AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of September 12, 2008
eds. Joan Schmelz, Hannah Jang-Condell & Caroline Simpson
This week's issues:
1. NSF Report on Women in S&E Faculty Positions
2. DPS Women in Science Events
3. ASP Resource Guide for Women in Astronomy
4. Female-Friendly Physics Departments Database
5. Report on Gender Equity Conference Now Available
*** FOLLOWING POSITIONS WERE TAKEN FROM WIPHYS ***
6. Astrophysics Faculty Position at Yale University
7. Astrophysics Faculty Position, Johns Hopkins University
8. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
9. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN
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1. NSF Report on Women in S&E Faculty Positions
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08308/
Thirty-Three Years of Women in S&E Faculty Positions
by Joan Burrelli
"The relatively low proportion of women in academic science and
engineering (S&E) has been the topic of numerous recent books,
reports, and workshops. (See for example, Powell 2007, DOE/NSF/NIH
2006, National Academies 2007.) Data for 2006 show that women
continue to constitute a much lower percentage of S&E full
professors than their share of S&E doctorates awarded in that
year. Even in psychology, a field heavily dominated by women,
women were less than half of all full professors, even though they
earned well more than half of doctorates in 2006.
"This InfoBrief examines the trends from 1973 to 2006 in the
employment of women faculty and in the percentages of full
professors and of tenured faculty who are women. The trends are
examined by field of doctorate, Carnegie classification of
employer, marital status, and the presence of children in the
home. Because the S&E doctorate holders employed in academic
institutions in 2006 were awarded their doctorates over a span of
about three decades, these trends are examined against the
background of changing percentages of S&E doctorates earned by
women over time, starting with the 1958 degree year."
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2. DPS Women in Science Events
From: Amy Simon-Miller [Amy.Simon
nasa.gov]
We need female volunteers for 2 public outreach events at the AAS DPS
meeting in October. Please send an email ASAP let me know if you'd
like to join us!
* Sunday Oct. 12, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., "Ask an Astronomer" on the
Sciencenter's Sagan Planet Walk ( http://www.sciencenter.org/saganpw/ )
We are seeking at least 2 scientists per planet station (including
Pluto!) to answer questions from the public during a sponsored Planet
Walk through Ithaca during the DPS lunch break on Sunday Oct. 12.
Bill Nye (The Science Guy) will be leading the tour. Transportation
to/from the meeting site will be available. The Sciencenter is a
hands-on children's science museum who are also sponsoring an
"Astronomy Day" at the museum that day. Please contact
mbell5twcny.rr.com if you can help at "your planet" during this
fun family activity.
* Tuesday Oct. 14, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., "Women in Science" event at
Boynton Middle School We are seeking 20 or more female scientists to
proctor activities and to talk with middle school age children
one-on-one about science. This event is sponsored by our local
library. Please contact mbell5twcny.rr.com if you can help with
this event.
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3. ASP Resource Guide for Women in Astronomy
From: Hannah Jang-Condell [hannahalum.mit.edu]
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/womenast_bib.html
Women in Astronomy: An Introductory Resource Guide to Materials in English
by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College & Astronomical Society of the Pacific)
"This guide is not meant to be a comprehensive or scholarly
introduction to the complex topic of the role of women in
astronomy, but simply a resource for those educators and students
who wish to explore the challenges and triumphs of women of the
past and present. It's also an opportunity to get to know some of
the key women who have overcome prejudice and exclusion to make
significant contributions to our field. To be included among the
representative women for whom we list individual resources, an
astronomer must have had something non-technical about her life
and work published in a popular-level journal or book. This
explains why so many talented women are not covered; their work is
mainly known through journals that students cannot
read. Suggestions for additional non-technical listings are most
welcome, however."
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4. Female-Friendly Physics Departments Database
From: WIPHYS September 11, 2008
This data base www.aps.org/programs/women/female-friendly/index.cfm
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. New information is
added all the time, so check back frequently.
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5. Report on Gender Equity Conference Now Available
From: WIPHYS September 11, 2008
The report on the Gender Equity Conference, held at APS in May 2007,
is now available at www.aps.org/. It contains a number of
recommendations for academic institutions, national laboratories, and
funding agencies aimed at improving recruitment and retention of those
from under-represented populations in physics. The conference brought
together chairs of 50 major research-oriented academic physics
departments as well as about 15 physics-related managers of major
national laboratories.
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6. Astrophysics Faculty Position at Yale University
From: WIPHYS September 11, 2008
The Department of Physics invites applications for a tenure-track
junior faculty position in astrophysics/cosmology. In exceptional
circumstances, an appointment at the tenured level may also be
possible. The successful candidate's research program should
complement current research at Yale, which includes high-energy
astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational lensing, and the interface of
particle physics and astrophysics. Experimentalists
(instrumentalists, observers) and theorists are all encouraged to
apply. Yale offers a world-class intellectual environment; competitive
salary, benefits, and research funds; and access to premier
astronomical facilities. The successful candidate is expected to
participate actively and effectively in teaching at the undergraduate
and graduate levels. Interested applicants should send a letter (pdf
format), curriculum vita, publication list, and a brief description of
proposed research to the Chair's office at pamela.boswardyale.edu, or
by mail, to Ms. Pamela Bosward, Department of Physics, Office of the
Chair, Yale University, P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, CT
06520-8120. Applicants should also arrange for 3 letters of
recommendation to be sent to the same address (email preferred). For
further information about the position, contact Professor Meg Urry,
Chair of the Physics Department and Director of the Yale Center for
Astronomy and Astrophysics (meg.urryyale.edu), or Professor Thomas
Appelquist, Chair of the Astrophysics Search Committee
(thomas.appelquistyale.edu ). Applications that are complete by
December 1, 2008, will be assured of full consideration. Yale is an
Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, and applications from
women and minorities are strongly encouraged.
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7. Astrophysics Faculty Position, Johns Hopkins University
From: WIPHYS September 12, 2008
ASTROPHYSICS FACULTY POSITION, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY,
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
The Department of Physics and Astronomy of the Johns Hopkins
University invites applications for a faculty position in
astrophysics. We will consider applicants in all subfields of
astrophysics. We expect that this appointment will be made at the
level of assistant professor, but appointments at a higher level may
be possible in exceptional cases. Current faculty members are active
in theory, developing astronomical instrumentation (particularly for
space-based platforms), observational astronomy across a wide range
of wavelengths, and data intensive science. Research interests of
the current faculty members include planetary science, extra-solar
planets, the interstellar medium, stellar populations, high-energy
astrophysics, active galaxies, galaxy formation and evolution, and
cosmology. Johns Hopkins is a member of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
and Pan-STARRS 1 projects, owns a share of the Apache Point
Observatory 3.5m telescope, is the home of the WMAP and Advanced
Camera for Surveys teams, and is an institutional member in the GALEX
mission. We are playing a leading role in the National Virtual
Observatory. We cooperate closely with the adjacent Space Telescope
Science Institute, the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, and NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center.
Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, list of publications,
and short description of research plans as PDF attachments to
astrosearchpha.jhu.edu and also arrange to have three letters of
reference e-mailed by reviewers to the same address. Mail may be
addressed to: Astrophysics Search Committee, c/o Ms. Pam Carmen,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400
North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 USA. Consideration of
applications will begin on December 1, and will continue until the
position is filled. Hopkins is an affirmative action/equal
opportunity employer, and welcomes applications from women and
members of underrepresented groups.
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9. 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.