Women Leading Pandemic Research Through Time

Coronavirus infected cells | Photo credit: Dr. Susan Weis

By Sethanne Howard

Medical schools routinely have 50% female students. Does that mean women are equal participants in the field? Let us consider the issue and start with the current pandemic. Women are leading research teams studying the novel COVID-19 virus. There is Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, MD at the National Institutes of Health who is leading a team developing a vaccine for the virus. Dr. Susan Weiss, PhD, along with Dr. Frederic Bushman, PhD, directs the Penn Center for Research on Coronavirus and Other Emerging Pathogens. The goals of the Center are to: expand the research, centralize information on the research, and compile sources for new funding for research on SARS CoV-2.

So we can see that today there are women leading research teams studying this class of virus. Were they active before then? Let’s look back at the wonderful women who came before!

A Message on COVID-19: Activities and Ways You Can Help While Social Distancing

By JoEllen McBride and Katie Eckert

We realize this message comes late in the COVID-19 pandemic and there have already been many posts by those more qualified to write about viruses and pandemics. But we wanted to reach out to our community as the virus continues to spread. Like us, you may be worried about your health, the health of your family and friends (near and far), your jobs and research, figuring out working from home potentially on top of caring for children or parents, the general state of the country and the world. We encourage you to do what you need to stay safe.

In this era of social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, we have put below some suggestions for staying connected, keeping engaged, and entertaining children. We welcome your suggestions (please comment below), which we will add to the list below. If you have other concerns, please reach out to wia-blog AT lists.aas.org.

• SLOOH free webcasts
• Franklin Institute interactive brain
• Skype a Scientist
• Live Animal Cams
• Virtual theater, museum tours, zoos, and more!
• Audible free kids books
• Free Amazon Kids Shows
• At Home Environmental Activities
• Free Movement classes on Instagram
• Kennedy Space Center
• Disney Imagineer Box
• Kid friendly educational YouTube channels by WeCreateEdu
• Science Take-out from Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network
• Facebook Live Classes by Crunch Fitness-Round Rock
• Crowd Fight COVID-19 - volunteer your skills!
• Find a Mutual Aid Group near you!
• Some neighborhoods are putting rainbows in their windows as a scavenger hunt for kids. Some are also creating chalk art on sidewalks and driveways.
  You could create window and chalk art that includes Astro facts to share with the kids as they get some outdoor time.
  There are resources for creating your own geocaching activities if you search around!
  
  

AASWomen Newsletter for March 06, 2020

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. Townsley et al; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 06, 2020
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and Alessandra Aloisi

This week's issues:

1. Meet Your CSWA, Patricia Knezek

2. National Academies report on women in STEM

3. On This Day in Women's Science History

4. Podcast: How to promote your recently-published paper

5. Short Wave Celebrates Black Excellence In Science

6. This Is Why There Are So Few Black Physicists And Astronomers (And How To Fix It)

7. The indomitable Toshiko Mayeda

8. Save the Date: 2020 Action Collaborative Summit on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education

9. Job Opportunities

10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Rest in Power Katherine Johnson

Image credit NASA

It is always difficult when a hero passes on. But celebrating their accomplishments, and the path they paved for others, is a great way to empower future generations of scientists. Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician whose calculations help send astronauts into Earth orbit and eventually to the Moon, passed away earlier this week. Her legacy was brought to public attention in the book and film Hidden Figures. Her story shows us what humans could accomplish if we created environments that were inclusive and supportive. Imagine the strides we could take to discover new worlds, uncover what dark matter is, or travel the galaxy if all people had a seat at the computer and telescope. The AIP recently released the results from the National Task Force to Elevate African American representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy (TEAM-UP) which identifies five factors responsible for the success or failure of African American students in physics and astronomy. This is a starting point to understand and change the systemic barriers that people of color face in our fields. The CSWA is also compiling our Actions for a More Inclusive Astronomy which was presented as an iPoster at the 235th AAS Meeting in the hopes of creating such an environment.

