AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of December 19, 2009
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson & Michele Montgomery
This week's issues:
1. Unearned Advantage and Disadvantage
2. Unconcious Bias: the CSWA special session proposal for the Miami
AAS Meeting
3. CSWA Special Sessions at the D.C. AAS Meeting
4. Profiles of Various Career Paths
5. Our Thanks to Fran Bagenal, the editor of STATUS
6. Wanted: A New Editor for STATUS
7. Follow-up on Childcare at AAS DC meeting
8. Funds Remain for Childcare Grants for APS Meeting
9. How to Submit, Subscribe, or Unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
10. Access to Past Issues of AASWOMEN
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1. Unearned Advantage and Disadvantage
From: Caroline Simpson [simpsonc
fiu.edu]
[We continue to summarize the major outcomes from the Women in
Astronomy III conference held at the University of Maryland October
21-23, 2009 - Eds.]
Dr. Peggy McIntosh, Senior Research Scientist and the associate
director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, talked about the concept
of unearned advantage and disadvantage as work impediments. Her work
has added the concept of privilege to discussions of race and
gender. The framework is that there exists a "line of justice" above
which is the world of (unearned) privilege: above that line, you are
pushed up in ways you did not earn. This creates mental attitudes of
superiority and rightness, most of which are quite unconscious. Below
that line exists the realm of (unearned) disadvantage. It is not that
below that line one is "suffering from"; it is that above that line,
one is "free of." There is no blame placed here -- one
just absorbs the ideas that come with being above/below the line of
justice. Everyone usually has both types and both can be
impediments in the workplace.
Dr. McIntosh demonstrated this principle with concrete examples she
has assembled over the years. The original work focused on race
issues, but are equally applicable to gender issues. Here are some of
her examples:
* I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my
own race/gender most of the time.
* I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in
which I am the only member of my race/gender.
* I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting
my race/gender on trial.
* I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial
group/gender.
* I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in
charge," I will be facing a person of my race/gender.
In her talk, Dr. McIntosh asked us to ask ourselves what we have that
we didn't earn (relative to someone else); and then what disadvantage
we had that we didn't earn. It was an interesting exercise...
More examples can be found in her excerpted essay "White Privilege:
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" at
www.case.edu/president/aaction/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf
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2. Unconcious Bias: the CSWA special session proposal for the Miami
AAS Meeting
From: Hannah at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
Looking forward, one of the topics we want to bring up at the summer
2010 AAS Meeting in Miami is unconscious bias. An excerpt from our
proposal:
When evaluating identical application packages, male and female
University psychology professors preferred 2:1 to hire "Brian"
over "Karen" as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more
experienced record (at the point of promotion to tenure),
reservations were expressed four times more often when the name
was female. This unconscious bias has a repeated negative effect
on Karen's career. Ref: Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999) Sex
Roles, 41, 509.
See the full post at
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/blogging-big-meetings-and-bias.html
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3. CSWA Special Sessions at the D.C. AAS Meeting
From: Hannah at womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
The Committee for the Status for Women in Astronomy (CSWA) is
sponsoring a number of special sessions at the AAS meeting in
Washington, D.C. next month: at the upcoming AAS Meeting in
Washington, DC. We are sponsoring a number of special sessions:
* 208 Longitudinal Study of Astronomy Graduate Students
Monday, Jan 04, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Virginia B
* 221 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty I (co-sponsored with CSMA
[Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astrononmy])
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 10:00 AM -11:30 AM
Maryland A
* 226 Mentoring Astronomers: Students to Faculty II (co-sponsored with CSMA)
Special Session
Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Maryland A
You might also be interested in this poster session on Tuesday:
* Public Policy Issues
Poster Session
Tuesday, Jan 05, 2010, 9:20 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
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4. Profiles of Various Career Paths
From: AAS Electronic Announcement #203 - December 2009
Over the past two years, the Employment Committee has published a
series of articles in the AAS Newsletter to highlight a wide variety
of career paths. Each article gives an insider perspective and tips
for success in a specific job sector. A collection of links to past
articles in the Newsletter archives is now available at:
aas.org/career/
If you would like to highlight a career path that is not represented
in the current list of articles, please contact the Employment
Committee Chair, Travis Metcalfe (travisucar.edu)
[Here's the current list from the website -- eds.]
* Preparing for the College Teaching Job Market by Luke Keller
* Succeeding in a Large Research Collaboration by Andy Howell
* Balancing Research and Service at NOAO by Knut Olsen
* Working at a Soft-Money Institute by Barb Whitney
* Back to School: A Ph.D. Enters the Classroom by Joshua Roth
* Jobs in Industry by Peter Williams
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5. Our Thanks to Fran Bagenal, the editor of STATUS
From: The Members of CSWA [cswaaas.org]
Fran Bagenal is stepping down as the editor of STATUS, CSWA's
semiannual printed publication. Fran has been the editor since the
June 2004 edition. Not only has she solicited contributions and
overseen the production of each issue, but she has also written many
articles herself.
In her letter of resignation, Fran told us that she was ready to move
on to other things. She is a professor in Astrophysical and Planetary
Sciences at the University of Colorado and specializes in the
synthesis of data analysis and theory in the study of space plasmas.
We thank Fran for her dedicated service and wish her all the best in
her future pursuits.
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6. Wanted: A New Editor for STATUS
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelzmemphis.edu]
With the recent resignation of Fran Bagenal, STATUS finds itself in
need of a new editor. CSWA is looking for volunteers to join Associate
Editors Joannah Hinz (University of Arizona) and Patricia Knezek (WIYN
Observatory) and help shepherd STATUS into the future.
STATUS consists of original and reprinted articles on topics relating
to women in astronomy, in science and/or in society. Contributions,
such as editorial columns, factual articles, personal stories and
letters to the editor are welcome from anyone.
In this world of electronic media, CSWA feels that STATUS still has an
important role to play. It is the best place for longer, more
in-depth articles, which often feature plots or tables. Such articles
are not well suited to the AASWOMEN or blog format. STATUS could go
completely online (pdf) rather than continue in the printed format,
and this will be a decision for the new editorial staff.
If you are interested in applying for the editorship of STATUS, please
contact me or any CSWA member.
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7. Follow-up on Childcare at AAS DC meeting
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelzmemphis.edu]
Good news from Kevin Marvel -- there are now 7 families and 11 children
signed up for childcare at the AAS DC meeting.
He says that this is nearly an order of magnitude more interest in
AAS-provided childcare than in the past!
Keep spreading the word.
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8. Funds Remain for Childcare Grants for APS Meeting
From: WIPHYS, Dec. 15, 2009
Thinking about what to do about extra expenses in connection with
childcare for that little one while you attend the APS meeting in
Washington, DC in February? We can help! Small grants of up to $400
are available to assist meeting attendees at the APS annual meetings
who are bringing small children or who incur extra expenses in leaving
them at home. Please go to
http://www.aps.org/meetings/april/services/childcare.cfm and
completing the short application form.
The deadline to apply for a childcare grant for the APS February/April
meeting has been extended to January 8, 2010.
Information about similar grants for the March meeting (Portland,
Oregon) can be found at
http://www.aps.org/meetings/march/services/childcare.cfm .
APS is pleased to offer these grants through the support of the
Elsevier Foundation's New Scholars Program
http://www.elsevierfoundation.org/scholar.html .
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10. 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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