Greetings!

9 Barriers for Women of Color in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Members of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy and the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, including AWIS member Nancy Morrison, identified nine barriers that face WoC in astronomy and outlined 7 recommendations for addressing the issues.

System transformation 

National Survey Confirms Plight of Adjuncts in HigherEd
The Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) just released the results of a survey addressing adjunct working conditions. CAW received close to 30,000 responses, with just over 20,000 coming from individuals who identified themselves as working in a contingent position at an institution or institutions of higher education in fall 2010. Part-time faculty respondents from the sciences made up 15%.  The bottom line?  Adjuncts don't make much money, they receive little support in terms of professional development from the institutions where they teach, and most would accept a full-time tenure-track position if it were offered to them.

Contributed by Anahita Hamidi 

Engaging Your Brain Keeps It Functioning
Being passionate about what you do keeps you engaged, and interestingly, may also have clear benefits for your brain.  Cynthia Greene of the Huffington Post points out that this is more than simply a case of "use it or lose it".  In fact, individuals who are more engaged with what they do tend not only to have better memory and overall executive functioning, but also lead a more purpose-driven life.  So... find your passion!

 
Brain power

The Science of Meditation
Just a few decades ago, meditation was considered an occult and perhaps even mysterious Eastern practice.  Today, however, meditation is often touted as a great tool for stress reduction.  Yet, the science behind exactly why meditation may lead to an increased sense of wellbeing has remained somewhat of a mystery. Scientists at UC Davis found meditation related to positive changes in visual perception, emotional engagement, and even cellular aging.

 
OM's physiology 

Better Late than Never: Delayed Publishing for Flu Papers
Just because interesting scientific findings get past the peer review process, doesn't mean that the work is immediately published...  Especially in infectious diseases research where there can be "dual-use" concerns.  Last year, two papers on H5N1 were blocked from publication for this very reason. However, the second paper was recently published in the journal Science. The data didn't change but thanks to a few rewritten sentences (assuring publishers that it will not be spread through air) it is now better contextualized and ready for your reading pleasure.

Delayed release

AWIS Member Challenges Google to Be More Inclusive
Ann Martin, PhD, has written an open letter to Google challenging the tech giant to feature more women in its Google Doodles (the changes to the company's logo on its homepage).  Millions of people visits the Google homepage each day.  "Google Doodles highlight role models in science, technology, the arts, and the humanities, but a quick look will show you that the people you have chosen to honor do not represent the full spectrum of humanity," says Dr. Martin. 

Google Bias

Read the open letter

Women Still Can't Have it All
Anne Marie Slaughter's controversial article in the Atlantic entitled "Why women still can't have it all" has caused a huge stir.  As a government executive, and mother of a teenage son, Slaughter says that something generally has to give.  She acknowledges that women now have opportunities that weren't available to past generations.  However, we are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can realistically balance a typical high-flying job with children.  Her solution to change the system?  A female President!!

Controversial words

Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm
"The GDP-lead development model that compels boundless growth on a planet with limited resources no longer makes economic sense," declares the Prime Minister of Bhutan.  "The purpose of development must be to create enabling conditions through public policy for the pursuit of the ultimate goal of happiness by all citizens."  The US ranks 114 out of 143 nations on the Index that uses global data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint.

Measuring happiness

Women More Stressed By Housework Than Men
Researchers in Sweden released results of questionnaires filled out by 723 residents of a mid-sized Swedish industrial town from 1981 to 2007 that show women still shoulder the greater burden of housework and are more stressed.  The stress worsens when there is salary or gender inequality present in the relationship.  At age 21, both men and women reported roughly the same level of psychological distress (which included restlessness, concentration problems, and anxiety), but by age 42 women's levels of distress had gone up while the men's had stayed the same.

 
Who's scrubbing that tub? 

Ohio State Hosts Workshop for Women on Commercialization

The  "REACH for Commercialization" will introduce women faculty and postdocs in STEM to the multiple pathways toward entrepreneurship. The workshop is aimed at extending the "REACH" of research beyond the lab, whether it is through patenting, licensing, corporate partnering or starting a business.  Fellowships are available.  The fellowships include travel, all meals and lodging, and registration fees.  Deadline for applications: July 2, 2012. 

BBRG Affiliated Scholars Program

The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is designed to accommodate scholars who would like to spend a relatively short period of time in residence, ranging from one month to six months. The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is open to senior and junior faculty (tenured and untenured), visiting scholars, postdoctoral scholars and independent scholars, from the U.S. and abroad, whose work is centrally on women and gender. Applicants must have the Ph.D. in hand one year prior to the beginning of the appointment. The BBRG accepts applications for the BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program throughout the academic year. 

Marie Curie Fellowship
Have you ever wanted to do research in Europe? Apply for a Marie Curie Fellowship. The goal of the Marie Curie Fellowship is to strengthen the human potential in research and technology by stimulating people to enter into the profession of research and attracting researchers from the entire world to Europe. This Fellowship addresses researchers at all stages of their careers, in the public and private sectors, from initial research training, specifically intended for young people, to lifelong learning and career development. Proposals are welcomed from all areas of scientific and technological research and the fellowship covers your salary plus your research expenses. To apply, you must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years' full-time equivalent research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate.
 

Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship
The Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship program aims to encourage creative and highly-trained recipients of doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematical disciplines to engage in hands-on research projects in their areas of expertise at the kind of small innovative businesses that historically have fueled the nation's economic regime. This fellowship program offers small businesses the opportunity to attract top scientific and technological talent at a fraction of the usual cost, while recruiting postdoctoral fellows to work for at least a year outside an academic setting on cutting-edge research aimed at promoting scientific excellence and strengthening our nation's technological prowess. Each research fellow will receive a stipend of at least $75,000 plus health insurance benefits.

NSF's Career-Life Balance (CLB) Initiative
Scientists now have the opportunity to submit supplemental funding requests to support additional personnel (e.g., research technicians or equivalent). This will help sustain research when the Principal Investigator is on family leave. In FY 2012, up to 3 months of salary support may be requested (for a maximum of $12,000 in salary compensation) by CAREER awardees.

 The European research network REPROTRAIN offers 10 PhD positions and 4 Post-doc positions in Systems Reproductive Biology and Andrology. Information and application forms in www.reprotrain.eu.

Inside the Latest

AWIS Magazine