Cross-Post: It is Award Nomination Season! And it needs you to succeed

By Kelsi Singer

Hello all! I was inspired by these articles that Nicolle Zellner shared on the AASWomen newsletter, about a team of people who made it their mission to help promote equal representation in AGU award nominations.

EOS Article in which they describe their process and gives tips and best practices for success: Equal Representation in Scientific Honors Starts with Nominations

This follow up includes a nice graph of the increase of female participants in 2019

And it is time again to nominate deserving colleagues for awards. Here are some of the major professional societies and their award deadlines (scroll over the text for links):

Read more at:

https://womeninplanetaryscience.wordpress.com/2020/02/13/it-is-award-nomination-season-and-it-needs-you-to-succeed/ .

AASWomen Newsletter for February 14, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of February 14, 2020
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and Alessandra Aloisi

Mary Somerville, from Item 2
(Image credit: FLICKR/CatherineCronin)

This week's issues:

1. Meet your CSWA, JoEllen McBride

2. The Three Marys: The women who unlocked Earth, space and life

3. Seven female scientists you may not have heard of - but should know about

4. Symposium on Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in STEMM

5. Every Day Should Be International Day Of Women And Girls In Science

6. These 10 Women Are Changing the Way We Talk About Science

7. Gendered Cheese: Don't Fall For Women In STEM Neuro-Nonsense

8. A Controversial Study Claimed To Explain Why Women Don’t Go Into Science And Tech. It Just Got A 1,113-Word Correction.

9. Green Bank Observatory Fellowships and Grants

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 of the AASWomen Newsletter

Cross-post: Tips to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Image Credit: errantscience.com

By UW Health

At work, are you afraid colleagues might find out you’re not as capable as they may think? Do you feel like any praise you receive for success is because people are just trying to be nice, not because you actually deserve it? Rather than celebrating increased responsibilities or promotions, do they instead cause anxiety because – in your mind – now you’ll have to work even harder to keep them from learning the truth about your abilities?

Here’s a secret – a lot of people feel that way. In fact, roughly 70 percent of us do at some point in our lives. While change can always cause feelings of doubt, for some people the feelings of inadequacy run so deep that no amount of success or achievement can sway them. And there is a term for it – imposter syndrome.

Health psychologist Shilagh Mirgain explains that imposter syndrome can be debilitating if left untreated. “In addition to causing stress, anxiety and depression, it can impact lives in other ways. Individuals with imposter syndrome may avoid pursuing new job opportunities out of fear. Feelings of shame may make it difficult to speak up for themselves or advocate for what they believe is right.”

Read more at

https://www.uwhealth.org/health-wellness/tips-to-overcome-imposter-syndrome/52943

AASWomen Newsletter for November 22, 2019

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of November 22, 2019
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and Alessandra Aloisi

Henrietta Leavitt, from item 3

This week's issues:

1. Kick-off Post for Two-Body Problem Series

2. New Video Interview Series from the Europlanet Early Career and Diversity Committees

3. How Henrietta Swan Leavitt Helped Build a Yardstick to Measure the Universe

4. The Scientist Who First Showed Us The Double Helix: A Personal Look At Rosalind Franklin

5. Supporting Parents and Caregivers in Science, Engineering, and Medicine

6. The Long Road to Getting, and Keeping, More Women in Science

7. Navigating the 'Old Boys' Club' of Science, With a Friend

8. Why I'm not applying for promotion

9. Want more women and minorities in STEM? Address social oppression in the classroom, says new research

10. 5 Ways to Welcome Women to Computer Science

11. The mental health of PhD researchers demands urgent attention

12. Are you guilty of equity offset?

13. Job Opportunities

14. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

15. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

16. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

AASWomen Newsletter for November 08, 2019

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of November 08, 2019
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and Alessandra Aloisi

This week's issues:

