Friday, June 4, 2021

AASWomen Newsletter for June 04, 2021

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of June 04, 2021
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Alessandra Aloisi, and Jeremy Bailin

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

This week's issues:

1. CSWA Early Career Panel at the 238th AAS Meeting

2. How physics and performance shaped one scholar's work and identity

3. Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2021 awarded to Victoria Kaspi and Chryssa Kouveliotou

4. Former Ohio State astronomy professor stripped of emeritus title due to sexual harassment

5. AAAS makes science relatable through diverse efforts

6. DPS Professional Development June Virtual Workshop – Postdoc Opportunities

7. Naomi Osaka and the Power of ‘Nope’

8. Let’s Talk about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in STEM

9. The Myth of Diversity and Inclusion in Science

10. Imposter Intuition: Why we need to stop gaslighting minority physics students

11. Connecticut Science Center Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award Nominations

12. Australia STEM Equity Monitor Shows Slight Improvement in Women Representation

13. Sending science majors into elementary schools helps Latino and Black students realize scientists can look like them

14. Just because your early career was hell doesn't mean others' has to be

15. Job Opportunities

16. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

17. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

18. Access to Past Issues

An online version of this newsletter will be available at

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.


1. CSWA Early Career Panel at the 238th AAS Meeting
From: Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy [cswa_at_lists.aas.org]

The CSWA will host a meet-and-greet and panel discussion focused on the experiences of early-career women, including those who identify along multiple axes. The title of the session is "Current State of the Profession: Perspectives of Early Career Astronomers Through the Lenses of Diversity, Work-Life Balance, and Mentoring".

The panel is on June 8, from 6:50 to 7:50 pm ET and is open to everyone, including those not attending the AAS meeting.

Zoom link:

https://tinyurl.com/vkauzckd

Meeting ID: 995 2130 2851 Passcode: 628994

One tap mobile: +13017158592,,99521302851# US (Washington DC) +13126266799,,99521302851# US (Chicago)

Learn more at

https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9363/session/75

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2. How physics and performance shaped one scholar's work and identity
From: Katrina Miller via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Simone Hyater-Adams confidently stands at the crossroads of many different identities: she is a Black woman, an artist, a physicist, a scholar, and an educator.

But the road to reconciling these different parts of herself wasn't a smooth one, she says. It required thoughtful self-exploration and a deep dive into academic research on identity and performance to understand how all of the pieces fit together.

Read more at

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2021/06/how-physics-and-performance-shaped-one.html

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3. Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2021 awarded to Victoria Kaspi and Chryssa Kouveliotou
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

"The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2021 is awarded in equal shares to Victoria M Kaspi, Professor of Physics and Director of McGill Space Institute, McGill University, Canada and Chryssa Kouveliotou, Professor and Chair, Department of Physics at George Washington University, USA for their contributions to our understanding of magnetars, a class of highly magnetized neutron stars that are linked to a wide range of spectacular, transient astrophysical phenomena. Through the development of new and precise observational techniques, they confirmed the existence of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields and characterized their physical properties. Their work has established magnetars as a new and important class of astrophysical objects."

Read more at

https://www.shawprize.org/laureates/astronomy

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4. Former Ohio State astronomy professor stripped of emeritus title due to sexual harassment
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees has revoked Bradley Peterson's emeritus title in the Department of Astronomy after it found that he had sexually harassed four graduate students and faculty members "in a manner that was persistent and pervasive".

Read more at

https://www.thelantern.com/2021/05/two-ohio-state-professors-lose-emeritus-titles-for-research-misconduct-sexual-harassment

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5. AAAS makes science relatable through diverse efforts
From: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]

By Becky Ham

"When the constitution of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was revised in 1946, its statement of objectives contained new language: “…to increase public understanding and appreciation of the importance and promise of the methods of science in human progress.”

The association has since fulfilled that charge in diverse sectors, including policy, education, and public engagement, to make science more relatable and relevant to the public."

Read more at

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6545/928

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6. DPS Professional Development June Virtual Workshop – Postdoc Opportunities
From: Kelsi Singer via womeninplanetaryscience.wordpress.com

Join us for an interactive question and answer session all about postdoc positions. All are welcome! The professional development subcommittee of the DPS has assembled a panel of experts from various institutions and fields and also student moderators for the event. We will cover as many topics as are of interest to the audience, and plan to have a slack channel for asynchronous questions and answers as well. Please note this event is, free, open to all, and you do not need to be a DPS member or registered for the fall DPS meeting to attend.

Read more at

http://bit.ly/DPS_Postdocs

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7. Naomi Osaka and the Power of ‘Nope’
From: Heather Flewelling [flewelling.heather_at_gmail.com]
By Lindsay Crouse

"When Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open on Monday, after declining to attend media interviews that she said could trigger her anxiety, she wasn’t just protecting her mental health. She was sending a message to the establishment of one of the world’s most elite sports: I will not be controlled.

This was a power move — and it packed more punch coming from a young woman of color. When the system hasn’t historically stood for you, why sacrifice yourself to uphold it? Especially when you have the power to change it instead."

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/opinion/naomi-osaka-french-open-tennis.html

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8. Let’s Talk about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in STEM
From: Stella Kafka [skafka_at_aavso.org]

Dr. Jessie L. Smith argues for the need to gather much more data on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ members of the STEM community in order to address disparities in experience.

