Friday, July 28, 2017

AASWomen Newsletter for July 28, 2017

AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of July 28, 2017
eds: Nicolle Zellner, Heather Flewelling, Cristina Thomas, and Maria Patterson

This week's issues:

1. Career Profile: Astronomer and Group Lead: Dr. Van Dixon
2. Girl Scouts adds 23 new STEM badges to encourage girls in science, tech
3. Afghan Girls’ Robotics Team Wins Limelight at Competition
4. High-Fins: Shark Week is finally featuring female shark scientists
5. Young female coders get strong support for facing tough culture
6. Job Opportunities
7. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter
9. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter

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1. Career Profile: Astronomer and Group Lead: Dr. Van Dixon
From: Christina Richey 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, planetary scientists, etc. The interviews share advice and lessons learned from individuals on those paths.

Below is our interview with Van Dixon, an astronomer who recently moved from instrument scientist to manager at STScI.

Read more at

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/07/career-profile-astronomer-and-group.html

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2. Girl Scouts adds 23 new STEM badges to encourage girls in science, tech
From: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Is there anything girls can't do? No! One month after adding badges in cybersecurity, the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) have added 23 new badges in STEM fields. These include designing roller coasters or model cars (among other items), robotics, woodworking, and "sky".

Read more at

http://blog.girlscouts.org/2017/07/why-girl-scouts-why-now.html?m=1

See an interview with Sylvia Acevedo, CEO of the GSUSA, at

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/25/girl-scouts-adds-23-new-stem-badges-encourage-girls-science-tech/507583001/

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3. Afghan Girls’ Robotics Team Wins Limelight at Competition
From: Cristina Thomas [cthomas_at_psi.edu]

by Emily Cochrane

The Afghan teenager didn’t say anything as she scrolled through three days’ worth of pictures on her phone, her finger swiping across the screen. Feet dangling over a Washington fountain. Posing with students from Iraq and Iran. A meal carefully laid out on an airplane tray.

But then the teenager, Kawsar Roshan, paused, tilting the screen to show a picture of a piece of United States government paperwork she received only Thursday.

Read more at

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/world/asia/afghanistan-girls-robotics-visas-trump.html

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4. High-Fins: Shark Week is finally featuring female shark scientists
From: Cristina Thomas [cthomas_at_psi.edu]

by Michelle Jewell

Worldwide, women only hold 24% of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) even though they make up 46% of the total workforce.

Less young women participate in STEM A-level exams than young men, even though they regularly score higher than their male counterparts. Few young women participate in mathletics, quiz bowl, or robotics club even though it is an asset on university applications.

Most young girls "lose interest" in STEM subjects during the transition from middle to upper school, and being both an educator at a middle school and a shark scientist, I can tell you that these events are related.

Read more at

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/high-fins-shark-week-finally-featuring-female-shark-scientists-1631697

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5. Young female coders get strong support for facing tough culture
From: Cristina Thomas [cthomas_at_psi.edu]

by Marissa Lang

At the center of a brightly lit conference room inside the offices of a Silicon Valley software firm, a college student lowered her voice, leaned over to the woman on her right and made an admission: “I’m scared.”

The young woman, 21-year-old Michelle Ahn, is a junior at UC Berkeley. She’s a computer science major and an instructor with Girls Who Code.

And she’s afraid of entering the workforce not because she doesn’t think she can get a job or do the work she wants to do, but because she’s heard about what happens to women in tech. The stories of harassment, discrimination, assault.

Read more at

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Young-women-coders-undeterred-by-Silicon-Valley-11340276.php

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6. Job Opportunities

For those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in their organizations, a list of resources and advice is here: https://cswa.aas.org/diversity.html#howtoincrease

-Research Scientist-Planetary Sciences, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX
https://resapp.swri.org/ResApp/Job_Search_Results.aspx?DETAIL=15-01230

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7. 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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8. 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 aaswlist+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:

https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist

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:

http://support.google.com/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46606

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9. Access to Past Issues

https://cswa.aas.org/AASWOMEN.html

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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