1. Physics and Astronomy STEM Equality Achievement (SEA) Change Department Awards

2. National Academies Issue Recommendations on Mentoring to Improve Diversity & Inclusion

3. Dual-Anonymous Peer Review for Astrophysics General Observer / General Investigator Programs

4. A sociological study of gender and astronomy in Spain

5. In decision certain to draw fire, journal will publish heavily criticized paper on gender differences in physics

6. Being a Working Parent is Complicated — Supporting Working Families Shouldn’t Be

7. Careers and controversy before the First World War

8. The women who cracked science’s glass ceiling

9. Job Opportunities

10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Cross-post: Summary from the WiPS Networking event at LPSC 2019

Panelists at the WiPS LPSC Networking Event

The Women in Planetary Science (WiPS) event at LPSC (Lunary and Planetary Science Conference) in March commemorated the 50th LPSC by celebrating women scientists who have been in planetary science since the Apollo Era.

Read more about the event in a recent Women in Planetary Science blog post by Dr. Rajani Dhingra:

https://womeninplanetaryscience.wordpress.com/2019/05/12/summary-from-the-wips-networking-event-at-lpsc-2019/

AASWomen Newsletter for April 5, 2019

AAS Committee on the Status of Women

April 5, 2019

eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride

This week's issues:

1. Cross-post: Guide to Organizing Inclusive Scientific Meetings

2. Town Hall Webinar: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics

3. Deadline Extended: NASA Planetary Science Summer Seminar

4. 10 Unusual Tips For How To Advance Women In STEM, National Academy Of Sciences

5. NASEM Report: Preventing Sexual Harassment

6. Mixed messages about women’s representation in science—and a missing piece of the picture

7. 32 Women Who’ve Changed Life As We Know It 

8. The Failure of NASA’s Spacewalk SNAFU? How Predictable it Was

9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Cross-post: The Women Who Contributed to Science but Were Buried in Footnotes

From the Atlantic article (Bettmann/Getty)

"In science, the question of who gets credit for important work—fraught in any field—is set down on paper, for anyone to see. Authorship, given pride of place at the top of scientific papers, can advance reputations and careers; credits buried in the rarely read acknowledgments section do not."

In the Atlantic article, The Women Who Contributed to Science but Were Buried in Footnotes, Ed Yong highlights a team of students led by Emilia Huerta-Sánchez and Rori Rohlfs who searched through decades of acknowledgements in Theoretical Population Biology and discovered that many women were not given the authorships that would be expected for today's researchers.

Read more at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/womens-history-in-science-hidden-footnotes/582472/ 

AASWomen Newsletter for January 11, 2019

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of January 11, 2019
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride

This week's issues:

1. Examining author gender data

2. NASEM Symposium on Women in STEMM

3. Making Waves: 6 Women in Hawaii with Careers in STEM Share Their Stories

4. The Ultimate Women in Science Reading List

5. The US is much less inclusive than it was two years ago. Here's why

6. New measure of equality reveals a fuller picture of male well-being

7. Geena Davis Knows Women Are Good for Hollywood's Bottom Line. So What Gives?

8. When It Comes To Women In STEM Roles, The Results Are Golden

9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Does Astronomy Education Research have a glass ceiling?

Saeed Salimpour

By Saeed Salimpour^1,a and Michael Fitzgerald<sup>2

1</sup>Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
²Edith Cowan Institute for Education Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
^aCorrespondence: astrophysics_at_saeedsalimpour.com

The challenges associated with gender equity and equality have been the topic of much research over many decades. In the context of science, the issue of gender is even more pronounced, this is marked by efforts to engage more women in science, or more specifically STEM. However, the research has mostly centred around scientists and science research. This brief article highlights findings from a study which explored the issue of gender in the context of Astronomy Education Research (AER) – a rapidly growing field of research drawing in, not just astronomers, but also researchers from different fields, e.g., education, psychology, evaluation.

Michael Fitzgerald

The study used the iSTAR database (International STudies of Astronomy education Research) (istardb.org, link to summary paper). Over the years, iSTAR has grown to contain, or link to where appropriate, more than 1800 publications. These have drawn from major literature searches throughout the mainstream astronomy, astronomy education and science education journals, major conference proceedings and thesis collections. We presented the current status of iSTAR, at the recent RTSRE & iNATS conference in Hilo, Hawai’i, a recording of the talk is available here, and to see a fully referenced expanded version of this article, a pre-print of the article is available here.

