AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of March 16, 23 & 30, 2007
eds. Joan Schmelz, Geoffrey Clayton, & Hannah Jang-Condell
This week's issues:
1. Women in Canadian Astronomy: Fifteen Years of Hard Data
2. M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women Physicists
3. Query: Gender Gap in Physics
4. WIPHYS Discussion Thread: Childcare at APS Meetings
5. Postdoctoral Research Associate at CTIO
6. How to submit, subscribe, or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
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1. Women in Canadian Astronomy: Fifteen Years of Hard Data
From: Geoff Clayton [gclayton
fenway.phys.lsu.edu]
From the Spring equinox issue of E-Cass, the newsletter of the Canadian
Astronomical Society:
Michael A. Reid
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Submillimeter Array Project
mareidsma.hawaii.edu
and
Brenda C. Matthews
National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
brenda.matthewsnrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Achieving diversity within the Canadian astronomical community is
of interest to individual scientists, academic departments, funding
agencies, and society as a whole. However, until recently, there had been
no coordinated effort to study the gender demographics of the Canadian
astronomical community. In 2001, we gathered and presented such demographic
information for the period from 1991-2000. The present work reports the
results of our follow-up survey, conducted in 2006, which covers the
period from 2000-2005. We find that the representation of women in Canadian
astronomy has improved markedly over the last five years. We also find that
the size of the Canadian astronomical community has grown substantially
over the same period. The improving representation of women remains
strongest at the lowest levels of academia, with smaller gains achieved
at each stage of advancement. We find that women are being hired into
faculty positions at a rate approximately consistent with their
representation in the applicant pool.
You can see the whole report at:
http://chris.kingsu.ca/%7Ebrian/astro/ecass/issues/2007-ve/features/matthews/WIA_Survey2.pdf
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2. M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women Physicists
From: WIPHYS March 22, 2007
The M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics consists of an
award of up to $45,000 to enable women to return to physics research
careers after having had to interrupt those careers for family reasons.
Details at:
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/blewett/index.cfm
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3. Query: Gender Gap in Physics
From: WIPHYS March 22, 2007
Dear Established Women Physicists,
People are continually questioning why there are so few women in PhD
programs for physics. The last time any mention of a gender gap in the
physics occurred was part of the 1996 study done by people at Texas A&M.
It's 10 years later and a gender gap still exists in a test which is
integral to graduate school admissions. Why?
I would like to inquire why established women physicists haven't done
anything to go about eradicating this exam as an entrance factor to
graduate programs. Why should women be labeled as 'lower scorers' or
expectations lowered on account of this exam? If the exam under estimates
women's abilities in physics, why are we still using it? Many universities
have indicated the GRE score is correlated with the qualifying exam.
Lowered expectations of women entering graduate programs because of the
score are I would think at the root of subtle gender discrimination.
The problem I am finding regarding women entering graduate programs is
two-fold:
a) If the graduate schools are keeping the percentage of women in the
entering or admitted class the same as the applicant pool, that means that
women are no more likely to be accepted than men. Here are some numbers:
if women make up 14% of an applicant pool of 700 people for a top physics
university that has 40 seats, then 98 women are applying for 6 spots and
602 men are applying for 34 spots. This means the women have a 6.1%
chance and the men have a 5.6% chance. A .5 % greater chance is next to
nothing and to me the probabilities are comparable. The problem therein
lies in the selected group of the 98 women as compared to any other of
the space of all 98 person cross-sections in the applicant pool. If women
are technically only competing with each other, then the cross-section
of this group is in all likelihood above average or more competitive than
most of all 98 person cross-sections of the pool irrespective of gender.
That is, it might be likely that the men have a wider variance and the
women are more narrowly defined but of a higher caliber then most of the
98 person male groups. If that is true, it is effectively more difficult
for women to be admitted.
b) Back to the physics GRE. The gender gap in scores had been reported
to be anywhere from 80 to 150 points lower on average for the women. In
this case, the competitive schools can simply choose to ignore the
gender gap and accept the higher scoring women, whereas men can get
accepted closer to the mean in the male scores. Hence, women would have
to be way above the score mean for the women and the men having scored
in higher ranges can be lower relative to the mean for the men. This
also effectively makes in harder for women to be admitted.
Maybe I am missing something, but it does not appear to be easier for
women to get admitted, but more difficult based on the assumptions
made. Have any established women physicists addressed these issues.
