AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of August 17, 2007
eds. Joan Schmelz, Geoffrey Clayton, & Hannah Jang-Condell
This week's issues:
1. New Advice for an Old Problem?
2. Nature Amends its Mission Statement
3. Female Friendly Physics Graduate Programs
4. Fellowships Focus on Gender/Women in STEM Fields
5. Assistant to the Director/Astronomer at Swinburne University
6. How to submit, subscribe, or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
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1. New Advice for an Old Problem?
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelz
memphis.edu]
AASWOMEN would like your help in putting together some advice for those
with a 2-body problem. For example, if you are interviewing for a job,
when is the right time to bring up the 2-body subject? Are there
employers out there that are doing an especially good job of
accommodating those with a 2-body problem?
Traditionally, the only solution was to work in a city with a lot of
astronomy positions, e.g., Washington or Boston, and hope for the best.
What are the modern-day solutions? Are there ideas that work in general
or is every situation different?
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2. Nature Amends its Mission Statement
From: Hannah Jang-Condell [hannahalum.mit.edu]
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7155/full/448728a.html
In an editorial in yesterday's Nature (see above link), the magazine
announced that it would change the wording of its original mission
statement, which included the phrase,
"to aid Scientific men themselves, by giving early information of all
advances made in any branch of Natural knowledge throughout the world,
and by affording them an opportunity of discussing the various
Scientific questions which arise from time to time."
The big change, apparently, is to insert the word 'sic', as follows:
"to aid Scientific men [sic] themselves, ..."
A giant leap forward, or a big ol' cop out?
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3. Female Friendly Physics Graduate Programs
From: WIPHYS August 15, 2007
[This item is copied directly from WIPHYS, but an editorial comment
seems appropriate. Shouldn't a Physics Department advertising on a
"female friendly" web site have to do more than simply fill out a form?
-- Eds.]
Thinking about graduate school? Check out the "female friendly" website
at
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/female-friendly/index.cfm.=20
This data base contains information that can be used by undergraduate
seniors to assess the climate for women at various graduate schools. The
American Physical Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Physics
asked PhD-granting physics departments to complete a brief form in
response to five questions. All information is completely self-reported
by the departments themselves. Neither CSWP nor the APS is responsible
for its accuracy or timeliness. Please check back regularly as the
information is updated all the time and new institutions may have been
added!=20
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4. Fellowships Focus on Gender/Women in STEM Fields
From: WIPHYS August 13, 2007
The Clayman Institute is currently focusing on gender/women in the STEM
fields. We have a particular interest in "gendered innovations" - that
is, where the introduction of gender analysis into science and
engineering can change the nature of knowledge itself, for example by
challenging existing preconceptions, encouraging new ways to look at old
problems, or even changing or creating fields of research.
Applications are sought from scholars working in the following areas of
research:
Gendered Innovations in Knowledge. While much has been written on women
in science and engineering, especially the difficulty of recruiting and
retaining women in these areas, the challenge now is to integrate the
insights of gender studies into scientific theory and practice. We
welcome research proposals that address how gender analysis, when turned
to science and engineering, can profoundly enhance human knowledge. This
is where the action is today. The key questions are: How has gender
analysis sparked creativity by opening new questions for future
research? How can employing gender as a tool of analysis lead to new
knowledge? To better understand what we are looking for, see Londa
Schiebinger, Has Feminism Changed Science? (Harvard University Press,
1999), part III, or Signs, Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 28
(2003):859-922 on "Feminism Inside the Sciences."
Title IX in Science and Engineering. Title IX applies to all areas of
federally-funded education, including science and engineering.
Researchers working on the use of Title IX, in particular identifying
criteria for assessing institutional compliance with Title IX, in the
sciences are invited to apply.
Gender in the Physical and Technical Sciences, and Math. Any project
addressing questions concerning gender in physics, chemistry, math,
geosciences or computer science.
Gender in Engineering and Computer science.
Gender in Environmental Sciences.
Gender in the Life Sciences and Biotechnology.
Medicine and Women's Health.
Clustering in Scientific Subfields. Women tend to cluster in particular
sciences, such as the life sciences, and in particular subfields of
science or engineering (for example, there are many more women in civil
than in electrical engineering). They welcome applications that
investigate what it is about particular fields that attract or repel
women.
If you have any questions, their Program Manager, Jane Gruba-Chevalier,
would be happy to help. She can be contacted at jmgrubastanford.edu.
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5. Assistant to the Director/Astronomer at Swinburne University
From: Sarah Maddison [smaddisonswin.edu.au]
The Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University
of Technology has become one of the largest astronomy groups in
Australia and is seeking to further expand its research infrastructure,
supercomputing and research outputs. This position will report to the
Director and assist the Director to facilitate grant administration and
reporting, while remaining engaged in teaching and research/outreach.
The primary role of the Director's Assistant position is to help in
attracting and reporting on external grants and research, in particular
the forthcoming RQF exercise. The main teaching responsibilities will be
to assist in the maintenance of existing Swinburne Astronomy Online
(SAO) course material, help in the preparation of new course material
for the BSc, and teach into one or both of these programs. The
successful applicant will work closely with the Academic Leader to
ensure the continued success of the SAO program and ensure high quality
learning materials are developed for the BSc program. Opportunities
exist for pursuit of research and outreach activities. This position is
ongoing. Applications close August31 and should be emailed to the
Director: mbailesswin.edu.au
For a full Position Description see:=20
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/jobs/
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6. How to submit, subscribe, or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
[Please remember to replace "" in the below e-mail addresses.]
To submit to AASWOMEN:
send email to aaswomen.aas.org=20
All material sent to that address will be posted unless you tell us
otherwise (including your email address).
To subscribe or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
go to http://lists.aas.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aaswomen
and fill out the form.=20
If you experience any problems, please email itdeptaas.org
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