Astronomy
I attended a workshop in France last month, and I made some interesting observations from a gender balance point of view.
Out of 40 participants, 7 were women. (18%)
Out of 17 invited speakers, 1 was a woman. (6%)
Out of 7 contributed talks, 1 was a woman. (14%)
Out of 4 posters, 4 were by women. (100%)
I was probably the most senior woman there, at 5 years past PhD. I believe most of the women were students.
You might say that it's all small number statistics, but this is all in keeping with the trend that students entering grad school in the physical sciences are approaching parity, but numbers at higher levels have yet to equalize.
It's interesting that all but one of the women made a presentation at this conference. Also, 4 of us work on young stars. (This was a multi-disciplinary workshop.)
Some other interesting anecdotes:
- When I was introduced, I was called "Hans" at first. When the other woman speaker was introduced, she was called by a male name at first, too.
- One night, when a group of us stayed up late talking, we looked around and realized that all the women were present.
- Europeans students and postdocs are just as, if not more, worried about future job prospects as anyone in the US.
- Lipsticks And Labcoats
March is Women's History Month, and this year's theme is Women in STEM. As part of my university's festivities, we had a panel discussion entitled, "Lipsticks and Lab Coats: Women?s Challenges and Journeys in STEM." Despite not being a wearer...
- Invited Speakers
Giving invited talks is an important part of any scientist?s career. It is an opportunity to sell his or her science topic in a long format and to a large audience. Yet, it seems that the same small subset of (mostly older male) scientists is asked to...
- Career Development Workshop
In case you haven't heard, there's going to be a terrific Conference on Women in Astronomy and Space Sciences this fall. It's being held October 21-23 in College Park, MD. Those of you who are postdocs or early (i.e. untenured) faculty should...
- Aaswomen For June 26, 2009
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of June 26, 2009 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Notes from a Workshop - A Gender Balance Point of View2. Deadline Extension: Director, NSF Division of...
- Supremely Ignored
Following up on the discussion about being ignored both here on the blog and in AASWOMEN, here's an interesting article from last week in USA Today about Justice Ginsburg. (See also commentary from the XX factor at Slate.com.) Much of the article...
Astronomy
Notes From a Workshop
I attended a workshop in France last month, and I made some interesting observations from a gender balance point of view.
Out of 40 participants, 7 were women. (18%)
Out of 17 invited speakers, 1 was a woman. (6%)
Out of 7 contributed talks, 1 was a woman. (14%)
Out of 4 posters, 4 were by women. (100%)
I was probably the most senior woman there, at 5 years past PhD. I believe most of the women were students.
You might say that it's all small number statistics, but this is all in keeping with the trend that students entering grad school in the physical sciences are approaching parity, but numbers at higher levels have yet to equalize.
It's interesting that all but one of the women made a presentation at this conference. Also, 4 of us work on young stars. (This was a multi-disciplinary workshop.)
Some other interesting anecdotes:
- When I was introduced, I was called "Hans" at first. When the other woman speaker was introduced, she was called by a male name at first, too.
- One night, when a group of us stayed up late talking, we looked around and realized that all the women were present.
- Europeans students and postdocs are just as, if not more, worried about future job prospects as anyone in the US.
- Lipsticks And Labcoats
March is Women's History Month, and this year's theme is Women in STEM. As part of my university's festivities, we had a panel discussion entitled, "Lipsticks and Lab Coats: Women?s Challenges and Journeys in STEM." Despite not being a wearer...
- Invited Speakers
Giving invited talks is an important part of any scientist?s career. It is an opportunity to sell his or her science topic in a long format and to a large audience. Yet, it seems that the same small subset of (mostly older male) scientists is asked to...
- Career Development Workshop
In case you haven't heard, there's going to be a terrific Conference on Women in Astronomy and Space Sciences this fall. It's being held October 21-23 in College Park, MD. Those of you who are postdocs or early (i.e. untenured) faculty should...
- Aaswomen For June 26, 2009
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of June 26, 2009 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson & Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. Notes from a Workshop - A Gender Balance Point of View2. Deadline Extension: Director, NSF Division of...
- Supremely Ignored
Following up on the discussion about being ignored both here on the blog and in AASWOMEN, here's an interesting article from last week in USA Today about Justice Ginsburg. (See also commentary from the XX factor at Slate.com.) Much of the article...