Saturday, October 19, 2013

AAS Women for October 18, 2013

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of October 18, 2013
eds: Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, Nick Murphy, & Nicolle Zellner

This week's issues:

1. Statistics on tenured astronomy faculty updated
2. Request for arguments against affirmative action
3. ADVICE: Workplace Bullying in Astronomy I
4. Inspiring New Policies from Spain for Gender Parity in STEM
5. STEM Roundup: Bias, Not Babies, Hamper Women in STEM
6. The First Step to Having More Women in Science Is Maternity Leave
7. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Electrical Engineer
8. 2014 NSF Professional Skills Development Workshops for Women Physicists
9. APS Meetings Child Care Grants
10. Job Opportunities
11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN Newsletter
12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWOMEN Newsletter

1. Statistics on tenured astronomy faculty updated
From: Nancy Morrison [nmorris_at_utnet.utoledo.edu]
Since 2011, the CSWA has been maintaining statistics on the numbers of women with tenure in astronomy at this page:
http://www.aas.org/cswa/percent_tenured.html
This year, updates have been made by means of the results of the demographic survey that was organized by Meredith Hughes. If you are familiar with the previous version of this page, you may notice that, because of the way the survey was conducted, the page's protocol has changed in two ways, although the possibility of returning to the old protocol has been retained.
* The latest updates include only the astronomy component of joint departments.
* Figures on joint appointments with other departments have mostly been lost.
If your department's numbers have not been updated, please check with an authoritative source and send them to me. Remember, please include full-time, tenured faculty only, no adjuncts, lecturers, emeriti, etc. Thanks!
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2. Request for arguments against affirmative action
From: John Johnson via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Allow me to start by posing a hypothetical situation:
A top-25 astronomy department has a major gender imbalance on their faculty. Let's say the fraction of women professors is below 10% of the overall faculty (This is a safe example since we don't actually know of such a department, do we? Right? Anyone?).
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/10/request-for-arguments-against.html
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3. ADVICE: Workplace Bullying in Astronomy I
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Unprofessional behavior is not limited to gender discrimination and sexual harassment. There are cases when “something is just not right” in the workplace, which may involve no sexual overtones whatsoever. One such example is Workplace Bullying, which can have some characteristics in common with childhood bullying. It is not limited to women. It can involve teasing or taunting. It can be overt or covert. It can be physically or psychologically threatening. It can come from a supervisor or a collaborator. It can involve spreading rumors about your qualifications or abilities as a scientist. The stress associated with a bullying situation can affect your work and your health. You may even feel that your future career is in jeopardy.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/10/advice-workplace-bullying-in-astronomy-i.html
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4. Inspiring New Policies from Spain for Gender Parity in STEM
From: Laura Trouille via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Last week I attended an International Astronomical Union conference on Active Galactic Nuclei, hosted by the Armenian Academy of Sciences. Over dinner, Pepa Masegosa Gallegoa, woman astronomer from Spain, described some of the initiatives her country has undertaken to improve the gender ratio in the sciences in her country.
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/10/inspiring-new-policies-from-spain-for_14.html
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5. STEM Roundup: Bias, Not Babies, Hamper Women in STEM
From: WIPHYS Posting for Oct 15, 2013
By JOSEPH P. WILLIAMS
A roundup of recent news about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and employment.
http://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2013/10/08/stem-roundup-bias-not-babies-hamper-women-in-stem
[In particular, an article about the UT Austin- and Cornell-based study from which the post takes its name. -eds]
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Technology/2013/10/07/Gender-bias-not-desire-for-family-driving-women-from-science-field/UPI-84401381182123
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6. The First Step to Having More Women in Science Is Maternity Leave
From: Daryl Haggard [dhaggard_at_northwestern.edu]
[In addition to the items cited above, last week's article in the New York Times titled, Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science?, set of a spate of responses in the blog-o-sphere, several of which are included below. -eds.]
By Alexander Abad-Santos
Over the weekend, The New York Times Magazine published an illuminating read explaining the lack of women in the sciences. The question we could also be asking is, what aren't we doing to keep women in the sciences? And one answer is paid maternity leave.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/first-step-having-more-women-science-maternity-leave/70254
There is another blog response discussing parenthood here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-williams/why-are-there-so-few-wome_b_4045757.html
And the New York Times article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html
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7. Career Profiles: Astronomer to Electrical Engineer
From: Laura Trouille via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.
Below is our interview with Andre Wong, an astronomer turned electrical engineer at Teledyne. If you have questions, suggestions, advice to share, etc. about this career path, please leave a comment on the Women in Astronomy blog.
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/10/career-profiles-astronomer-to.html
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8. 2014 NSF Professional Skills Development Workshops for Women Physicists
From: WIPHYS Posting for Oct 15, 2013
The American Physical Society, with support from NSF, will host two Professional Skills Development Workshops in 2014 for female physicists. Postdoctoral associates and early to mid-career faculty and scientists are invited to apply. Senior graduate students (defined as a student graduating within the next six months), recent graduates, and physicists in-between careers are also welcome to apply.
Applicants affiliated with a US institution/facility are eligible for travel and lodging funding consideration. Those needing funding assistance are encouraged to apply early. The deadlines for the workshops and a link to the online application can be found here
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/workshops/skills/index.cfm
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9. APS Meetings Child Care Grants
From: WIPHYS Posting for Oct 15, 2013
Small grants of up to $400 are available to assist meeting attendees who are bringing small children or who incur extra expenses in leaving them at home (i.e., extra daycare or babysitting services).
More information and the online application can be found here
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/workshops/childcare.cfm
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10. Job Opportunities
For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:
http://www.aas.org/cswa/diversity.html#howtoincrease
- Chair, Physics and Geology, The University of Texas – Pan American http://jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/319386/chair-physics-and-geology
- Tenure-Track Position in Experimental Physics, Gettysburg College https://gettysburg.peopleadmin.com/postings/761
- Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Astronomy, Missouri State University https://jobs.missouristate.edu
- Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Physics, Minnesota State University, Mankato http://agency.governmentjobs.com/mankato/default.cfm
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11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, email aaswomen_at_aas.org
All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address.
When submitting a job posting for inclusion in the newsletter, please include a one-line description and a link to the full job posting.
Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.
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12. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to aaswlist+unsubscribe@aas.org.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to aaswlist+unsubscribe@aas.org.
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