Archive for the 'Role Models' category
Smart Girls at the Party
Via Gerty-Z - thanks so much for alerting me to this site!
As Gerty-Z notes,
the tagline [is] "change the world by being yourself". Now, that already sounds pretty awesome. BUT, if you poke around you will find that it is set up by three super-awesome women: Amy Poehler, Meredith Walker and Amy Miles. They interview women and girls who do cool stuff
Valentine is a gardener. And there are many, many more cool videos and other things on the site. Share this with every young girl you know!!!!!!!!!!!
Underrepresented Groups, Online Science Media, and ScienceOnline2010
Over at A Blog Around the Clock there are a series of posts with great video interviews from ScienceOnline2010, but I'd like to especially point your attention to this one with David Kroll and Damond Nollan, both of North Carolina Central University. It was filmed shortly after their session on "Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Session: Engaging underrepresented groups in online science media".
I missed this session due to a combination of sleep deprivation and headache, and am really regretting it. Isis has a good post based on her attendance at the session, however - you should read it.
You can also follow the Twitter conversation about the session with the combined tags #scio10 #mlk.
Dr. Free-Ride has posted a collection of her tweets from the session here. And a fine job she did, too.
Profile: Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover
Guest post from Female Seaside Scientist, for the Diversity in Science Carnival!
Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover is a Professor of Marine Biology, Director of the Duke University Marine Lab, and Chair of the Marine Science and Conservation Division at the Nicholas School. Her research combines biogeochemistry, biodiversity, ecology of chemosynthetic deep-sea vent organisms, marine technology, and astrobiology.
Faculty page here; research page here; cv here.
More after the jump
Barbara Liskov Wins ACM Turing Award
Just in time for Women's History Month and the second edition of the Diversity in Science Carnival, the Association for Computing Machinery has announced that the 2008 Turing Award goes to Barbara Liskov! Here's all the info from the press release:
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named Barbara Liskov of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the winner of the 2008 ACM A.M. Turing Award. The award cites Liskov for her foundational innovations to designing and building the pervasive computer system designs that power daily life. Her achievements in programming language design have made software more reliable and easier to maintain. They are now the basis of every important programming language since 1975, including Ada, C++, Java, and C#. The Turing Award, widely considered the "Nobel Prize in Computing," is named for the British mathematician Alan M. Turing. The award carries a $250,000 prize, with financial support provided by Intel Corporation and Google Inc.
The first U.S. woman to be awarded a Ph.D. from a computer science department (in 1968 from Stanford University), Liskov revolutionized the programming field with groundbreaking research that underpins virtually every modern computer application for both consumers and businesses. Her contributions have led to fundamental changes in building the computer software programs that form the infrastructure of our information-based society. Her legacy has made software systems more accessible, reliable, and secure 24/7.
First Diversity in Science Carnival is Up!
It's up and available for reading, people! Go over and enjoy at Urban Science Adventures!
This carnival celebrates the people of science and engineering - those who innovate, invent, research, teach, and reach out. This Blog Carnival tells the stories of achievement and perseverance. Why is such a celebration needed? Many reasons, but as Molecular Philosophy put it best, it is to showcase the individuals of science as ROLE MODELS. I think we have a fine list of Role Models for the Black History Month edition of Diversity in Science Carnival.
And when you look at just the first few entries of this carnival you will realize (A) what a fabulous reading treat you are in for and (B) how much this carnival is needed and (C) what a great amount of thanks we owe to Danielle Lee for bringing this into existence! Yay!
Dr. Pamela Gunter-Smith: Career Path of An Administrative Leader
Scientists who are still at the bench may not ever think much about administration or, if they do, their thoughts may be markedly negative. And yet administrative work can be both important and personally rewarding and fulfilling, just as much so as bench research. I know, that sounds like sacrilege, but I've done both, so I think I know what I'm talking about. So for my contribution (as terribly late as it is) to the Diversity in Science blog carnival, I want to talk about African-American women in higher education administration.
Gordon Brownell, Inventor of PET Imaging, Mentor
Gordon Brownell is the person who got me to go to MIT.
I had turned down my acceptance at MIT because my then fiance (now ex-husband) did not get in. Dr. Brownell telephoned me himself to ask why I had declined the nuclear engineering department's offer. When I explained the circumstances, he replied, "oh, is that all? Well, we can take care of that!" And he did. He arranged for my fiance to be accepted into nuclear engineering as well, and so off the two of us went to MIT.
And that, my friends, is how you actively recruit women into your program.*
It was with great sadness that I learned recently of Dr. Brownell's death. I was perusing an issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. I almost never look at the notices section but for some reason this time I did, and there was the announcement of his passing on November 11, 2008 at age 86.
