Crosspost: Building a culture of inclusion and allyship for queer astronomers

SGMA, the Committee for Sexual-Orientation and Gender Minorities in Astronomy, was recently featured in Nature.com. SGMA wrote an article discussing the history of the committee, which began through informal dinners at AAS conferences. These dinners provided queer astronomers and allies with community and the space to share their experiences within the profession. SGMA also highlights how it brings queer astronomers together now through AAS conferences, online meet-ups, and community-sourced resources on inclusion and allyship. 

SGMA logo (AAS)

In the Nature.com article, SGMA states, "Thus, it is imperative that all members of the astronomy community, not just those who identify as queer, engage in advocacy efforts to protect and advance the rights of queer individuals."

Read SGMA's full article at nature.com or at aas.org.

astronomy community, not just those who

identify as queer, engage in advocacy efforts

to protect and advance the rights of queer

individuals.”

DEIA and Education Activities at the Summer 244th AAS Meeting

By Alessandra Aloisi, Member of the CSWA

This summer’s 244th AAS meeting in Madison, Wisconsin will be held on June 9-13, 2024 jointly with the Laboratory Astrophysics Division. The meeting is promised to be jam-packed with a lot of great scientific talks, as well as opportunities for networking with colleagues and learning more about the state of our profession, equity, inclusion, education, and outreach.

The meeting showcases strong representation of women speakers in the plenary sessions, including:

• Rachel Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh) - Lives of massive galaxies through cosmic times
• Cecilia Garraffo (SAO/CfA) - AI models for astrophysics and atmospheric sciences
• Erika Kohler (NASA Goddard) - Chemical and spectral properties of exoplanetary clouds and atmospheres
• Judith Lean (Lab. for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder) - Variations in the Sun’s radiative output and effects of this variability on Earth 
• Kerstin Perez (Columbia University) - Detection of high-energy cosmic particles as evidence of dark matter interactions
• Noemi Pinilla-Alonso (Florida Space Institute) - Surface compositions of minor bodies to understand formation and evolution of the solar system
• Teznie Pugh (University of Texas Austin) & Aparna Venkatesan (University of San Francisco) - Protection of the dark skies and the space environment

First Timer’s and Opening Receptions are on Sunday, June 9. Astronomy educators and undergraduate student receptions are on Monday, June 10.  We strongly encourage you to participate in other sessions sponsored by the AAS’s committees working with the AAS Board of Trustees to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in Astronomy. These events include the following:

Monday:

• 2 pm – 12:30 pm CT: Exhibition Theater Session AAS Committee on Employment
• 7 pm – 8:30 pm CT: Splinter Session Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities (SGMA) Meet and Greet for LGBTIA Members and Students

Tuesday:

• 1 pm – 1:30 pm CT: Exhibitor Theater Session Q&A with the AAS Education Committee

There are a lot of additional opportunities to learn more about the state of the profession, education, outreach, and diversity activities at this AAS meeting, including:

Sunday:

• 9 am – 5 pm CT: Workshop Designing, Implementing, and Refining Equitable Evaluation Rubrics

Monday:

• 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CT: iPoster Session Community and Profession

Tuesday:

• 9 am – 10 am CT: iPoster Session Astronomy Education and Multicultural Outreach
• 10 am – 11:30 am CT: Splinter Session Early Career Opportunities to Learn Science Mission Design
• 10 am – 11:30 am CT: Special Session NASA’s SMD Bridge Program: Funding Faculty and Students at Under-resourced Emerging Research Institutions
• 10 am – 11:30 am CT: Meeting-in-a-Meeting Community Based Astronomy around the World: Case Studies and Discussion
• 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT: Splinter Session Academic Portfolio Review and Astronomy: Potential Impacts to the Future of Astronomy and STEM Education
• 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT: Oral Session Outreach and Education
• 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT: Meeting-in-a-Meeting Starting Inward: DEIA’s Essential Role in Healthy Community Models of Astronomy

Wednesday:

• 10 am – 11:30 am CT: Special Session Towards Equity in the Classroom: Implementing Progressive Pedagogical Practices
• 10 am – 10:30 am CT: Exhibitor Theater Presentation Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation
• 12:30 pm – 1 pm CT: Exhibitor Theater Presentation Life in Hawai’i: Outreach, Education, and the Community Engagement Efforts of the Maunakea Observatories
• 2 pm – 3:30 pm CT: Meeting-in-a-Meeting Designing Community Engagement Programs from a Mutuality Worldview

The full block schedule can be found here. And please feel free to stop by and say hi in-person if you attend one of our events, or tag and tweet us.