From,
Concerned future scientist
Replies may go to Jenn Bush
physicsmetooyahoo.com
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4. WIPHYS Discussion Thread: Childcare at APS Meetings
From: WIPHYS March 20, 2007
At the March Meeting in Denver a few weeks ago, I noticed more children
and babies in attendance than before. My observations may be biased,
because I also had my one-year-old and husband there. But noticing
the other babies having to play on the floor in the hallway and trying
to find some place to nurse my son made me realize how difficult it can
be to attend a conference with children. I didn't have too much trouble
because my husband was along as a care-giver, but many people wouldn't
have that flexibility.
I sent an email after the meeting to the APS Meetings department asking
them to consider some options to help people with children (even just
providing a room designated for children).
Have any of you brought up this issue before? Does anyone have any
experience with a conference which did provide some sort of accommodations
for children? Are there concrete things we can suggest to conference
organizers that would really be helpful?
Susan Y. Lehman
Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
The College of Wooster
Wooster, OH 44691
I hear you! I have the same issues. If I remember right, the APS
centennial meeting in Atlanta had a childcare room. I don't know how
good it was. The CAP meetings tend to provide a list of babysitters
in the area who will come to your hotel room, but this is expensive!
The harder ones are the Gordon conferences where you have to stay for a
week. Can you think of a spouse taking a week off from work? One of the
things that grant agencies can do is to let us count the spouse as
childcare provider. One can claim expenses to a stranger babysitter but
not the airfare of a spouse! Do post and let us know if you find some
good information.
Chitra Rangan, Ph.D.
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4
www.uwindsor.ca/rangan
Child care was provided (last time that I know) by APS (March Meeting)
in Indianapolis (2002). They hired a company to take care for the
children of the participants. The fee was $6/hour and it was good enough
for my (then) one year old son. I have also talked to a faculty member
about it and she was complaining that the fee was too high - maybe
that is an issue for most of the people, but I thought the price
was decent. I think APS could put up a sign up sheet before each of
these meetings so they can estimate if it's necessary for them to hire
such a company again.
Dr. Jelena Trbovic
University of Basel, Switzerland
The American Astronomical Society has dealt with this issue by
contracting with a babysitting service, usually through the conference
hotel, and announcing on the meeting site that childcare is available.
As far as I know, this has worked out well, although it can be rather
expensive.
Ellen Zweibel
University of Wisconsin
I thought I would pass along--to you and to others on the list--a link
to an article we (Science's Next Wave) published a while back on
the subject of conference childcare. It is a little dated, and
hopefully progress has been made since the article was published. But
things move slowly. Here's a link:
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2240/the_lack_of_conference_childcare_a_barrier_to_entry/
Be Well
Jim Austin, Ph.D., Editor
ScienceCareers.org
http://www.sciencecareers.org
Email: jaustinaaas.org
It seems like I remember the March meeting offering childcare several
years ago. I heard they discontinued it because they didn't have
enough people sign up. I also noticed the babies at this year's March
meeting, though. It seems like a kid room shouldn't be too tough to swing.
If APS just provided the space, it seems like that would be cheap
enough that it doesn't particularly matter if "enough" people are using it.
I've found craigslist.org a useful resource for finding babysitters in
new cities. Maybe APS could also provide a bulletin board, like the
roommate bulletin board, where people who want to bring kids could
coordinate with each other to share a babysitter.
I brought my daughter and dad with me to Florida for a conference last
summer, and they went to Disneyworld while I conferenced. But she's
old enough that she could go the whole day without seeing me, and they
didn't visit the conference. For this year's March meeting my dad
watched her again, but he decided it would be easier in her natural
habitat, and came to our house for the week.
Emily Townsend
emilyteml.cc
While I haven't yet had the chance to take advantage of childcare
myself, I am about to need it. I will be attending an American Geophysical
Union (AGU) conference this May and will be taking my husband as my
caregiver. However, this will not always be possible. I know that the
fall AGU meetings generally have childcare. This is a meeting attended
by about 14,000 scientists with fields that tend to have more women
than physics. Here's the info from last fall's meeting:
Child Care, Monday through Friday, KiddieCorp provides a professional
children's program at the meeting. Fees are $7 per hour, per child
for children ages 6 months through 12 years, and $9 per hour, per
child for children under 6 months. Children must be registered for a
minimum of two consecutive hours per child per day. Advance reservations
must be received by 7 November. Children will enjoy games, story time,
arts and crafts, and other fun-filled activities. For more information
please contact KiddieCorp by phone +1-858-455-1718 or by email at
fallkidskiddiecorp.com. Or register online at
https://www.kiddiecorp.com/fallkids.htm
It would be useful for this type of service to be available at all
conferences. Unfortunately, besides AGU, I usually attend conferences
with even smaller numbers overall (such as APS-Division of Plasma
Physics) which could make such a service unfeasible. I recently read
an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed (requires subscription) about
this very thing:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i27/27c00201.htm
That group requested funding from a foundation to subsidize the
childcare. I'm not sure whether that would work in physics, but they
do also suggest asking publishers in the field for donations since they
would like to see more people at the meetings.
