AAS Committee on the Status of Women 
Issue of April 18, 2008 
eds. Joan Schmelz, Hannah Jang-Condell & Caroline Simpson 
 
This week's issues: 
 
1. Women in Science and Engineering: Why the Gap? 
 
2. Gender Bias at the Postdoctoral Level in Physics 
 
3. ADVANCE 2008 Faculty Horizons at UMBC: Call for Applications 
 
4. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN 
 
5. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN 
 
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1. Women in Science and Engineering: Why the Gap? 
From: Kathryn Johnston [kvjastro.columbia.edu] 
 
These are the slides I put together for a lunchtime discussion in the 
Astronomy department at the University of Arizona recently. I was invited to 
give a colloquium and I requested that I could also give this talk. It's a 
summary of what I've learnt about social science research on women in 
science in the last couple of years from sitting on "diversity" committees 
- the experience has been both empowering and depressing.... and has 
motivated me to start giving this talk. A copy can be downloaded from: 
 
http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~kvj/wise.pdf 
 
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2. Gender Bias at the Postdoctoral Level in Physics 
From: Tammy Smecker-Hane [smeckersculptor.ps.uci.edu] 
 
A particle physics colleague of mine pointed out this very interesting paper. 
It's well worth a read. It reminded me of how important it is to encourage 
young women postdocs, who are aiming for a career in academia, to not only 
to publish as many research papers as possible, but to give presentations 
at conferences, too. 
 
Title: A Case Study of Gender Bias at the Postdoctoral Level in Physics, 
and its Resulting Impact on the Academic Career Advancement of Females 
 
Authors: S. Towers 
 
Abstract: This case study of a typical U.S. particle physics experiment 
explores the issues of gender bias and how it affects the academic career 
advancement prospects of women in the field of physics beyond the postdoctoral 
level; we use public databases to study the career paths of the full cohort 
of 57 former postdoctoral researchers on the Run II Dzero experiment to 
examine if males and females were treated in a gender-blind fashion on the 
experiment. The study finds that the female researchers were on average 
significantly more productive compared to their male peers, yet were allocated 
only 1/3 the amount of conference presentations based on their productivity.  
The study also finds that the dramatic gender bias in allocation of 
conference presentations appeared to have significant negative impact on 
the academic career advancement of the females. 
 
For the whole article, see: 
 
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0804/0804.2026v1.pdf 
 
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3. ADVANCE 2008 Faculty Horizons at UMBC: Call for Applications 
From: WIPHYS April 16, 2008 
 
Applications are now being accepted for the 2008 Faculty Horizons Program 
at University of Maryland Baltimore County, which will be held July 10-12, 
2008. The workshop, funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE 
Program, is intended to provide post-doctoral research fellows and 
upper-level graduate students, particularly women, in science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics with necessary skills to become successful 
tenure-track faculty in the United States. Special attention is paid to 
including women from underrepresented groups. 
 
Due to limited space, everyone must apply on-line: 
 
http://www.umbc.edu/advance/registration08/ 
 
and be accepted to attend. The application is available from April 7, 2008 - 
May 5, 2008. Funds are available to defray the cost of participation. 
 
Please share this announcement widely with those you think may be 
interested in attending, or those who may know someone who would find this 
workshop beneficial. Please email advanceumbc.edu for any additional information 
or questions. For the most up-to-date workshop information, please visit 
 
www.umbc.edu/advance 
 
and click on Faculty Horizons. 
 
Sarah Conolly Hokenmaier 
ADVANCE Program 
President's Office at UMBC 
Baltimore, MD 21250 
advanceumbc.edu 
 
Patrice McDermott, Ph.D. 
University of Maryland Baltimore County 
mcdermotumbc.edu 
 
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4. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN 
 
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5. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN 
 
Past issues of AASWOMEN are available at 
 
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html 
 
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered. 
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