Peer Mentoring

I first encountered this term "Horizontal Mentoring" in the article "Horizontal Mentoring Alliances: Resonant Phenomena" that appeared last fall in the Gazette, published by the American Physical Society's CSWP. But the concept is not strange to me. In fact, I wrote about it a couple of years ago, when I referred to it as "Peer Mentoring."

In fact, I have been a part of a peer mentoring group myself for almost two years now. The four of us come from various fields of science and all of us have children, and when we started meeting, we were all postdocs. Although the Gazette article cited above talks about peer mentoring at the senior faculty level, I would argue that horizontal mentoring is valuable at any level. Since the time we started meeting, two of us have given birth with a third on the way, and 3 of the 4 of us have landed permanent positions. Simply based on those statistics, I'd say our group has been a huge success!

So how do you go about setting up a peer mentoring group? We loosely based ours on Every Other Thursday by Ellen Daniell, with a number of modifications that we either agreed to in advance or evolved naturally as we went along. From there, it's a matter of recruiting people who are willing to commit to regular meetings, maintain confidentiality, and contribute to group problem solving.

I was re-reading my earlier blog post and was particularly struck by my prescience:

While I think the idea of support groups for women in science is great, it only works if you live in a region with high PhD density. Daniell worked at Berkeley, where there are more universities per square foot than perhaps anywhere else in the country. What if you live in a big rectangular state and work in a department with only one woman?

Good question! Because that's exactly where I'll be this fall! However, I have to revise my earlier pessimism about maintaining a useful peer mentoring group at a distance, because of the success of the group highlighted in the Gazette article. I've also already made some connections with some terrific women in other science departments at my institution-to-be, so maybe we could even set up our own network.

My peer mentoring group recently threw a Women in Science Party, getting together as many women scientists we could think of in the area so we could network with each other and talk about forming more peer mentoring groups, because this is really too good an idea to keep to ourselves. I hope to replicate the event at my new digs this fall and see if I can continue to spread the idea. After all, women scientists need mentoring even in big rectangular states.

AASWomen for March 11, 2011

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 11, 2011
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery

This week's issues:

1. Resources for Women in Astronomy

2. Seeking Advice for Starting Women's Issues Group

3. Top 100 Women

4. We are Equals. Aren't we 007?

5. Unconscious Bias

6. Psyche-Out Sexism

7. History of Women in Astronomy

8. NOAO DECam Community Workshop

9. Conference on Understanding Interventions

10. How to Submit to AASWOMEN

11. How to Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN

12. How to Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN

We are Equals. Aren't we 007?

A very interesting question posed by the boss of 007 to Daniel Craig, the latest Bond male secret agent of the British Secret Service (i.e., MI6). However, as M points out (played by Judith Dench), the odds are against it.

If you have not yet watched this WeAreEquals.org Youtube short, you need to see Daniel Craig trying life as a female (in heels, a blond wig, and makeup, no less!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkp4t5NYzVM

As Judith Dench narrates, the numbers are against us: Women are responsible for 2/3 of the work done worldwide yet earn only 10% of the total income and 1% of the property. In the January 31 AASWomen Newsletter, we reported to you that the Census Bureau estimates women in the USA still receive only about 78 cents for every dollar that men get for doing equivalent jobs.

The data extends to tenured faculty in academia: From an NSF report in 2007 (see #6 in the March 11, 2011 AASWomen), <20% are women professors of science and math at top research institutes in the USA. As Hannah Jang-Condell points out in the March 8, 2011 Women in Astronomy blog, only 11% of tenured faculty are women as noted in the Astro2010 Decadal Survey.

So are we equals? "Until the answer is 'yes,' we must never stop asking." - M

100th International Women's Day

Today is the 100th International Women's Day!

It's a good time to remember how far women have come in astronomy. It's a far cry from the days when Margaret Burbridge had to apply for telescope time in her husband's name. Some would argue that we've come so far that the fight is over.

But to declare the fight over would ignore those who still face discrimination or harassment even now. While women make up a third of astronomy graduate students these days, only 11% of tenured faculty are women (numbers taken from the Decadel Survey). Not to mention that the brightest girls are often discouraged from living up to their full potential. On the other hand, having female role models goes a long way toward keeping women and girls in science.

Anyway, Happy International Women's Day to all the women in astronomy out there! Reach for the stars!

AASWOMEN for March 4, 2011

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 4, 2011
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery

This week's issues:

1. Update on Coming Out (of a Different Type of Closet)

2. Faber Wins the 2011 Russell Prize

3. Gender Gap: Selection Bias Snubs Scholarly Achievements of Female Scientists

4. Flawed Study Dismissing Job Bias Thrills Media

5. Deconstructing Bunk Reporting in 5 Easy Steps

6. Seattle AAS Plenary Talks Now Online

7. Colloquium Organizer: A Cautionary Tale

8. How to Submit to AASWOMEN

9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN

10. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN

Update on Coming Out as a Survivor of Sexual Harassment

A special thanks to everyone who commented on my “Coming Out” article from the 18 Feb 2011 issue of AASWOMEN. I’m in the process of getting back to all of you. Some of you posted public remarks on Facebook or on the blog, but most of you e-mailed me directly. It is indeed true that sexual harassment remains a very private thing. Many of you thanked me for sharing my story, and some of you even called me “brave” and “courageous.” Thank you SO MUCH for the support and encouragement. A few of you forwarded the story to women you know who are victims of sexual harassment. A couple of you even admitted that you were victims or survivors.