"We are fortunate to have a handful of professional STEM organizations willing to ask key questions about gender identity and sexual orientation to better understand STEM equity and participation, such as the American Physical Society, which released the informative “LGBT+ Climate in Physics Report” in 2016. But we cannot be satisfied with just a handful of organizations showing an interest in these challenges. We need to insist that our STEM community embrace gender identity and sexual orientation research with the same commitment that we give to other highly valued diversity work. We need to identify barriers, invest resources, and take action to develop innovative research and to test sustainable strategies that document and dismantle all inequalities in order to realize a thriving STEM workforce."

Read more at

https://www.awis.org/dont-ask-cant-tell-lets-talk-about-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-in-stem

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9. The Myth of Diversity and Inclusion in Science
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Dante J. O'Hara

"'Diversity and inclusion' has become a slogan for corporations and institutions to hide the exploitation of their workers by putting Black and brown faces into high leadership positions. As a Black worker in science, this weaponization of “diversity and inclusion” without a substantial systemic change about the global systems of oppression is problematic."

Read more at

https://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/the-myth-of-diversity-and-inclusion-in-science

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10. Imposter Intuition: Why we need to stop gaslighting minority physics students
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

"Imposter syndrome has entered the popular imagination as one of the reasons “we” have an equity, diversity and inclusion problem in science. Marginalized students are now coached by their instructors and universities to believe that how they feel is an individual psychological problem tied to a low sense of self-confidence. This is a troubling, though not surprising, turn toward individualizing what is a structural problem. If the students have developed a sense that they don’t belong, it might be because they have excellent observational skills: they have noticed that the world of physics was not built for them.

Of course, I do not mean that we are outsiders to the universe itself. Those of us from communities that have been marginalized in physics are a naturally occurring phenomenon, just like the stars and supernovae whose by-products make us possible. Where we are outsiders is in the community that has been set up to systematically study the universe through the language of mathematics and the scientific method. Traditionally, physics has been almost exclusively the purview of men who fit what Imani Perry, in her book Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation, calls “the ideal patriarch”. This is a person who is traditionally not a woman and not a “savage” person from the global non-white majority."

Read more at

https://physicsworld.com/a/why-physics-needs-to-embrace-different-social-perspectives

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11. Connecticut Science Center Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award Nominations
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

"This award recognizes a woman working in STEM who is a leader in her field, and who makes a significant effort to support other women and encourage girls' interests in STEM. The honoree is selected by the Connecticut Science Center's Women in Science steering committee."

Read more at

https://ctsciencecenter.org/awards

Nomination form at

https://ctsciencecenter.org/women-in-science-leadership-award

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12. Australia STEM Equity Monitor Shows Slight Improvement in Women Representation
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Clara Gomes

"Since 2018, the Australian government has used several strategies, tools and initiatives to improve the gender balance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The 2018-19 budget outlined $4.5 million to improve the participation of women and girls in STEM, with initiatives including the appointment of Australia’s inaugural Women in STEM Ambassador, [Astronomy] Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, and establishing the STEM Equity Monitor, a national data report on girls and women in STEM.

To quote Professor Harvey-Smith: “The 2021 STEM Equity Monitor shows our collective efforts over just a few years are starting to make a difference. But more change is needed if we’re going to achieve gender equity by 2030.”"

Read more at

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/technology/stem-equity-monitor-shows-slight-improvement-in-women-representation-but-more-needs-to-be-done

https://www.industry.gov.au/news/second-national-data-report-on-girls-and-women-in-stem

Read the report highlights

https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/May%202021/document/stem-equity-monitor-highlights-report-2021_0.pdf

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13. Sending science majors into elementary schools helps Latino and Black students realize scientists can look like them
From: Jeremy Bailin [jbailin_at_ua.edu]

By Dieuwertje J. Kast

"After taking part in hands-on STEM lab experiments as part of a youth science program I coordinate, Latino and Black students were more likely to picture scientists as people who look like them — and not stereotypical white men in lab coats."

Read more at

https://www.phillytrib.com/commentary/sending-science-majors-into-elementary-schools-helps-latino-and-black-students-realize-scientists-can-look/article_c2a9743d-e2ed-5699-b701-842174ee32da.html

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14. Just because your early career was hell doesn't mean others' has to be
From: Elysse Voyer [alysse.voyer_at_gmail.com]

By Anne Helen Peterson

"When Dr. Auriel Fournier was an undergraduate ecology student, her mentors would tell her about research opportunities that she should absolutely, no question, take — it’s how they’d advanced in their careers, and it’s how she should advance, too.

“Everyone told me, you need to pay your dues, you need to get your foot in the door, you need to demonstrate how passionate you are,” Fournier, now a conservation ecologist, said. “And I was like, I am really passionate! I work really really hard! But I also have to pay rent, and eat!”

Today, Fournier is the director of the Forbes Biological Station near Havana, Illinois — and she’s become an outspoken advocate against unpaid STEM labor. Her appeal is straightforward: “We’re only hearing from the people who made it,” she tells audiences of various professional associations at conferences. “We’re not hearing from everyone else. It’s survival bias. And as scientists, we should find that really alarming.”"

Read more at

https://annehelen.substack.com/p/just-because-your-early-career-was

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15. 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

- Visiting Assistant Professor in Physics & Astronomy, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA

https://jobs.dickinson.edu/postings/5800

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16. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_lists.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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17. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

Send an email to aaswomen_at_lists.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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18. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
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