DEIA&B Sessions & Events at AAS New Orleans

By Karly Pitman, CSWA Chairperson

Block schedule

The 243rd AAS meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana will be held on Jan. 7-11, 2024 jointly with the High Energy Astrophysics and Historical Astronomy Divisions of AAS. Congratulations to the organizers for putting together a great program and strong representation of women in the slate of plenaries!  

Please come by to visit with members of the CSWA at the following locations:

• Sun. 01/07, AAS Grad School & REU Fair
  5:30-7:00 p.m. Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Great Hall
  Booth #04
• Exhibit hall (all week)
  AAS Inclusion Committees, Booth #825

This year’s women and gender minorities in astronomy networking event will be hosted by 1400degrees.org on Mon. Jan. 8 from 6:30 - 9 p.m. CT — RSVP here.

Other networking events are being hosted by 

• SGMA
  SGMA Meet & Greet for LGBTIA Members and Students
  Mon. Jan. 8 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. CT
  convention center room 206 
• CSMA
  CSMA Meet & Greet
  Wed. Jan. 10 from 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. CT
  offsite restaurant

CSWA would like to draw your attention to several sessions in the program that focus on community building and best practices for diversity in astronomy, as well as improving diversity hiring and mentoring.

Weekend

• Designing Community Engagement from a Mutuality Worldview
  Date: Saturday, January 6, 2024 | 1:00 PM CT - 5:00 PM CT
  Room: 212
• Mentoring Methods for Socially Conscious Astronomers
  Date: Saturday, January 6, 2024 | 2:00 PM CT - 5:00 PM CT
  Room: 218
• Increasing student learning and inclusion in your classroom: Strategies from the Faculty Teaching Institute
  Date: Sunday, January 7, 2024 | 9:00 AM CT - 4:00 PM CT
  Room: 218

Mon. Jan. 8

• Drop the Mask: Navigating Imposter Phenomenon as a BIPOC Individual in STEM
  10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. CT
  Session 115 - room 209
• Disability Justice, WGAD, and You
  11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. CT
  Exhibitor Theater, Exhibit Hall B-1/B-2
• Astronomy for a Better World
  2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. CT
  Session 144 - room 214
• Empowering Minorities and Supporting Diversity
  5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. CT
  Session 172 - iPoster Hall B-1/B-2
• 1400 Degrees community-building and networking reception
  7 - 9 p.m. CST
  Location: Annunciation Restaurant, 1016 Annunciation St.

Tue. Jan. 9

• AAS CSMA Presents: Astronomy’s Poverty Problem
  10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. CT
  Session 150 - room 237
• NA-ROAD and The Women and Girls in Astronomy Program (WGAP)
  11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. CT
  Exhibitor Theater, Exhibit Hall B-1/B-2
• Reimagining the Astronomy PhD for the 21st Century
  2:00 PM CT - 3:30 PM CT
  Room: 212

Wed. Jan. 10

• The Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy Presents: Effective Partnerships with HBCUs in Astronomy
  10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. CT
  Session 320 - room 222

Exhibit hall, all week

AAS Rainbow Village, hosted by CSMA, #BlackinAstro, VanguardSTEM, and LUMA.

Read more at

The Rainbow Village at AAS: Junellie Gonzalez Quiles and the League of Underrepresented Minoritized Astronomers

DEIA Activities at the Summer AAS Meeting

By Karly Pitman, Chair of the CSWA

This summer’s AAS 242 in Albuquerque (4-8 June 2023) promises to be a good one!  This meeting features a strong plenary slate of women speakers, including:

Julia Blue Bird

Kathryne Daniel

Jeyhan Kartaltepe

Linda Shore

Meenakshi (Mini) Wadhwa

Katarina Yocum

In addition to the great science and education talks, other sessions you might be interested in related to state of the profession, inclusion, equity, and DEI are happening on Monday, June 5.

