AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of July 28, 2006
eds. Patricia Knezek, Jim Ulvestad, & Joan Schmelz
This week's issues:
1. "Does gender matter" article in Nature
2. "Faculty have Families Too"
3. Luce Foundation Funds Scholarships for Women in Science
4. Workshop on Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position
5. How to submit, subscribe, or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
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1. "Does gender matter" article in Nature
From: Various contributors, AASWOMEN for July 14, 2006
[Note: We ran this posting in the July 14 AASWOMEN, but several readers
have submitted it to us again. For those who missed the first notice,
we are repeating the item here. --eds.]
[Eds. note: The Nature article is available free to subscribers, and
available for purchase to others. The Washington Post article is
available for free, but requires registration to access it.]
Commentary: Does gender matter? Ben A. Barres
Editor's Summary
13 July 2006
Gender agenda
Harvard University president Larry Summers was heavily criticized last
year when he claimed that differences in innate aptitude, rather than
discrimination, were behind the failure of women to advance in scientific
careers. Some other academics agreed with Summers' analysis: "rubbish", to
paraphrase the views of female-to-male transgendered scientist Ben A.
Barres.
The suggestion that women are not advancing in science because of
innate inability is being taken seriously by some high-profile
academics. Ben A. Barres explains what is wrong with the hypothesis.
The full text of the article can be accessed from:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7099/full/442133a.html
- Laura Kay & Jayanne English
The Washington Post published the following interesting article about
Ben Barres, the author of the article in Nature:
Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist
Biologist Who Underwent Sex Change Describes Biases Against Women
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201883.html?sub=new
- Amy Simon-Miller
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2. "Faculty have Families Too"
From: WIPHYS of July 27, 2006
The American Association of University Professors Committee on Women in the
Academic Profession recently released a new presentation, Faculty Have
Families Too, highlighting current research on work/family issues in academe,
and the best practices recommended by the AAUP in its 2001 Statement of
Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work. This workshop is
designed to help concerned faculty evaluate their own campus policies and
initiate debate on how those policies can be improved. The workshop also
explores the role of work/family policies in encouraging the hiring and
retention of women faculty. Faculty Have Families Too is available for
downloading from the AAUP Web site, and can be used by faculty members as part
of their own presentations to facilitate discussion on campuses concerning the
creation of family friendly academic workplaces. The presentation is
available at: http://www.aaup.org/Issues/FamilyWork/Services/Workshops.htm .
Anita Levy, PhD., Associate Secretary
American Association of University Professors
202-737-5900
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3. Luce Foundation Funds Scholarships for Women in Science
From: WIPHYS of July 27, 2006
The Clare Boothe Luce Program http://www.hluce.org/4cbldefm.html provides
grants for undergraduate scholarships for women studying science, engineering,
and mathematics. Colleges are invited to apply for a grant from the program,
which was founded by Clare Boothe Luce, the widow of Time Inc. co-founder and
editor-in-chief, Henry R. Luce. She was a playwright, journalist, U.S.
Ambassador to Italy, and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.
She realized that many women face obstacles in their chosen professions. In
her bequest, she sought "to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and
teach" sciences and mathematics.
A list of institutions receiving Clare Boothe Luce awards can be found at
http://www.hluce.org/4cblpifm.html
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4. Workshop on Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position
From: Meg Urry (meg.urry
yale.edu), also WIPHYS for July 25, 2006
Invitation to Apply for Workshop on "Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position"
Dear Female Graduate Students and Postdocs,
Will you be actively searching for a faculty position in the near future?
You may be interested in applying for this upcoming Rice ADVANCE workshop on
"Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position", October 22-24, 2006 - hosted by
the School of Engineering and School of Natural Sciences at Rice. We are
expecting young women from institutions across the nation to apply.
Participants will be selected after applications are reviewed by the Rice
ADVANCE Leadership Team and faculty in the Department you designate.
More details and the online application can be accessed at the website
below. The workshop flyer can be downloaded from the website homepage.
Please note that the application deadline is August 15, 2006.
http://www.advance.rice.edu/negotiatingtheidealfacultyposition/
We look forward to receiving your online application.
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD
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5. How to submit, subscribe, or unsubscribe to AASWOMEN
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