) at least was not the greatest with very short versions of songs in the mixes but still fun. Unfortunately I had a talk the next morning and had to be responsible and back at the hotel at a reasonable hour.
Overall a great meeting..I look forward to the next winter AAS in Seattle.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
AAS 215 -- OWLM
So, last week was the 215th AAS Meeting in Washington, DC. I found the meeting to be pretty overwhelming. In fact, the title of this post is a reference to the OWLT, in case it wasn't clear. It was the biggest AAS Meeting in history, which for me translated into not being able to walk more than about 10 feet before encountering someone I knew, and perpetually getting lost in the enormous rat maze that was the poster room.
As a local, I commuted in to the meeting every day. This meant that although I got to sleep in my own bed every night, I also had to take care of chores at home in addition to spending extra long days at the meeting. On the other hand, I got to see my kids every day, so hey.
It was especially fun to meet readers of this here blog at the meeting. It's always gratifying to know that that people are reading and appreciating this blog. You guys are awesome!
I also got a great deal out of this meeting scientifically. As with any good conference, I came out of it with new ideas and energized about my science. I've been busy since the end of the meeting furiously writing papers and exploring some new ideas, which is why I haven't posted my recaps of the meeting yet.
Still, I will get to blogging eventually about aspects of the meeting relevant to Women in Astronomy, so stay tuned!
As a local, I commuted in to the meeting every day. This meant that although I got to sleep in my own bed every night, I also had to take care of chores at home in addition to spending extra long days at the meeting. On the other hand, I got to see my kids every day, so hey.
It was especially fun to meet readers of this here blog at the meeting. It's always gratifying to know that that people are reading and appreciating this blog. You guys are awesome!
I also got a great deal out of this meeting scientifically. As with any good conference, I came out of it with new ideas and energized about my science. I've been busy since the end of the meeting furiously writing papers and exploring some new ideas, which is why I haven't posted my recaps of the meeting yet.
Still, I will get to blogging eventually about aspects of the meeting relevant to Women in Astronomy, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
215th AAS Meeting Day 2
I've realized that live-blogging a meeting is really hard, especially when one still needs to finish one's own talk is trying to get some science done. So, I apologize for the lack of posting. I have some interesting thoughts on yesterday's sessions on employment and the longitudinal survey, but I may not get to posting them until after I give my talk the end of the week.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Blogging, Big meetings, and Bias
Regular blog readers may have noticed that a number of recent posts were not actually written by me (Hannah). This is part of an effort to bring a variety of new voices to the blog, and make it more truly about Women in Astronomy, rather than Hannah's Personal Blog With Some Thoughts on Women in Astronomy.
Who are these people? you might ask. We are the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and our membership can be found here. We were recently expanded from 8 members to 10. You can read our thoughts here on the blog, subscribe to our weekly newsletter AASWOMEN, and meet some of us in person at the upcoming AAS Meeting in Washington, DC. We are sponsoring a number of special sessions:
Looking forward, one of the topics we want to bring up at the summer 2010 AAS Meeting in Miami is unconscious bias. An excerpt from our proposal:
I bring this up now because this story of the writer James Chartrand revealing herself (himself?) to be actually a woman has been all over the internets (h/t: Feministing). The upshot of the story is that she struggled for a while trying to earn a living as a writer under her real name, but as soon as she adopted a male pseudonym, she started earning real money. This is a 21st century story, mind you, not George Eliot's of the 19th.
So, when it comes to publishing scientific papers then, is it better to publish under your initials to hide your gender, or not? Personally, I chose to publish under my full, real name. Part of this was motivated by an arrogant desire on my own part to show the world that women can do excellent science. Has this come true, or has this hurt me in the end? I may never know for sure, but knowing that bias is alive and well in the world certainly has me concerned.
Who are these people? you might ask. We are the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and our membership can be found here. We were recently expanded from 8 members to 10. You can read our thoughts here on the blog, subscribe to our weekly newsletter AASWOMEN, and meet some of us in person at the upcoming AAS Meeting in Washington, DC. We are sponsoring a number of special sessions:
- 208 Longitudinal Study of Astronomy Graduate Students
Monday, Jan 04, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Virginia B - 221 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty I (co-sponsored with CSMA
[Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astrononmy])
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 10:00 AM -11:30 AM
Maryland A - 226 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty II (co-sponsored with CSMA)
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Maryland A
- Public Policy Issues
Poster Session
Tuesday, Jan 05, 2010, 9:20 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
Looking forward, one of the topics we want to bring up at the summer 2010 AAS Meeting in Miami is unconscious bias. An excerpt from our proposal:
When evaluating identical application packages, male and female University psychology professors preferred 2:1 to hire “Brian” over “Karen” as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more experienced record (at the point of promotion to tenure), reservations were expressed four times more often when the name was female. This unconscious bias has a repeated negative effect on Karen’s career. Ref: Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999) Sex Roles, 41, 509.
I bring this up now because this story of the writer James Chartrand revealing herself (himself?) to be actually a woman has been all over the internets (h/t: Feministing). The upshot of the story is that she struggled for a while trying to earn a living as a writer under her real name, but as soon as she adopted a male pseudonym, she started earning real money. This is a 21st century story, mind you, not George Eliot's of the 19th.
So, when it comes to publishing scientific papers then, is it better to publish under your initials to hide your gender, or not? Personally, I chose to publish under my full, real name. Part of this was motivated by an arrogant desire on my own part to show the world that women can do excellent science. Has this come true, or has this hurt me in the end? I may never know for sure, but knowing that bias is alive and well in the world certainly has me concerned.
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