AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of October 28, 2016
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, and Maria Patterson
This week's issues:
1. Cross Post: Women in Astronomy & Computer Science: There’s Still Work To Do #WiSTEMspotlight
2. Interview with Penelope Boston, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute
3. Young scientists under pressure: what the data show
4. The Problem for Women is Not Winning. It’s Deciding to Run.
5. As the need for highly trained scientists grows, a look at why people choose these careers
6. Job Opportunities
7. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter
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1. Cross Post: Women in Astronomy & Computer Science: There’s Still Work To Do #WiSTEMspotlight
From: Christina Richey via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
This feature is a re-post from The Digital Science, which can be found here. As part of Digital Science’s celebrations for Ada Lovelace Day, for the month of October they are running series of blog posts where inspiring women and men in STEM are sharing their personal stories. Anyone can get involved and we encourage you to read and share your thoughts using the hashtag #WiSTEMspotlight.
About the author: Kimberly Arcand is Visualization Lead for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. She is a co-author of popular science books including “Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond“ and “Your Ticket to the Universe: A Guide to Exploring the Cosmos.”
Read more at:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2016/10/cross-post-women-in-astronomy-computer.html
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2. Interview with Penelope Boston, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
Dr. Penelope Boston, whose areas of research include astrobiology in extreme environments, geological processes that create caves on planets and moons, and the use of robotics and other technologies to advance science in extreme environments on Earth and elsewhere, has been named the new director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute.
Read an interview and learn more about Dr. Boston at
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2016.79002.pb
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3. Young scientists under pressure: what the data show
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]
Though they are stressed, have no time for research, and are faced with proposal success rates ~20%, young investigators, for the most part, are satisfied with their careers.
See the data and find links to related stories at
http://www.nature.com/news/young-scientists-under-pressure-what-the-data-show-1.20871?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20161027&spMailingID=52621451&spUserID=MjA1NzcxNzE5OAS2&spJobID=1025013611&spReportId=MTAyNTAxMzYxMQS2
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4. The Problem for Women is Not Winning. It’s Deciding to Run.
From: Alexander Rudolph [alrudolph_at_cpp.edu]
by Claire Cain Miller
“Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York first decided she wanted to be a senator when she was 7 or 8. Two decades later, as a law firm associate, she went to an event featuring the first lady, Hillary Clinton, and heard her speech as a personal call to public service.
So Ms. Gillibrand — after waiting another 10 years — ran for Congress.
“It took 10 years volunteering to have the actual self-confidence to say, ‘I can run for office,’” she said. “Women are the biggest self-doubters.”
When women run for political office, they are just as likely as men to be elected. The main reason they are so underrepresented is that they don’t run in the first place.”
Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/upshot/the-problem-for-women-is-not-winning-its-deciding-to-run.html
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5. As the need for highly trained scientists grows, a look at why people choose these careers
From: Cristina Thomas [cthomas_at_psi.edu]
by Cary Funk and Meg Hefferon
“What leads people to a career in science?
It’s an important question because the road to a successful career in science – as with technology, engineering and mathematics, the other STEM fields – can be challenging, often requiring a Ph.D. or other postgraduate training. And once in their fields, there can be political and economic pressures with which to contend. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects workforce shortfalls for many science fields, though the projected needs differ across the life, physical and natural sciences.”
Read more at:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/24/as-the-need-for-highly-trained-scientists-grows-a-look-at-why-people-choose-these-careers/
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6. 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
-Assistant Professor, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
https://rowanuniversity.hodesiq.com/jobs/assistant-professor-geology-glassboro-new-jersey-job-5352608
-Data Science Scholars Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
https://datascience.northwestern.edu/
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7. 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.
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8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.
Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)
To unsubscribe by email:
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To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:
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9. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.