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM MDT
102 - Community & Profession
Albuquerque Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 3
9 Presentations

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM MDT
Making DEI Work: Current Issues In DEI Change Management
Albuquerque Convention Center, Meeting Room 110

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MDT
106 - Engaging Audiences through Effective Engagement Strategies and Inclusion
Albuquerque Convention Center, Meeting Rooms 18/30
6 Presentations

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM MDT
Introduction to Equity-Minded Mentoring
Albuquerque Convention Center, Meeting Room 120

And as always, please take advantage of the many networking opportunities during the conference.  Receptions and the grad student fair happen on Sunday & Monday June 4-5. The Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA) is hoting a meet & greet on Tuesday, June 6:

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM MDT
SGMA Meet and Greet for LGBTIA Members and Students
Albuquerque Convention Center, Meeting Rooms 15/16/32

DEIA and Education Activities at the 240th AAS Meeting

By Nicolle Zellner, Karly Pitman, Rolf Danner, Karen Knierman, Sarah Tuttle, Laura Lopez, and Nicole Cabrera Salazar

See you in Pasadena!

Below is the list of sessions sponsored by the AAS’s Inclusion Committees, and we encourage you to attend and participate when you can. These committees were established to work with the AAS Board of Trustees to promote equity of opportunity for and enhance participation of underrepresented groups in our field, including women, minorities, sexual orientation and gender minorities, and disabled astronomers. Each of our committees and events are open to all who are interested in learning more or helping with these goals.

CSWA, CSMA, and SGMA events at AAS

Monday, 5:30 - 7 p.m. PT: Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) 

CSWA Activities in the Context of the Astro2020 Decadal

Monday, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. PT: Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA) Town Hall: After the 2020 World-Wide Protests: Progress and Failures of Implementing Substantial Change in Astronomy

Monday, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. PT: Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA)  

CSMA Meet and Greet

Wednesday, 7 - 8:30 p.m. PT: Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA) Meet and Greet, 

SGMA Meet and Greet for LGBTIA Members and Students

Additionally, a few of us will be holding “office hours” at the AAS Booth in the Exhibit Hall, so please stop by for a chat! CSWA, Monday 9-10 a.m. PT WGAD, Monday 9-10 a.m. PT SGMA, Tuesday 9-10 a.m. PT

Education, outreach, and diversity opportunities

Monday, 10 - 11:30 am PT:  Diversification in Astronomy & Astrophysics at NASA GSFC

Monday, 2 - 3:30 pm PT: Systemic Change for Equity in Astronomy Graduate Education: A Primer
Tuesday, 10 - 11:30 am PT: Public Engagement and Education Research
Tuesday, 1-1:30 pm PT: Q&A with the AAS Education Committee
Tuesday, 5:30 - 6:30 pm PT: Education Programs, Resources, and Research iPoster
Wednesday, 10 - 11:30 am PT: College Education and Outreach Programs

An exhibitor theater presentation, “Life in Hawai’i: Outreach, Education, and the Community Engagement Efforts of the Maunakea Observatories” will be presented on Tuesday, from 3 - 3:30 pm and on Wednesday from 12:30 - 1 pm PT. The full block schedule can be found here. And if you attend one of our events, feel free to say hi in-person or tag and tweet us! 

Reach out if you have any questions

Nicolle Zellner and Karly Pitman (CSWA, @AAS_Women, CSWA on Facebook)
Rolf Danner (SGMA)

Karen Knierman and Sarah Tuttle (WGAD, @AAS_WGAD)
Laura Lopez and Nicole Cabrera Salazar (CSMA, @AAS_CSMA, CSMA on Facebook, AstronomyinColor Blog) 

IDEA Actions for Our Science Communities

By Nicolle Zellner and Karly Pitman, CSWA co-Chairs

In the past few years, there has been a noticeable shift in how organizations, institutions, and professional societies (among others) are integrating inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA), justice, and/or belonging into their daily practices. The Women in Astronomy blog has published numerous posts on this topic while highlighting IDEA advocates and allies. In a recent post, Joan Schmelz, director of the Science and Technology Institute and the NASA Postdoctoral Program at Universities Space Research Association, wrote about her approach for intentionally infusing IDEA culture throughout Astronomy.