I feel that one of the reasons our community is still dealing with sexual harassment is because so much of what happens is surrounded in secrecy. We are afraid to come forward because of the long tradition of blaming the victim, which goes back at least as far as Anita Hill. In addition, many of the victims are in the most vulnerable positions, i.e., students and post docs. They _should_ be anonymous (or at least as anonymous as possible) when they are courageous enough to either ask for help or come forward with a complaint.

As a full professor and a senior astronomer, I no longer feel the need to be anonymous. So now that I’m out (of a Different Type of Closet), I can tell you that it is a relief. Some of the old frustrations about this period of my life seem to have dissipated as a result of telling my story. So, let me issue this invitation to survivors of sexual harassment: join me! Tell your story to friends, colleagues, and the people you love. You can even share with AASWOMEN (anonymously, if that is your choice).

There appears to be a lot of us, survivors and supporters, but perhaps geographically isolated (like me) who have never had the opportunity to come together in force and stamp out this plague on our community. I feel that we are the nodes of an as-yet unformed network. For those of you that already have an active Women-in-Science group in your department/institution/research group, I’m envious!

I have a suggestion for the rest of us – a way to start small. Recently, I asked two other women in my department to coffee. I did it reluctantly, feeling somewhat bad that we would all be taking time away from our research, but even I was surprised at how much we had to talk about! We continued meeting every month or so and have now expanded our get-togethers to include female students. I invite all of you who want to insure that sexual harassment fades from the collective memory of the astronomical community to try this bottom-up approach.

Joan Schmelz [jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]

Taking Advantage of Partnerships - The GWISE Example

Post by guest-blogger Meredith Danowski*, PhD student in Astronomy at Boston University.

There's a stack of papers to be graded, a grant proposal that needs some work, a paper that needs to be written, and a class that needs to be prepared. There are family commitments, all those half-deserted hobbies, and some laundry to do. Why on top of that, should you spend time active in a women in STEM organization?

Being "an activist" is often stigmatized. The time I spend planning events could instead go into my research, right? People might assume that because I spend time that is not directly related to my science, I've got misplaced priorities (or a time machine). But as with everything else in my life, my work for women in science is about being efficient and effective.

It makes me a more effective scientist in the long run, if I have a network of scientists I can turn to with questions, if I have a large pool of collaborators-in-the-making, if I have skills beyond data analysis. It makes me a more effective scientist if sometime down the road, I won't have to worry about needing more than twice the publications my male counterpart has, in order to be judged "competent". One of my undergrad professors once said, "you can't be a physics major by yourself." Science does not flourish in a vacuum-- collaborations are often the key to success, the best way to use our time and promote progress. And what works with science, works elsewhere—specifically, collaborative partnerships help one efficiently accomplish the goals of an organization.

For Boston University's GWISE, we are working to build partnerships with other women in science groups to best utilize the available (and scarce!) resources. We hold joint events with the faculty WISE group-- not only do both groups benefit individually, it encourages mentoring and networking and fosters a sense of community. We're also teaming up with the women's organizations in chemistry and biology to bring in speakers and to share not only monetary resources, but womanpower too!

Within the local community, we're harnessing even broader networks. We advertise the events of the women's groups at Harvard and other local institutions-- giving members access to more resources than we alone could provide. Most of our board members are also members of Massachusetts chapter of the Association for Women in Science and have participated in their Mentoring Circle Program. Designed to bring women in STEM together across disciplines and career-levels, the Mentoring Circles have helped us gain access to the wonderful community beyond the borders of our universities. This makes the work of planning events easier & more efficient-- we can draw from a broader network of contacts with diverse ideas and resources.

And finally, we're starting to grapple with the question raised about community and WISE at AAS- What can men do to help? Beyond supporting the cause or getting involved in advocacy, we can, as a first and fundamental step, share the work of helping each other become better scientists and professionals. To this effect, we recently co-hosted our first professional development event with the Student Association of Graduate Engineers. By sharing the work and costs, both groups benefit, and professionally we stand together as the future of the STEM community.

Utilizing networks and partnerships with other organizations is essential to our success. We benefit from collective knowledge and sharing the work, lightening the load on individuals. With a small commitment from many people, we can efficiently manage our time and resources to allow individuals to flourish scientifically and professionally, while achieving a broader impact.


*Meredith Danowski is a PhD student in Astronomy at Boston University and this is her third guest-post on the WIA blog describing her experiences with GWISE. In previous posts she discussed how to get an organization like GWISE started and how to find & utilize institutional support.