Friday, July 8, 2016

AASWomen Newsletter for July 8, 2016

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of July 8, 2016
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Elysse Voyer, Heather Flewelling, and Christina Thomas

This week's issues:

1. Black Lives Matter - In Solidarity 
2. Astronomer to Health Care Data Scientist        
3. People Deem Feminine Women Less Likely to Be Scientists
4. Men cite themselves more than women do
5. “We Got This”
6. Gender Summit Europe 2016
7. UK risks losing over 33,000 much-needed female scientists each year, research shows 
8. Tips for Getting Girls Involved in STEM  
9. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
11. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

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1. Black Lives Matter - In Solidarity  
From: Sarah Tuttle via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

We are cross-posting here from the "Astronomers in Color" blog. We are in solidarity with our Black colleagues today.

The recent extrajudicial killings of two Black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by the police have shocked, disturbed, and frightened many of us today. We express our unequivocal repulsion to these acts, which are just one manifestation of the underlying systemic racism in our country. These events affect our community directly. Many Black astronomers in this country, especially those in junior positions, are suffering at this moment. We encourage all of you to be mindful as you reach out to our fellow Black astronomers, and be present with them during these difficult times. The undersigned reaffirm our commitment to ensure the inclusion, support, and safety of every Black person in astronomy.

Read more at


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2. Astronomer to Health Care Data Scientist  
From: Stuart Vogel via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and the AAS Employment Committee have compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.

Below is our interview with Kimberly Scott, an astronomer turned health care data scientist.

Read about Kimberly and her work at


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3. People Deem Feminine Women Less Likely to Be Scientists
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

In their paper “But You Don’t Look Like a Scientist!: Women Scientists With Feminine Appearance Are Deemed Less Likely to Be Scientists” in the journal Sex Roles, Sarah Banchefsky (University of Colorado) and colleagues found that “[f]eminine appearance affected career judgments for female scientists (with increasing femininity decreasing the perceived likelihood of being a scientist and increasing the perceived likelihood of being an early childhood educator), but had no effect on judgments of male scientists.” Furthermore, “[t]he same stereotype holds true for attractive people of either gender”.

Read a summary of the article at


Read the journal article (subscription required) at


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4. Men cite themselves more than women do
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

“Men cite their own papers 56% more than women on average, according to an analysis of 1.5 million studies published between 1779 and 2011. The analysis looked at papers across disciplines in the digital library JSTOR and found that men’s self-citation rate had risen to 70% more than women’s over the past two decades, despite an increase of women in academia in recent years. Around 10% of a given paper’s references are likely to be self-citations by the paper’s authors regardless of their gender.”

Read the summary at


Read the journal article at


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5. “We Got This”
From: Kimberly Arcand [kkowal_at_cfa.harvard.edu]

“Last month, I was honored to attend an extraordinary event: the United State of Women Summit convened by the White House…[it] brought together leaders in all different professional fields – from politics to entertainment, from science to finance. The common thread among all of the participants, however, was easy to find: everyone there wanted to continue to foster and enhance the opportunities for girls and women in whatever endeavors they may choose to pursue.”

Read more at 


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6. Gender Summit Europe 2016
From: Lea Perekrests [gs-europe_at_davinci-institute.eu]

The Gender Summit is ‘the’ global platform for scientists, policy makers, businesses, innovation stakeholders and media focused on the role of gender equality for excellence in innovation, research and development. The two-day Summit will comprise of high-level keynotes, discussion panels, in-depth knowledge-exchange, networking, exhibitions, and extensive conversation onsite, in the press, and on social media platforms. As the 9th Gender Summit, it is expected to attract over four-hundred global participants, representing all innovation sectors, including high-level politicians, renowned scientists, and top tech companies.

For more information, please see


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7. UK risks losing over 33,000 much-needed female scientists each year, research shows 
From:  Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

“New research has shown almost a quarter of current female science students will not or are not sure whether they will pursue a career in science, equating to 33,371 students, based on statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Of those who say they will not go into science, reasons include concerns about the future work-life balance and earning power (11 per cent), with almost half citing “unappealing career options.” Fifteen per cent said they have already felt lonely and isolated in their studies which would put them off from going any further.”

Read more at


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8. Tips for Getting Girls Involved in STEM 
From: Christina Nill [christina.nill_at_afterschoolcareprograms.com]

How to get girls involved in STEM is an important topic.

For tips, please see


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9. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_aas.org 

All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address. 

When submitting a job posting for inclusion in the newsletter, please include a one-line description and a link to the full job posting. 

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

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10. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email: 

Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like. 

Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list) 

To unsubscribe by email: 

Send email to aawlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have UNsubscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like. 

To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings: 


You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en  

Google Groups Subscribe Help: 


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11. Access to Past Issues


Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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