There are plenty of resources out there and multiple ways to become educated about best practices, lessons learned, and practical applications. This week, Advancing IDEA in Planetary Science is taking place. The goal of this virtual conference is to “ensure that the planetary science community can take giant leaps in advancing IDEA principles in the workforce over the next decade.” The conference is free and registration is open. Whether a planetary scientist or not, the talks and workshops are sure to be engaging, informative, and inspiring. There will also be two working sessions (Apr. 28 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CDT and Apr. 29 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT) to develop detailed and tangible recommendations for the community.

NASA’s DEIA Strategic Plan (2022-2026) includes multiple key performance goals. For example, one aims to ensure that recruitment plans focus on underrepresented individuals and members of underserved communities and individuals with disabilities. Others aim to build a diverse future science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce by engaging students in authentic learning experiences; implement a continuous pay equity assessment process; and develop and implement automated, analytic products centered around measuring demographic representation and trends (among others). NASA’s Equity Action Plan will focus on increasing integration and utilization of contractors and businesses from underserved communities; enhancing grants and cooperative agreements to advance opportunities, access, and representation for underserved communities; leveraging Earth Science and socioeconomic data to help mitigate environmental challenges in underserved communities; and advancing external civil rights compliance. The National Science Foundation has also recently updated its Strategic Plan (NSF 2022-2026) and diversity is mentioned in several places, drawing from the National Science Board's Vision 2030 recommendations. While many diversity working groups and institutions don't necessarily have the budgets to execute to the scale of the funding agencies, actions at the federal level should serve to inspire individuals and institutions that are funded by NASA in developing their IDEA goals.

The American Astronomical Society itself has also infused IDEA into its own Strategic Plan (2021-2026), with the goal of implementing recommendations made by recent IDEA task forces and consortia. Members of its inclusion committees, CSWA, SGMA, WGAD, and CSMA, meet regularly and collect and publish resources to help advance careers of AAS members in general.

But perhaps the biggest sea change in encouraging the implementation of IDEA practices occurred when the National Academies required that both the Astrophysics and Planetary Science and Astrobiology decadal surveys include a study of the state of the profession. The Astro2020 decadal report, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, urges federal agencies to ensure that their scientific integrity policies address harassment and discrimination by individuals as forms of scientific misconduct. The report also encourages federal funding agencies to establish a consistent format and policy for regularly collecting, evaluating, and publicly reporting demographic data and indicators and then consider using that information in the evaluation of funding awards (e.g.,  individual investigators, project and mission teams, third-party organizations that manage facilities). In a similar vein the just-released Planetary Science and Astrobiology (PS&AB) Decadal Survey, Origins, Worlds, and Life, also recommends collecting data concerning workplace climate, as well as data on the size, identity, and demographics of the PS&AB community; broadening opportunities to advance the state of the profession; and recognizing the need for an inclusive and inviting community free of hostility and harassment. That the decadal reports of both of these closely related scientific communities make similar recommendations means that the importance of a diverse and healthy workforce is finally being acknowledged. Now it’s up to us - members of these communities - to capitalize on this momentum and take action to bring these recommendations to life.

Here are some ways that you can take action in the short term: 

• Participate in upcoming events at the 240th AAS meeting in Pasadena, CA

• CSWA splinter session, June 13, 5:30 - 7 pm PT

• Other sessions TBD, so check the schedule when it’s published

• Volunteer to be a part of the AAS inclusion committees

• CSWA, SGMA, CSMA, WGAD

• Be a mentor on AAS’s new mentoring platform, Mentoring365

Resources:

WGAD, AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability 

SGMA, AAS Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy 

CSMA, AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy

CSWA, AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the American Geophysical Union

International Astronomical Union, Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion

Statement by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

AASWomen Newsletter for March 25, 2022

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 25, 2022
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Alessandra Aloisi, Jeremy Bailin and Sethanne Howard

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

This week's issues:

1. Expanding Space in Astrophysics: A Wikipedia Edit-a-thon  
2. New Graduate-Student Mentoring Program with NHFP Fellows
3. Out in Astronomy — A Panel Discussion  
4. The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer 

5. Gender Differences in Self-Estimated Intelligence: Exploring the Male Hubris, Female Humility Problem
6. Seattle-area high school senior awarded $250,000 for gravitational wave research
7. Job Opportunities
8. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
10. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.

