AASWomen January 27, 2014
Issue of January 24, 2014
eds. Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, Nick Murphy, amp; Nicolle Zellner
This week's issues:
1. Our Women's Committee Ain't Like Other Women's Committees
2. What Can I Do? Become a Guest Blogger
3. My Successful Experience with Sexual Harassment
4. Lady Paragons: Building a Women in STEM Community
5. 5 Myths
6. Ada Lovelace Project
7. Championing the Cause of Women at the University of Nottingham
8. Sundance Review of the Documentary 'Sepideh -- Reaching for the Stars'
9. 'Silent Sky' and Henrietta Leavitt's Harem
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
1. Our Women's Committee Ain't Like Other Women's Committees
From: David Charbonneau at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
After joining the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA), I became very interested in learning what our partner disciplines were up to. Were there similar committees in Physics, Geoscience, Mathematics, Chemistry, or Computer Science? What were they doing? And, importantly, who were the members?
The Association for Women in Science has a handy list of STEM Disciplinary Societies. After following those links, I was struck by how different Astronomy and the CSWA were from most other similar committees:
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.2. What Can I Do? Become a Guest Blogger
From: Joan Schmelz at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The Women in Astronomy Blog has continued to increase its readership and the range and frequency of posts since its inception in May 2008. We now publish a new blog post at least three times a week, over site has an average of 2,000 visitors per week with high impact posts reaching over 10,000 views. Our regular rotation of bloggers includes current CSWA members, Ed Bertschinger, Dave Charbonneau, Neil Gehrels, John Johnson, Jessica Kirkpatrick, Joan Schmelz, and Laura Trouille, as well as CSWA alum, Hannah Jang-Condell. We have also had dozens of external contributors.
Because this large group spans career stages from graduate student to full professor and includes astronomers who have moved to careers outside academia, the blog effectively addresses concerns and provides relevant resources and advice across career stages. Topics discussed this past year include...
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.3. My Successful Experience with Sexual Harassment
From: Anonymous at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The following is an anonymous guest post from a regular reader of the Women in Astronomy Blog. The below is a description of an individual's experience with sexual harassment. What worked for her, might not work for everyone. If you are being sexually harassed, please contact the sexual harassment officer at your institution for guidance on your particular situation:
In light of some recent blog posts about sexual harassment at conferences and objectifying of women in a professional setting, I wanted to share my 'successful' experience with sexual harassment. Now perhaps successful it not the proper word to use here, but the below is a description of an experience where I was being sexually harassed, I did something about it, it all turned out ok, and I learned quite a bit from the process.
To read more, please see:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.4. Lady Paragons: Building a Women in STEM Community
From: Sarah Worsham via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Below is a guest post is by Sarah Worsham cofounder of LadyParagons.com describing the goals of her site and how you can get involved.
Do you remember what led you to a career in science? For me, I grew up with a father who was a physics teacher and then a computer science teacher. We had a computer in the house for as long as I can remember. I grew up playing mostly with boys -- my favorite toys were Legos, Transformers and anything space related. I thought science was cool -- my favorite subject at school and I had some great science teachers. In high school I decided I wanted to go into engineering so I could design cars.
At college, my engineering classes had a minority of women, especially when I switched from mechanical to computer engineering. I did have a few female professors, but internships groups we almost entirely male. After college, ...
To read more, please see
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.5. 5 Myths
From: Neils Gehrels at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The news web site livescience.com has a series on "5 myths" in areas of health, science and society. Not all of the articles in that series are to my taste, but I liked the recent one on 5 myths about girls, math and science. Here is a summary and my take on solutions. The data in the piece come from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program.
Myth 1: The myth is that girls don't like science as much as boys do. The reality is that girls and boys have equal science interests in early grade school, but already think of scientists as white males. That perception begins to turn girls off to science in later grades. My take: role models are all important. Things will improve as the number of visible women in science increases.
Myth 2: ?
To read more:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Back to top.6. Ada Lovelace Project
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu]
Want to contribute a brief bio of a woman scientist?
[Bios on women in STEM will appear in a future book, the first of which in the series is called "A Passion for Science: Stories of Discovery and Invention." Submission for the next book will be accepted till February 28, 2014. All profits go towards supporting Ada Lovelace Day. -- eds.]
See details at
http://findingada.com/blog/2014/01/20/contribute-to-our-next-book
Back to top.7. Championing the Cause of Women at the University of Nottingham
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
The University of Nottingham has made significant changes in its School of Physics and Astronomy that is has won an award for its work for championing the cause of women. The University has been given the Juno Champion Status by the Institute of Physics for being an example of a best practice in the field.
Want to know what the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham did to its program to win this award? Please see
http://www.nottinghampost.com/Championing-cause-women/story-20470858-detail/story.html
Back to top.8. Sundance Review of the Documentary 'Sepideh -- Reaching for the Stars'
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
The documentary 'Sepideh -- Reaching for the Stars' is about one young woman's dreams about and passion for astronomy. Sepideh is a serious young Iranian woman who wants to become an astronaut. To read the Sundance review of this documentary, please see
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sundance-review-doc-sepidehreaching-for-the-stars-an-inspiring-observation-of-one-young-womans-otherworldly-dreams-20140119
Back to top.9. 'Silent Sky' and Henrietta Leavitt's Harem
From: Michele M. Montgomery [montgomery_at_physics.ucf.edu]
Henrietta Leavitt and her female colleagues in 1893 endured a description as a "harem" of women in science. Leavitt's work is the focus of Lauren Gunderson's new play called 'Silent Sky,' which has inspired others like Jenny Dearborn, chief learning officer at Success Factors, to host a fundraiser that included lunch and a private performance of the play. The fundraising event featured Natalie Batalha, science team leader for NASA's Kepler mission and others. To read about the play and the subsequent events, please see
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Silent-Sky-Scientist-light-years-ahead-of-her-5158030.php
Back to top.10. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
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Back to top.11. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
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Back to top.12. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
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