AASWOMEN for March 9th, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 9, 2012
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery
This week's issues:
1. Is Affirmative Action Still Worth Discussing?
2. The Matilda Effect in Science: Awards and Prizes in the US, 1990s and 2000s
3. Increase your options for graduate or REU program admissions
4. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
5. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
6. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
1. Is Affirmative Action Still Worth Discussing?
From: Ed Bertschinger at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
In this week's women in astronomy blog, Ed Bertschinger discusses the recent court case involving the use of affirmative action in college entrance decisions at the University of Texas. Ed writes
"The US Supreme Court will hear the case Fisher v. The University of Texas this fall in a case testing the limits of affirmative action in college admissions set by the previous case Grutter v. Bollinger. A young white woman, Abigail Fisher, was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin. She competed with a subgroup of applicants for whom race could be considered a factor by the university in its efforts to enroll a diverse student body, and argues that Texas practiced blatant racial profiling, which is illegal.
Readers may ask what relevance this has to women in astronomy. Judging by the experiences of women students at my university, there is a connection. Women of all races continue to be told, by peers and sometimes even by faculty members, "you're here because of affirmative action." These inappropriate comments are not a relic of the past; they still happen in our workplaces and universities today..."
Read the entire post at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.2. The Matilda Effect in Science: Awards and Prizes in the US, 1990s and 2000s
From: AAUW STEM retweeted by AAS CSWAS on twitter.com
"Contrary to the Mertonian norm of universalism - the expectation that scientific claims and contributions are evaluated apart from the personal attributes of scientists - a great deal of evidence suggests that women's scientific efforts are devalued compared with those of men (Long and Fox, 1995). While overt discrimination in American society is declining, women's efforts continue to be perceived as less important or valuable than those of men. A large body of social science research finds that work done by women is perceived as less important or valuable that that done by men (Goldin and Rouse, 2000; Heilman and Haynes, 2005; Wenneras and Wold, 1997). Indeed, in this journal 19 years ago, Rossiter (1993) identified the "Matilda Effect", by which women and their scientific contributions are credited to men or overlooked entirely."
Full article at
http://raiseproject1.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/the-matilda-effect-in-science-awards-and-prizes-in-theus-1990s-and-2000s
Back to top.3. Increase your options for graduate or REU program admissions
From: Waves and Packets Mar. 3, 2012
http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nsbp/nsbp030312.php
The NSBP GradApps ( https://www.mygraduateschoolapplication.org/NSBP ) and REUApps services ( https://www.myinternshipapplication.org/NSBP ) are open to all students and allows them to upload all the elements of an admissions application, including academic and work history, transcripts, letters of recommendation and a personal statement. Graduate and REU programs can subscribe to these databases to increase the programs' applicant pool, while at the same time allowing students can put their credentials in front of more programs than to which they would otherwise apply.
Back to top.4. 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.
Back to top.5. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org
Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)
Join AAS Women List by link:
https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist/subscribe?hl=en
You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en
Google Groups Subscribe Help:
http://support.google.com/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46606
Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.
Back to top.6. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.
Back to top.- Aaswomen For August 17, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of August 17, 2012 eds. eds. Caroline Simpson, Michele Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, and Nick Murphy This week's issues: 1. Changes to the Women in Astronomy Blog2. Ntampaka and Sampath selected as 2012 Blewett...
- Aaswomen May 25, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of May 25, 2012 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. The Lack of Women in Science Leadership2. Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders3. Academic Campus...
- Aaswomen For April 20th, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of April 20, 2012 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Take the 'work' out of networking2. White House Panel - Women and Girls in STEM3. Interacting Galaxies...
- Aaswomen For April 13th, 2012
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of April 13, 2012 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. What YOU can do to promote gender equality in astronomy2. Stop Sexual Assault and Violence3. At M.I.T.,...
- Aaswomen For June 10, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of June 10, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Unconscious Bias and the Impact on Women entering Science2. Maternity leave for graduate students ...