Astronomy
I've recently become involved with an effort on my campus to establish a Women's Advancement and Research Center. Its purpose is to promote women on campus at all levels of leadership, with a special emphasis on women in STEM disciplines.
Now, one of the things new faculty are warned about is over-commitment, particularly on service committees. Especially since as women we are often asked to be the "diversity representative" on many committee. And yet, many of the people I've met who are also working on this project are fellow women junior faculty. It would be nice to get more senior faculty, but in some departments there just aren't any tenured women faculty. It would be nice to get more men, too, but it seems to be hard to get many of them to join the effort.
On the other hand, we women assistant professors are pretty passionate about increasing the representation of women in our respective departments. I certainly care very deeply about promoting women in science. I would love to have more female colleagues on campus. And of all my service commitments, this is the one that I feel will have the most lasting and far-reaching benefits.
Right now, we're just in the beginning stages of getting off the ground, looking for funding opportunities and getting to know one another. I've stopped being surprised at the statement, "I'm the only woman in my department." I've stopped being surprised at meeting people who have heard of me before, simply because I'm the one woman in my department.
I've come to understand that women in astronomy have it a lot easier than many other fields, such as computer science and engineering, for example. I have learned of issues at all levels of the university where change can be made for the better. Here's hoping that this new Center will make a difference on my campus.
- Cultural Change; Broadening The Metrics For Promotion
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While I was still working at Caltech earlier this year Renée Hlozek (pronounced "logic") --- Princeton astrophysicist, cosmology theorist and astrostatistics expert---stopped through Pasadena to give a science talk. During her visit she...
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- Senior Women: Physics & Astronomy Departments
CSWA would like to expand their recent study of Senior Women in Astronomy departments to include those in Physics & Astronomy departments. At this time we are only considering departments in the US with a PhD program. I need your help to compile...
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Last spring I started a monthly "Diversity and Inclusion" luncheon in my department to which graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty are invited. Typically about 20 people attend. Each time one or two members facilitate discussion around a topic...
Astronomy
Making a Difference
I've recently become involved with an effort on my campus to establish a Women's Advancement and Research Center. Its purpose is to promote women on campus at all levels of leadership, with a special emphasis on women in STEM disciplines.
Now, one of the things new faculty are warned about is over-commitment, particularly on service committees. Especially since as women we are often asked to be the "diversity representative" on many committee. And yet, many of the people I've met who are also working on this project are fellow women junior faculty. It would be nice to get more senior faculty, but in some departments there just aren't any tenured women faculty. It would be nice to get more men, too, but it seems to be hard to get many of them to join the effort.
On the other hand, we women assistant professors are pretty passionate about increasing the representation of women in our respective departments. I certainly care very deeply about promoting women in science. I would love to have more female colleagues on campus. And of all my service commitments, this is the one that I feel will have the most lasting and far-reaching benefits.
Right now, we're just in the beginning stages of getting off the ground, looking for funding opportunities and getting to know one another. I've stopped being surprised at the statement, "I'm the only woman in my department." I've stopped being surprised at meeting people who have heard of me before, simply because I'm the one woman in my department.
I've come to understand that women in astronomy have it a lot easier than many other fields, such as computer science and engineering, for example. I have learned of issues at all levels of the university where change can be made for the better. Here's hoping that this new Center will make a difference on my campus.
- Cultural Change; Broadening The Metrics For Promotion
The UK's House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recently released a set of recommendations for promoting "Women in Scientific Careers". The report includes numerous useful references to studies describing the range of obstacles to recruitment...
- Why I'm Happy And Why It Matters - Guest Post By Renée Hlozek
While I was still working at Caltech earlier this year Renée Hlozek (pronounced "logic") --- Princeton astrophysicist, cosmology theorist and astrostatistics expert---stopped through Pasadena to give a science talk. During her visit she...
- Scientific Computing Versus Computer Science
I recently attended a local meeting on women in computer science, at the invitation of someone I met at a different meeting on high performance computing. Not that I consider myself a computer scientist, rather I'm more of a scientific computationalist,...
- Senior Women: Physics & Astronomy Departments
CSWA would like to expand their recent study of Senior Women in Astronomy departments to include those in Physics & Astronomy departments. At this time we are only considering departments in the US with a PhD program. I need your help to compile...
- Work-life Balance: Theory And Practice
Last spring I started a monthly "Diversity and Inclusion" luncheon in my department to which graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty are invited. Typically about 20 people attend. Each time one or two members facilitate discussion around a topic...