Friday, May 15, 2020

AASWOMEN Newsletter for May 15, 2020

AAS Committee on the Status of Women

Image credit: Matteo Farinella
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of May 15, 2020
eds: JoEllen McBride, Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Maria Patterson, Alessandra Aloisi, and Jeremy Bailin

[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]


This week's issues:

1. Words w/ Astronomers

2. Who Are Your Collaborators?

3. Let COVID-19 expand awareness of disability tech

4. A Different Kind Of Science Fiction: The Innovation Case For Centering Discussions Of Inclusion-Driven AI

5. Meet Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who figured out what the universe is made of

6. Workshop Preventing Harassment in Science: Rescheduled as Virtual Workshop

7. Scholars urge graduate programs to do better by women of color

8. STEM Equity and Inclusion (Un)Interrupted?

9. Data science literacy survey

10. Must-Watch Movies That Promote Women In STEM

11. Job Opportunities

12. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

14. Access to Past Issues


1. Words w/ Astronomers
From: Pat Knezek and Nicolle Zellner via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

As we enter the second month of remote instruction for many of us, with just a few more weeks to go until the end of the semester, and as we continue to endure and exit from "safer at home" orders that limit physical interactions, we share with you positive, inspiring words and images that will remind us to take of ourselves and each other.

Read more at

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2020/05/words-w-astronomers.html

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2. Who Are Your Collaborators?
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Journal editors at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) analyzed thousands of AGU meeting abstracts and publications to understand how people interact as co-authors. They looked for patterns by gender, age, and ethnicity. What they found may not surprise you.

Read more and find links to their two scientific journal articles at

https://eos.org/editors-vox/who-are-your-collaborators

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3. Let COVID-19 expand awareness of disability tech
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

By Ashley Shew

"All around me, I see academic colleagues adopting disability-led hacks and long-sought accommodations. I wish everyone had thought about these workarounds — and about disabled people at all — earlier. When lockdowns end, we must not forget these lessons, not least because the pandemic will disable people, and the impacts will be felt most by the most vulnerable parts of society."

Read more at

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01312-w

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4. A Different Kind Of Science Fiction: The Innovation Case For Centering Discussions Of Inclusion-Driven AI
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Annie Brown

"When we think of the future of AI, many of us think of sentient robots or self-driving cars. These current visions, and subsequent actions to materialize them, are very much influenced by popular science fiction - say Blade Runner or Her. However, what if our innovations were inspired instead by feminist science fiction writers and theorists like Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler and Donna Harraway."

Read more at

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/05/09/a-different-kind-of-science-fiction/#78db99f55c27

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5. Meet Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who figured out what the universe is made of
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Arianna Soldati and Brittany Borowiec

"“I spring quite literally from a pagan background.”

There is only one person capable of introducing themselves that way in their own autobiography: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most original scientists to ever live. She was the first to determine that the stars were made of hydrogen and helium. In doing so, as a young graduate student, she bucked contemporary scientific theory. Prevented by sexism from being awarded her degree, and then a professorship, she eventually became the first woman to chair a department at Harvard University."

Read more at

https://massivesci.com/articles/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin-hydrogen-helium-universe

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6. Workshop Preventing Harassment in Science: Rescheduled as Virtual Workshop
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

The Preventing Harassment in Science: Building a Community of Practice Toward Meaningful Change workshop originally scheduled for March 31–April 2, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona has been rescheduled as a virtual event on June 24–25, 2020.

The goal of this workshop is to bring leaders of anti-harassment efforts together to share ideas and discuss best practice methods to reduce harassment in the scientific workplace. An expected outcome of this workshop is to create a community of practice to continue future anti-harassment efforts.

Read more at

https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/anti-harassment2020

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7. Scholars urge graduate programs to do better by women of color
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Sonia Zárate

"The rapid expansion of interstate highways in the 1950s led to a marked increase in travel by Americans. While White families traveled with ease, African Americans and other marginalized groups had to plan every detail of their trips to avoid “sundown towns” en route to their destinations (1). Black families relied on an annual publication to navigate the country’s hostile terrain, a manual known as the Green-Book (2). Degrees of Difference is another sort of green book, one that provides advice to women of color in graduate programs about how to survive and thrive while navigating hostile academic environments. In doing so, the book shines a light on the ways that graduate programs are failing these individuals."

Read more at

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2020/05/11/degrees-of-difference

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8. STEM Equity and Inclusion (Un)Interrupted?
From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Stephanie A. Goodwin and Beth Mitchneck

"Campus leaders have been scrambling to adjust policies, practices and procedures to meet the new reality of remote academic work during the COVID-19 crisis. While academic leaders should be commended for their efforts to respond quickly to support faculty and student needs, expediency may be coming at a cost for commitment to faculty diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The pandemic crisis will more negatively impact the career trajectories of STEM women, particularly women of color. Failure to anticipate and respond to such disparities could jeopardize years of progress toward faculty equity and undermine inclusive faculty success for many years to come."

Read more at

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/05/13/ensuring-pandemic-doesnt-negatively-impact-women-stem-especially-those-color

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9. Data science literacy survey
From: Patricia Udomprasert [pudomprasert_at_cfa.harvard.edu]

Our team is developing free online astronomy data science interactives that are shared in the form of a story, like those produced by news organizations like the New York Times, Washington Post, or usafacts.org, to promote data science literacy. We would be grateful for your feedback regarding your and your students' needs in this area.

Read more at

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/astrodatascience

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10. Must-Watch Movies That Promote Women In STEM
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Have you exhausted your Netflix cue? Have you seen *all* the movies? Are you feeling nostalgic or looking for inspiration? Then check out this list of movies with female protagonists, including a few focused on space science.

Read more and find the list at

https://womenlovetech.com/must-watch-movies-that-promote-women-in-stem

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11. Job Opportunities

For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:

https://aas.org/comms/cswa/resources/Diversity

-Research Scientist in Planetary Interiors and Geophysics, JPL
https://jpl.jobs/jobs/2020-11799-Research-Scientist-II
-Research Scientist in Astrobiology and Ocean Worlds, JPL
http://jpl.jobs/jobs/2020-11866-Research-Scientist-III-Astrobiology-and-Ocean-Worlds

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12. 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.

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13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

Send an email to aaswomen_at_aas.org. A list moderator will add your email to the list. They will reply to your message to confirm that they have added you.

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

Go to https://lists.aas.org/postorius/lists/aaswlist.lists.aas.org and enter the email address you wish to subscribe in the ‘Your email address’ field. You will receive an email from ‘aaswlist-confirm’ that you must reply to. There may be a delay between entering your email and receiving the confirmation message. Check your Spam or Junk mail folders for the message if you have not received it after 2 hours.

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

Send an email to aaswlist-leave_at_lists.aas.org from the email address you wish to remove from the list. You will receive an email from ‘aaswlist-confirm’ that you must reply to which will complete the unsubscribe.

Leave AAS Women or change your membership settings through the online portal:

Go to https://lists.aas.org/accounts/signup to create an account with the online portal. After confirming your account you can see the lists you are subscribed to and update your settings.

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14. Access to Past Issues

https://aas.org/comms/cswa/AASWOMEN

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered. _______________________________________________ AASWomen Newsletter mailing list -- aaswlist@lists.aas.org To unsubscribe send an email to aaswlist-leave@lists.aas.org

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