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1. Expanding Space in Astrophysics: A Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
From: Bryne Hadnott via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Join APS and Physical Review D for a special event held in conjunction with the APS April Meeting 2022—Expanding Space in Astrophysics: A Wikipedia Edit-a-thon.

This virtual event will be held on Sunday, April 10, 12:00 p.m to 3:00 p.m. ET, where we will create Wikipedia pages about inspiring women and historically marginalized groups in astrophysics. Sound fun? Please RSVP by April 7, using this registration link (https://april.aps.org/events/wiki-edit-a-thon). Please note: You do not need to be a registered attendee of the April Meeting to attend.

Read more at

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2022/03/expanding-space-in-astrophysics.html

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2. New Graduate-Student Mentoring Program with NHFP Fellows
From: Jane Huang and David Jones via AAS News Digest

A group of postdoctoral fellows from the NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) is initiating a virtual mentorship program designed to provide professional and academic advice to PhD students who are conducting astronomy-related research and planning to apply for postdoctoral positions in the near future. The goals of this mentorship program are to 1) make the process of launching a scientific career more transparent and equitable and 2) to foster the kinds of cross-institutional interactions that many students have been lacking during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read more at

https://aas.org/posts/news/2022/03/new-graduate-student-mentoring-program-nhfp-fellows

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3. Out in Astronomy — A Panel Discussion
From: Yuzhe Robert Song via AAS News Digest

The College of Science at the University of Utah (UU) and the AAS Committee for Sexual-Orientation and Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA) are hosting a panel discussion of LGBTIQ astronomers, moderated by UU Physics & Astronomy faculty Ramón Barthelemy.

SGMA members will discuss a broad perspective of being Out in Astronomy, Science, and Technology. Panelists will also address student questions...

Learn more and register for the event at

https://aas.org/posts/news/2022/03/out-astronomy-panel-discussion 

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4. The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

By Diana Kwon

An emerging movement aims to push researchers to pay more heed to inequities in scholarly citations.

... studies in bibliometrics have revealed persistent biases in citation patterns — women and people of colour, for instance, garner citations at lower rates than men do. An increasing number of researchers are calling on academics to acknowledge the inequities in citational practices — and, by paying more heed to work from groups that are typically under-cited, take action to reduce them. Some are referring to this idea as ‘citational ethics’ or ‘citational justice’.

Read more at 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00793-1? 

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5. Gender Differences in Self-Estimated Intelligence: Exploring the Male Hubris, Female Humility Problem
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

David Reilly (Griffith University, Australia) and colleagues conducted a study that asked participants to estimate their IQ after briefing them on how intelligence is scored. Men overestimated their IQs while women underestimated them.  This assessment of "intellectual self-image" is often a self-fulfilling prophecy; if you think you can’t, you won’t. As a result, it may play a part in explaining the gender gap in wages and bargaining power with employers.

Read a general summary at

https://theconversation.com/men-think-theyre-brighter-than-they-are-and-women-underestimate-their-iq-why-178645

Read the scientific article at

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.812483/full

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6.  Seattle-area high school senior awarded $250,000 for gravitational wave research
From:  Sethanne Howard [sethanneh_at_msn.com]

By Alan Boyle

Christine Ye, a senior at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash., has won the top award in the nation’s oldest and most prestigious competitions for science students, thanks to her research into the mysteries of black holes and neutron stars.  

For more read

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/seattle-area-high-school-senior-233614314.html

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7. 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 

-  Outreach and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Activities Coordinator
   https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF07304 

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8. 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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9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List through the online portal:

To Subscribe, go to https://aas.simplelists.com, and in the "Subscribe" area, add in your name, email address, select "The AASWomen Weekly Newsletter", and click subscribe.  You will be sent an email with a link to click to confirm subscription.

To unsubscribe from AAS Women by email:

Go to https://aas.simplelists.com, in the "My account and unsubscriptions", type your email address. You will receive an email with a link to access your account, from there you can click the unsubscribe link for this mailing list.

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10. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.