Astronomy

AASWOMEN Newsletter for January 02, 2015

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of January 02, 2015
eds: Daryl Haggard, Nicolle Zellner, Meredith Hughes, & Elysse Voyer

This week's issues:

1. Women and Diversity at the Seattle AAS

2. Inclusive Astronomy Meeting: June 17-19, 2015 at Vanderbilt University

3. Which Grad Program Will Be The First To Drop the GRE?

4. Gender Parity in NSF Astronomy Research Programs

5. Amelia Earhart: Early Pioneer in the Age of Technology

6. Gender Equality Campaigns in 2014

7. Silicon Valley's Mirror Effect

8. Survey on Health of Women in Academia

9. Professional Skills Development Workshops for Female Physicists

10. Job Opportunities

11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

13. Access to Past Issues

1. Women and Diversity at the Seattle AAS
From: Daryl Haggard [dhaggard_at_amherst.edu]

[The 225th Meeting of the AAS in Seattle includes the following sessions of interest to AASWOMEN readers. -Eds]

TUESDAY, JANUARY 06, 2015

Special Session 209. What Have We Learned from the NSF ADVANCE Program and What's Next? (Organizers: Neil Gehrels & Johanna Teske; 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM; Convention Center Room 606)

209.01. Has ADVANCE Affected Senior Compared to Junior Women Scientists Differently? (Sue Rosser)
209.02. Successful ADVANCE Initiatives for Junior Women Faculty in STEM (Eve Riskin)
209.03. Individuals and Institutions: How to Advance Women in Science (Virginia Valian)
209.04. ADVANCing Women in STEM at Florida International University (Caroline Simpson)

Special Session 233. Celebrating 10 Years of Diversity in Astronomy With Pre-MAP (Organizer: Sarah Schmidt; 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM; Convention Center Room 620)

Poster Session 239. Celebrating 10 Years of Diversity in Astronomy with Pre-MAP (Exhibit Hall 4AB)

Poster Session 240. Undergraduate Majors and Graduate Students: Diversity, Retention, Mentorship, and Research (Exhibit Hall 4AB)

Poster Session 242.04. An Update on the NASA Planetary Science Division Research and Analysis Program (Christina Richey; Exhibit Hall 4AB)
- includes an update on the CSWA harassment survey

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 07, 2015

Poster Session 336.54. Report of the Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Adam Myers; Exhibit Hall 4AB)

Evening Workshop. Imposter: Understanding, Discussing, and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome (Organizers: Caitlin Casey, Jessica Kirkpatrick, Johanna Teske, & Kartik Sheth; 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Convention Center Room 616/617)

2. Inclusive Astronomy Meeting: June 17-19, 2015 at Vanderbilt University
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

[This guest post is composed by the organizers of the Inclusive Astronomy meeting.]

We are pleased to announce and invite the participation of all to the inaugural meeting on Inclusive Astronomy to be held June 17-19, 2015, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Inclusive Astronomy 2015 will serve as a welcoming, strategic venue to advocate and provide resources for the inclusion in the astronomy community of: people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, or questioning (LGBTIQ) people; people with disabilities; women; and anyone who holds more than one of these identities. Those who seek to aid in such inclusion are also invited to attend. The organizing committee includes members of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and Working Group on LGBTIQ Equality of the American Astronomical Society.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2015/01/inclusive-astronomy-meeting-june-17-19.html

3. Which Grad Program Will Be The First To Drop the GRE?
From: David Charbonneau via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

This year I am the chair of the admissions committee for the Harvard PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Around the country, committees such as ours are setting to work to select the incoming class. I thought it timely to share some worries I have been having about one required element of our application: the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, and the Subject Test in Physics.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/12/which-grad-program-will-be-first-to.html

4. Gender Parity in NSF Astronomy Research Programs
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

During my first year as a Program Officer in NSF?s Astronomy Division, I was able to compile data on the success rates of different opportunities in the Individual Investigator Programs. As chair of CSWA, one of my top priorities was to look for gender differences.

...

The good news is that the graduate student-postdoc joint of the leaky pipeline does not appear to be leaking, but the not-so-good news is that the associate professor-full professor joint of the pipeline is not just leaking but gushing. Unfortunately, it is not simply a matter of waiting for these younger scientists to propagate up the ranks. Analysis shows that 30% of prize fellowships in astronomy have gone to women for over 30 years!

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/12/gender-parity-in-nsf-astronomy-research.html

5. Amelia Earhart: Early Pioneer in the Age of Technology
From: Neil Gehrels via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

I recently ran across the Christmas card below from Amelia Earhart which got me interested in the remarkable story of this woman persevering against the pressures of her time. Earhart spent her life pursuing her passion for flying and pushing the envelop in aviation. Her motivation was to expand the capabilities of planes, not just of what women could do, and she had to conquer bias at every turn.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/12/amelia-earhart-early-pioneer-in-age-of.html

6. Gender Equality Campaigns in 2014
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Have you heard of the It's On Us or HeForShe campaigns? This year, White House and the United Nations both launched publicity campaigns aimed at encouraging men and women to support gender equality and end sexual assault. These campaigns are being discussed on college campuses but not in the working or professional world where issues of concern often arise. Why is this? How does one measure effectiveness of such efforts? Are there lessons for CSWA and others?

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/12/gender-equality-campaigns-in-2014.html

7. Silicon Valley's Mirror Effect
From: John Leibacher [leib_at_email.noao.edu]

by Joe Nocera

Is the concept of a meritocracy in the technology industry a myth?

"If meritocracy exists anywhere on earth, it is in Silicon Valley," wrote David Sacks in an email to The Times's Jodi Kantor.

Kantor was working on an article, published in The Times on Tuesday, about the Stanford class of 1994 ? the class that graduated a year before Netscape went public, and, for all intents and purposes, started the Internet economy. She was exploring why the men in that class had done so much better in Silicon Valley than the women.

To read more, please see

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/27/opinion/joe-nocera-silicon-valleys-mirror-effect.html

8. Survey on Health of Women in Academia
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu] and Adam via BlackPhysicists on Twitter

[This survey is not affiliated with or conducted by the CSWA/AASWOMEN, but may be of interest to our community. -Eds]

This is an independent research survey conducted by a non-affiliated research team to study the systemic oppressions of women in higher education and how it can contribute to chronic stress that may lead to negative effects on ones physical and mental health.

The survey is intended for women-identified current or former graduate students, postdoctorates, adjunct faculty, lecturers and tenured/untenured professors at academic institutions in the United States. There may be some sensitive topics relating to workplace environment. You will remain anonymous, and your responses will only be used for the purpose of this study.

To see the survey, please visit

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sa9zLBXABA4J3ZxqwEc4rR6GNFgTepst8_bYzVVgjz8/viewform

9. Professional Skills Development Workshops for Female Physicists
From: Randall Smith via the HEAD Bulletin, Dec 29, 2014

The American Physical Society, with support from NSF, will host two Professional Skills Development Workshops in 2015 for female physicists. Postdoctoral associates and early to mid-career faculty and scientists are invited to apply for the March workshop, and postdoctoral associates are invited to apply for the April workshop. Senior graduate students (defined as a student graduating within the next six months), recent graduates, and physicists in-between careers are also welcome to apply. Applicants affiliated with a US institution/facility are eligible for travel and lodging funding consideration. Those needing funding assistance are encouraged to apply by the deadline.

To learn more, please see

http://www.aps.org/programs/women/workshops/skills/index.cfm

10. Job Opportunities

For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here:

http://www.aas.org/cswa/diversity.html#howtoincrease

* IPA Discipline Scientists in Astrophysics at NASA Headquarters http://jobregister.aas.org/job_view?JobID=49728

11. 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.

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.

12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

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To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:

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13. Access to Past Issues

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

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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Astronomy