Intersection of Science and Politics -- Women Running for Office (#Witches in STEM)

By Angela Speck

All elections are important, but the impending mid-terms are especially so. All over the world there have been rightward swings in governments. And these new governments potentially impact so many groups that are not in the majority: not majority ethnicity/race, not male, not heterosexual, not cisgender, and so on. The intersection of “conservative” social policies with a tendency toward rejecting science means that we (Women Scientists) are feeling beleaguered (along with many other groups).

Many people, especially those in marginalized groups, were more than a little disappointed by the results of the 2016 US general election. Immediately after the presidential inauguration there were marches across the US in support of women’s rights. A few months later another series of demonstrations took place, this time in support of science.  While women are not the only group to feel embattled by the actions of the present administration, this blog is about women. Women and science in fact. And women in science have stepped up like never before to try and take control and be a part of how this country runs.

Donna Strickland and Frances Arnold win Nobel Prizes

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.

On Tuesday, Donna Strickland became the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. She's the first woman to win the prize in 55 years.

Here are a select number of articles about Dr. Strickland's win:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/02/nobel-prize-physics-awarded-tools-made-light-first-woman-years-honored/?utm_term=.a38c57221bfd

http://time.com/5412840/donna-strickland-nobel-prize-physics/

AASWOMEN Newsletter for August 24, 2018

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of August 24, 2018
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride

This week's issues:

1. Career Profile: Associate Teaching Professor

2. Our Science Heroes

3. NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing

4. AAAS Leshner Fellows Letter on AAAS Harassment Policy

5. YouTube’s Women of STEM Make Learning About Science Fun

6. Girls Deterred from Science at a Young Age But Green Girls Can Fix That

7. Science’s Bullying Problem

8. NASA Intern Loses Gig After Profanity-Laden Twitter Spat with Space Council’s Homer Hickam

9. Job Opportunities

10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

AASWomen Newsletter for August 17, 2018

AAS Committee on the Status of Women

August 17, 2018

eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Christina Thomas, Maria Patterson, and JoEllen McBride

This week's issues:

1. Cross-post: The book that fights sexism with science            

2. Useful and Interesting Webpages 

3. Lawrence Fellowship: Applications Now Being Accepted

4. FUTURE of Physics 2018: Nominations Now Being Accepted

5. Mary G. Ross: Google Doodle honors first Native American woman engineer who helped put man on the moon 

6. The comet calculator: Nicole-Reine Lepaute 

7. Job Opportunities   

8. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

10. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Cross-post: The book that fights sexism with science

Angela Saini
Photo: Gareth Phillips for the Observer, from the Guardian

A recent article on the Guardian by Donna Ferguson discusses the impact a recent book, Inferior: The True Power of Women and the Science that Shows It by Angela Saini, has had on the myth that there are biological differences our brains by gender that cause men or women to be better at certain things. Female scientists rallied behind this message and started a crowdfunding campaign to send a copy of the book to every mixed gender secondary school in England.

Read more at

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/11/women-equal-to-men-science-fact-book-angela-saini

Hosting a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

There are many fantastic ways to raise the profile of women in STEM. One that has been in the news recently is hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon. The AASWomen editors were inspired last week after seeing an article about a physicist who wrote 270 Wikipedia profiles for female scientists.

Read more here:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientist-pens-270-wikipedia-pages-in-a-year-so-female-scientists-get-noticed_us_5b574eeee4b0b15aba92c0d5

There are a number of resources online for how to host your own edit-a-thon. One example from 500 Women Scientists can be found here:

https://www.sciencerising.org/2018/07/23/hosting-an-edit-a-thon/

A great example of a successful event at UNC can be seen here:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/UNC/Chapel_Hill_NC

Let us know if you decide to host an edit-a-thon and we'll include it in a AASWomen's newsletter!