Astronomy

AASWOMEN for December 2, 2011

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of December 2, 2011
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson amp; Michele Montgomery

This week's issues:

1. Why Aren't Prizes Gender Balanced?

2. Gender Balance Among Tenured Astronomers?

3. Percentage of Women Colloquium Speakers: Information Needed

4. Astronomical Bullying

5. Responses to 'Women as Planetary Science Role Models'

6. Working Women Still Struggling

7. CSWP Woman Physicist of the Month Nominations

8. Wanted: Students to Write on Women in Science for Scientista Foundation

9. Childcare Options at 219th AAS Meeting - Austin, TX

10. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

12. Access to Past Issues

1. Why Aren't Prizes Gender Balanced?
From: Hannah Jang-Condell Hannah_at_women_in_astronomy_blog

[Hannah discusses the gender balance of invited speakers and prize recipients at the upcoming AAS January Meeting in Austin. -- eds.]

The CSWA has been making an effort to keep track of the percentages of women speakers at conferences. Recently, we featured a conference with a very high percentage of women speakers, right here on this blog. It's great to see that we are making progress. So, when I received the November 14th mailing from the AAS about the upcoming January meeting in Austin, I couldn't help but read the following enthusiastic description about the invited speakers with some amount of dismay:

To read more, please see:

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

2. Gender Balance Among Tenured Astronomers?
From: Joan Schmelz [Jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]

CSWA began compiling a list of the percentage of women among the tenured faculty members of Ph.D. astronomy departments in the US. This list has now been expanded to include the percentage of women researchers/faculty/staff with tenure or the equivalent for US astronomy institutes/universities/observatories. Numbers and percentages were confirmed by a member of each organization.

For the rankings, please see

http://www.aas.org/cswa/percent_tenured.html

3. Percentage of Women Colloquium Speakers: Information Needed
From: Nancy Morrison, NMorris_at_UTNet.UToledo.Edu

In keeping with the CSWA's project to disseminate statistics on the status of women in astronomy, we are beginning to gather information on the number of women speakers in astronomy colloquium series. Therefore, we would welcome submissions of numbers of speakers in your department, by academic term. If your organization has a joint physics and astronomy colloquium series - or some other combination of disciplines - please categorize the male and female speakers by discipline. Numbers for the current academic term (quarter or semester) or previous terms are welcome.

Please send the information to the CSWA Webmaster, Nancy Morrison, NMorris_at_UTNet.UToledo.Edu . Your help will be warmly appreciated.

4. Astronomical Bullying
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]

The CSWA will host a Town Hall on the topic of astronomical bullying at the 220th AAS meeting to be held in Anchorage, Alaska. The Town Hall meeting entitled "CSWA: Introduction to Astronomical Bullying" is scheduled for Monday, 11 June 2012, 12:45 PM to 1:45 PM.

New information including this subject can be found at our webpage, under 'What's New'

http://www.aas.org/cswa

5. Responses to 'Women as Planetary Science Role Models'
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]

Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall and listen to men and women openly discuss the role of women in science? Seventy comments have been posted since April 29, 2011 to Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog on 'Women as Planetary Science Role Models.'

For example,

Patrick says, "Not that many people in general are interested in either science or engineering these days. I?ll guess it?s the ?Science is Hard? issue. The same issues seem to apply to both males and females these days (based on some younger friends I have). Students head off to business schools, law, or humanities because they?re easier and you still get a diploma."

Radwaste says, "Let?s be real skeptics here and get a definition applied. What is not needed is 'gender equity' as 'the same number of female astronomers as men.' What is needed is 'equity' as opportunity not based on 'gender.' In many professions, this distinction is not clear. In my particular location, it meant the hiring of incompetent people to meet a quota. This makes output worse than if they were not hired. What is needed is the abolition of discrimination NOT BASED ON PERFORMANCE. If you can?t do what Phil [Plait, creator of Bad Astronomy] did to get his PhD, then you probably shouldn?t have one. If you can, then I cheer wildly at your achievements, take a bow! I?m sure that?s what Phil had in mind ? I just wanted to make sure it?s clear."

Helen says "Some of these comments are so alienating. I?m a woman and I read the blog, I like science, and I don?t believe in astrology."

To read more on the informing blog and the various takes on the blog, please see

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/04/29/women-as-planetary-science-role-models

6. Working Women Still Struggling
From: John Leibacher [[email protected]]

SINCE 1970 the proportion of women in the workforce across the rich world has increased from 48% to 64%, a sharp rise but one which nevertheless leaves women in rich countries underemployed compared with women in China. There are large variations from country to country, but the broad trend in most places is still slightly upwards. Yet while women have made big strides in all kinds of careers they find it harder than men to bag the most senior jobs. Just 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. And despite sheaves of equal-pay legislation, women still get paid less than men for comparable work. This week's special report explores the reasons why progress seems to have stalled and what can be done about it.

To read more, please see the blog

7. CSWP Woman Physicist of the Month Nominations
From: WIPHYS, November 30, 2011

Do you know an outstanding female in physics who deserves recognition? Nominate her for the CSWP Woman Physicist of the Month! Features start in January 2012:

http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/womanofthemonth.cfm

8. Wanted: Students to Write on Women in Science for Scientista Foundation
From: WIPHYS, November 30, 2011

Apply to be a writer for the Scientista Foundation's online magazine! They are seeking talented writers from across universities. For more information, visit this website:

http://www.scientistafoundation.com/12/post/2011/10/join-wise-words-writing-national-and-school-branch.html

9. Childcare Options at 219th AAS Meeting - Austin, TX
From: Joan Schmelz [Jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]

The AAS will provide childcare onsite during the meeting through the Kiddie Corps Service. Care will be available Sunday, 8 January 2012 through Thursday, 12 January 2012. The cost of care is per $8 hour. The advance registration deadline is 12 December 2011. To arrange childcare please complete the registration form

http://www.kiddiecorp.com/aaskids.htm

Childcare grants are available for up to $250 per family for those that wish to bring children to the meeting. Parents are responsible for making arrangements for childcare. To apply for a childcare grant please fill out the Childcare Grant Application

http://aas.org/meetings/childcaregrants.php

If requests exceed available funding, preference will be given to those in the early stages of their careers. If you have questions about childcare please contact Debbie Kovalsky at 202-328-2010 ext. 110.

Childcare Sharing Please visit the Childcare Sharing Forum

http://forums.aas.org/viewforum.php?f=10

to find other attendees interested in sharing childcare. You will need to register to view and post on the forum.

10. 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.

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter, please fill in the required information at:

http://lists.aas.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aaswlist

If you experience any problems, please email itdept_at_aas.org

12. Access to Past Issues

http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

- Aaswomen For January 6, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of January 5, 2012 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Happy New Year2. AAS SMRG Gender Statistics3. Women in Physics InSight Slideshow4. UN Gender Equity Award5....

- Aaswomen For November 11, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of November 11, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Gender Differences in Self-Promotion2. Sexual Harassment Issue, OCUFA Magazine "Academic Matters"3....

- Aaswomen For October 22, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of October 21, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. A metric for workplace environment culture: How long do mothers nurse?2. APS Meetings Child Care Grants3....

- Aaswomen For September 16, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of September 16, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. How Things Have Changed (for the Better!)2. Gender-directed Weirdness3. Which countries have the highest...

- Aaswomen Newsletter For July 22, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of July 22, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson amp; Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Latest Issue of STATUS Now Available2. Walmart Women3. Undergraduate Women Engineers: Race Matters4. Increasing...

Astronomy