Amy M. Keesee, Ph.D., Research Associate West Virginia University Amy.Keeseemail.wvu.edu ams_510_at_yahoo.com
There are indeed parents who would appreciate childcare at meetings.
I have seen at least one mother spending money on a private babysitter,
and parents taking turns missing sessions. I hope CSWP and APS can
explore the options to provide childcare, either free or at a
"reasonable price", at least for those who register their desire for
it ahead of time. For some meetings there may be no takers, but the
provision should continue to be offered.
Brenda Winnewisser
The Ohio State University
Recently I started attending the yearly biophysical society meeting.
There are many more kids coming along to that meeting than to the
APS meeting. They also have a room available for nursing etc. Their
website
(http://www.biophysics.org/meetings/2007/general.htm#child)
Child Care/Family Room: The Biophysical Society sponsors excellent
child care, provided again this year by KiddieCorp. Pre-registration
is required for child care.
https://www.kiddiecorp.com/bpskids.htm
Click here for a registration form. As always, a family room will
be available in the Baltimore Convention Center.
My youngest is 8 and I have never taken any of my kids along to large
conventions. I noticed an increase in kids this year in Denver though
and believe I even made a remark about it to a friend. Hope this helps,
success,
Arlette Baljon
abaljonmail.sdsu.edu
The AGU meetings have child care. It works well! (but I haven't used it for
a while) See for instance,
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm06/?content=services
Anne-Marie
aschmoltnsf.gov
Currently I am postdoc and have a (nursing) toddler. This year (and
last year) did not go to any professional conference: I cannot afford
either to bring my husband to take care of my little one nor a baby
sitter at the conference. Result: I have not networked for two years
and now that I am in the job market I have not been as successful as I
think I would. One of the reasons is certainly my low visibility due to
my lack of networking. I firmly believe there should be free daycare
service at professional conferences. Otherwise, how and how long would
it take us (mom-scientists) to land a job and build up a career?
Patricia
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5. Postdoctoral Research Associate at CTIO
From: Pat Knezek [pknezeknoao.edu]
We invite applicants for a postdoctoral position in extragalactic
astronomy at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) South in
La Serena, Chile, to work with Dr. Susan Ridgway and Dr. Chris Miller.
The successful candidate will participate in projects to use
multiwavelength data to study active galaxies and clusters at high
redshifts, and also will have time to carry out personal research.
The position is offered for an initial appointment of 1 year, starting
as soon as possible, renewable for another year. Applicants should send
electronically (preferred) to hrnoaonoao.edu a curriculum vitae, bibliography,
short summary of research interests, and names of three references.
Please reference Job #821-Postdoctoral Research Associate. Questions
about the position are encouraged and can be addressed to Drs. Ridgway
or Miller, at seridgwayctio.noao.edu or cmiller_at_ctio.noao.edu
The position is based at the AURA campus in La Serena, Chile, which
includes the offices of CTIO, SOAR and Gemini-South, with the offices
of Las Campanas Observatory next door. The working language is English.
Staff members have excellent benefits and living conditions, an overseas
allowance, support for Spanish lessons, an educational stipend for
dependent children, international health care benefits, and annual
travel to the point of hire. Bilingual education for children is available
at the International School of La Serena, which was co-founded by and
still supported by AURA. The city of La Serena is a major seaside
tourist destination in South America, with a climate very similar
to San Diego, California.
Applications received prior to May 01, 2007 are assured full consideration,
however, the position is open until filled. Send resume to:
Human Resources Office
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
P.O. Box 26732
Tucson, Arizona 85726-6732
Email: hrnoaonoao.edu
FAX: 520-318-8494
NOAO and NSO are affirmative action and equal employment opportunity
employers. Preference granted to qualified Native Americans living on
or near the Tohono O'Odham reservation.
NOAO and NSO foster a diverse research environment. Women and
candidates from under represented minorities are particularly encouraged
to apply.
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