Issue of May 24, 2019
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, JoEllen McBride, and Ale Aloisi (guest ed.)
[AAS has migrated their email system to Microsoft Exchange, so please check your spam folder if you did not receive the newsletter this week. It is no longer possible to subscribe or unsubscribe to the AASWomen newsletter by means of Google Groups, and we continue to work on developing new instructions. Please follow us on social media for updates and bear with us as we work out all the kinks.
Twitter @AAS_Women Facebook https://bit.ly/2PkU9of]
This week's issues:
1. Taking Over the Reins of the Women in Astronomy Blog
2. Gendered Observation: The Contribution of Women to the Astronomical Diaries of Mesopotamia
3. 18 Famous Women Who Explored Space
4. Looking at the State of Women in Engineering
5. What It's Like To Be An Asian American Woman In STEM Today
6. Why only 18% of data scientists are women
7. Twitter responses show sexual harassment is rife at academic conferences
8. The Disturbing Resilience of Scientific Racism
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
1. Taking Over the Reins of the Women in Astronomy Blog
From: JoEllen McBride via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Thank you Cristina for all your work as Blogger-in-Chief! I’m thrilled to take over this role and excited about what we have planned.
Read more at
https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2019/05/taking-over-reins-of-women-in.html
Back to top.2. Gendered Observation: The Contribution of Women to the Astronomical Diaries of Mesopotamia
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By E. L. Meszaros
"Even though much scholarly material from Mesopotamia lacks a named author, it is assumed to have been produced by men. This includes the Astronomical Diaries, some of humanity’s earliest records of observational astronomy. These records enabled much of later Babylonian astronomy from the 5th century BCE onward, and they helped identify cycles of appearances for the known planets, the moon, and the sun, contributing to the later mathematical astronomical texts. Examining whether there is any room for women observers in something as significant as the Astronomical Diaries, or if there is even value to searching for them, can rewrite a domain of Mesopotamian culture where gender is traditionally assumed male or forgotten entirely."
Read more at
Back to top.3. 18 Famous Women Who Explored Space
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Daisy Hernandez
“On May 26, 1951, a girl born in Encino, California would grow up to become the first American woman in space. Though Sally Ride later inspired a whole generation of women to follow in her footsteps, she actually came from a long history of female astronomers and explorers.
From the women who looked skyward centuries ago, to those who continue the legacy, here are 15 pioneers who left their mark on the world and in the stars.”
Read more at
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g27505368/women-in-space
Back to top.4. Looking at the State of Women in Engineering
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu
By Anne Perusek
“This marks our 17th annual review of the social science literature on women in engineering, and the third State of Women in Engineering special issue of SWE Magazine. The literature review is integral to the magazine and to arriving at clarity on the issues surrounding women in engineering, as well as other STEM fields, such as computer science and the physical sciences, where women are underrepresented.
[...] Over time, we see that some consensus has emerged in certain areas, while disagreement and new research questions have been posed in others. We now know, for example, that math preparedness is not what prevents young women from entering or staying in engineering programs, as achievement gaps in math and science have closed.”
Read more at
https://alltogether.swe.org/2019/05/looking-at-the-state-of-women-in-engineering
Back to top.5. What It's Like To Be An Asian American Woman In STEM Today
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By JR Thorpe
"Asians Americans in science, tech, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are in a unique position: While Asian American workers are often overrepresented, women in the community are typically underrepresented in these industries. And sexist bias, coupled with the harmful "model minority" myth, can be enormously damaging. A survey of 3,000 Asian American STEM workers conducted by The Atlantic in 2018 found that they felt that they had to prove themselves more than their colleagues of other ethnicities, and women, in particular, felt heightened pressure to defy racial stereotypes and excel."
Read more at
https://www.bustle.com/p/what-its-like-to-be-asian-american-woman-in-stem-today-17294616
Back to top.6. Why only 18% of data scientists are women
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Macy Bayern
"While data scientist is the most promising job position of 2019, that may not be the case for women, according to a recent Harnham report. Only 18% of today's data science roles are occupied by females, and 11% of data teams don't have any women on them at all, the report found."
Read more at
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-only-18-of-data-scientists-are-women
Back to top.7.Twitter responses show sexual harassment is rife at academic conferences
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Sara Custer
"Hundreds of academics on Twitter responded to a light-hearted call to share their anecdotes of the worst academic conference behaviour they have ever witnessed.
But what emerged in the responses was a disturbing collection of experiences of harassment and sexual assault that female academics have endured at these events."
Read more at
Back to top.8. The Disturbing Resilience of Scientific Racism
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]
By Ramin Skibba
“Scientists, including those who study race, like to see themselves as objectively exploring the world, above the political fray. But such views of scientific neutrality are naive, as study findings, inevitably, are influenced by the biases of the people conducting the work.
The post-war era saw scientists on the right-wing fringe find ways to cloak their racist views in more palatable language and concepts. And as Angela Saini convincingly argues in her new book, Superior: The Return of Race Science, published May 21 by Beacon Press, the “problem of the color line” still survives today in 21st-century science.”
Read more at
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/disturbing-resilience-scientific-racism-180972243
Back to top.9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to 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.
Back to top.10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
AAS has migrated the mailing list for this newsletter to Mailman. Please watch this space for updated instructions on subscribing and unsubscribing to the AASWomen Newsletter.
Back to top.11. Access to Past Issues
https://cswa.aas.org/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
Back to top.