AASWomen Newsletter for June 18, 2021

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of June 18, 2021
eds: Heather Flewelling, Nicolle Zellner, Maria Patterson, Jeremy Bailey, and Alessandra Aloisi

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

This week's issues:

VanguardSTEM + SeRCH Foundation
host Hot Science Summer (Item #4)

1. Crosspost: Retroactive Name Changes in Astronomical Publications
2. Women of Arecibo: Dr. Thankful Cromartie
3. Ethics and Authorship in the AAS Journals 
4. VanguardSTEM + SeRCH Foundation hosting Hot Science Summer to FUND BIPOC science projects
5. Zonta International awards promising women aerospace researchers with 2021 Amelia Earhart Fellowship
6. Google Doodle celebrates 99th birthday of Italian astrophysicist Margherita Hack
7. Katherine Johnson’s memoir charts her bold trajectory to NASA and beyond
8. A push for a shift in the value system that defines "impact" and "success"
9. Job Opportunities
10. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
12. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

Your Unconscious Gender Bias Could Kill You

Today’s guest blogger is Stella Offner. She is a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University.
 

If you’ve been a long-time (or even recent reader) of AAS Women, you will be familiar with the many perils of unconscious bias (1). You will be aware that unconscious bias related to gender can result in unintended discrepancies in women’s salary, citation count, award recognition, funding, mentoring opportunities, and of course, flat-out discrimination.  All these things are bad for women generally and for equality in science, specifically. Just in case you are still not convinced that gender bias is not a big deal and doesn’t apply to you, did you also know that your unconscious gender bias could kill you? Seriously.

Unconscious Bias: A Legacy of Patriarchy

After my June post on Unconscious Bias, Kelly left an intriguing comment. She wanted to know where this bias comes from and why it is present. I get this question frequently, so I thought I would take this opportunity to reply in more detail. Unconscious bias is one of the many unfortunate legacies of patriarchy*. Not so sure you believe me? Well, just think about it. We have lived in a civilization that has been dominated by patriarchy for over 5,000 years! The rules, conscious and unconscious, are written into the very fabric of our society. Not only do we live and breathe by these rules, but so did our ancestors, going back for many generations.

Patriarchy imposes unnatural double standards. Let’s take a common example: your family name. Other than pregnancy/motherhood, nothing has generated more comments on our blog or feedback on AASWOMEN than items about changing or not changing your name when you get married. Here are some examples of what women have told me: