Astronomy
Regular blog readers may have noticed that a number of recent posts were not actually written by me (Hannah). This is part of an effort to bring a variety of new voices to the blog, and make it more truly about Women in Astronomy, rather than Hannah's Personal Blog With Some Thoughts on Women in Astronomy.
Who are these people? you might ask. We are the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and our membership can be found here. We were recently expanded from 8 members to 10. You can read our thoughts here on the blog, subscribe to our weekly newsletter AASWOMEN, and meet some of us in person at the upcoming AAS Meeting in Washington, DC. We are sponsoring a number of special sessions:
Looking forward, one of the topics we want to bring up at the summer 2010 AAS Meeting in Miami is unconscious bias. An excerpt from our proposal:
I bring this up now because this story of the writer James Chartrand revealing herself (himself?) to be actually a woman has been all over the internets (h/t: Feministing). The upshot of the story is that she struggled for a while trying to earn a living as a writer under her real name, but as soon as she adopted a male pseudonym, she started earning real money. This is a 21st century story, mind you, not George Eliot's of the 19th.
So, when it comes to publishing scientific papers then, is it better to publish under your initials to hide your gender, or not? Personally, I chose to publish under my full, real name. Part of this was motivated by an arrogant desire on my own part to show the world that women can do excellent science. Has this come true, or has this hurt me in the end? I may never know for sure, but knowing that bias is alive and well in the world certainly has me concerned.
- Science And Women-in-science Colloquia
I have recently given ?twofer? colloquia* -- one talk on a science topic and another on a women-in-science topic -- at CfA, Caltech, JPL, and Indiana. During these twofer visits, I have also met with students, postdocs, managers, professors, and scientists,...
- 'tis The Season...
...for job hunting and writing recommendation letters! So I want to highlight Kelle Cruz's post at Astro Better on advice for writing good recommendation letters, particularly regarding letters written for women. The first link is about a study showing...
- Aaswomen For April 23, 2010
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of April 23, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson amp; Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Harassment: Serial Offenders2. You Might Be a Senior Woman if . . .3. AAS Special Session: Addressing Unconscious...
- Aaswomen For February 19, 2010
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of January 29, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. CSWA Sponsors Special Session at AAS 216th Meeting - Second Announcement 2. WIA Blogspot: Words Matter...
- Aas Women Newsletter 1/29/10
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of January 29, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. CSWA Sponsors Special Sssion at AAS 216th Meeting - First Announcement 2. AAS 216th Meeting CSWA Town...
Astronomy
Blogging, Big meetings, and Bias
Regular blog readers may have noticed that a number of recent posts were not actually written by me (Hannah). This is part of an effort to bring a variety of new voices to the blog, and make it more truly about Women in Astronomy, rather than Hannah's Personal Blog With Some Thoughts on Women in Astronomy.
Who are these people? you might ask. We are the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and our membership can be found here. We were recently expanded from 8 members to 10. You can read our thoughts here on the blog, subscribe to our weekly newsletter AASWOMEN, and meet some of us in person at the upcoming AAS Meeting in Washington, DC. We are sponsoring a number of special sessions:
- 208 Longitudinal Study of Astronomy Graduate Students
Monday, Jan 04, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Virginia B - 221 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty I (co-sponsored with CSMA
[Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astrononmy])
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 10:00 AM -11:30 AM
Maryland A - 226 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty II (co-sponsored with CSMA)
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Maryland A
- Public Policy Issues
Poster Session
Tuesday, Jan 05, 2010, 9:20 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
Looking forward, one of the topics we want to bring up at the summer 2010 AAS Meeting in Miami is unconscious bias. An excerpt from our proposal:
When evaluating identical application packages, male and female University psychology professors preferred 2:1 to hire ?Brian? over ?Karen? as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more experienced record (at the point of promotion to tenure), reservations were expressed four times more often when the name was female. This unconscious bias has a repeated negative effect on Karen?s career. Ref: Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999) Sex Roles, 41, 509.
I bring this up now because this story of the writer James Chartrand revealing herself (himself?) to be actually a woman has been all over the internets (h/t: Feministing). The upshot of the story is that she struggled for a while trying to earn a living as a writer under her real name, but as soon as she adopted a male pseudonym, she started earning real money. This is a 21st century story, mind you, not George Eliot's of the 19th.
So, when it comes to publishing scientific papers then, is it better to publish under your initials to hide your gender, or not? Personally, I chose to publish under my full, real name. Part of this was motivated by an arrogant desire on my own part to show the world that women can do excellent science. Has this come true, or has this hurt me in the end? I may never know for sure, but knowing that bias is alive and well in the world certainly has me concerned.
- Science And Women-in-science Colloquia
I have recently given ?twofer? colloquia* -- one talk on a science topic and another on a women-in-science topic -- at CfA, Caltech, JPL, and Indiana. During these twofer visits, I have also met with students, postdocs, managers, professors, and scientists,...
- 'tis The Season...
...for job hunting and writing recommendation letters! So I want to highlight Kelle Cruz's post at Astro Better on advice for writing good recommendation letters, particularly regarding letters written for women. The first link is about a study showing...
- Aaswomen For April 23, 2010
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of April 23, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson amp; Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Harassment: Serial Offenders2. You Might Be a Senior Woman if . . .3. AAS Special Session: Addressing Unconscious...
- Aaswomen For February 19, 2010
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of January 29, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. CSWA Sponsors Special Session at AAS 216th Meeting - Second Announcement 2. WIA Blogspot: Words Matter...
- Aas Women Newsletter 1/29/10
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of January 29, 2010 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. CSWA Sponsors Special Sssion at AAS 216th Meeting - First Announcement 2. AAS 216th Meeting CSWA Town...