The Proper Way To Be A Woman In Science
Though university administrators seem to be widely reviled among faculty members, one of the best jobs I ever had was in administration. Many wonderful opportunities came my way; possibly the most mind-stretching, exhilarating, and rewarding of these was the chance to spend four weeks attending the Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration, held at Bryn Mawr College. Just imagine spending four weeks with several dozen intelligent, interesting women from colleges and universities all over the U.S., from a range of administrative areas (including faculty members looking to move into administration).
As you can imagine, with any group this size, there would be some people you would just absolutely love, and some who might just rub you the wrong way now and then. Very early on, one of our instructors gave us this valuable advice: Pay attention to the person who annoys you. Stick with them long enough to try to figure out why you are so bothered by them.
That wording is key: not, figure out why they are so bothersome, but why you are so bothered by them. What are you reacting to, what is being triggered in you, what does this mean for you, what can you learn about yourself from it, and what, if anything, do you want to do about it?
Of all the that I learned in those four weeks, this advice has stuck with me - nay, nagged at me - ever since. When someone annoys me, I just want to get the hell away from them. And there are some kinds of "annoyance" that call for putting as much distance as possible between you and the annoyer: sexual harassers, loud cell phone talkers in public spaces, evangelical proselytizers at your doorstep. But there's another kind of annoyance that really calls for you to move closer in and ask yourself why, really, you feel so squirmy whenever That Person starts Mouthing Off.
Lots of people seem to be annoyed with Dr. Isis lately, for lots of different reasons. But I want to focus on one particular reaction to her and her blog.
Earth Science, With Kids
Late last month the Chronicle ran a neat piece in its Careers section, titled Mothers in the Field. It's not behind a paywall - yay! Joan Ramage Macdonald, assistant professor of geology at Lehigh University, and Maura E. Sullivan, PhD candidate in ecology at the same university, write about their experiences taking their young children with them into the field.
And I do mean into the field! Joan took her infant with her into the Yukon Territory to do her research on the evolving snowpack. Maura does research in permanently saturated wetland environments, and first took her daughter with her when she was just 10 weeks old.
Ovaries of stone, those ladies have!
The main challenges in accomplishing fieldwork with an infant in tow are doing the work while keeping the child cared for and happy, dealing with the unexpected, and breast-feeding in inhospitable settings. You're putting yourself, your colleagues, and your infant in an atypical situation. So being inventive is extremely important. Being prepared is important. We both felt that breast-feeding offered a distinct advantage over bottles; we didn't have to worry about spoiled milk or a hungry baby if we ran into delays.
I think you'll enjoy reading their story, if you haven't run across it already. It was critical, of course, for these women to have the support of their departments and colleagues. Just as important, they had supportive spouses and, in Maura's case, a grandma available to help out with childcare.
I especially liked this observation by Joan and Maura
Fieldwork is good for babies: It teaches them adaptability and a love of the outdoors. Their exposure to students is mutually stimulating and fun, and they benefit from a strong relationship with their caregiver, whether that is a parent, a grandparent, or a nanny.
Fieldwork is good for babies! And it's good for mamas not to have to choose between career and family. Rock on, Joan and Maura!
Danica McKellar's New Book
I never got around to reviewing Danica McKellar's first book, Math Doesn't Suck, and now she's got a second one out, Kiss My Math. You gotta love the title at least. I think she's got a whole franchise going here. Maybe by the time she puts out her calculus book I'll get my review of Math Doesn't Suck up on the blog.
Hat tip to Veronica for letting me know about this.
AWIS Coaching Program
From my email inbox: information about AWIS coaching seminars. Two dates, four times, 45 minutes in length, details after the jump.
Mars Is Good For Women In Science!
Lab Lemming recently wrote to me:
However bad the situation here on Earth gets, at least there is another planet in the solar system where women scientists and engineers can work
and then directed me to this very heartening story on the Mars Exploration Rover tactical operations team. It seems that last Friday, every single person on the rather large team operating the rovers that day was a woman. Yay! Emily Lakdawalla, the author, tells us
Think about that. One, two, or a handful of women around could be explained away by the chauvinistic as token participants, the product of affirmative action. But the entire tactical team, from top to bottom -- there's no way to dismiss that; these women all have the skills to do the work, work they do every day...The Jet Propulsion Laboratory sure has changed a lot from the days when women were only in secretarial positions, and competed in an annual beauty pageant called "Miss Guided Missile" (see M. G. Lord's Astroturf for more on that story).
Miss Guided Missile, indeed. Astroturf sounds like a fabulous read...I suppose I ought to add it to my ever-growing, never-shrinking TBR pile.
Thanks, Lab Lemming, for sending this bit of news my way...it is indeed refreshing to read about a positive workplace transformation for a change! See, it can happen - so I don't want to hear about that "lowering our standards" crap ever again.*
*though I know I shall not be so lucky.
Changing the Culture of Science in Japan
What happens when you speak up about gender inequity in Japan's science culture? Why, you can expect to be accused of "tarnishing the reputation" of the university, that's what. That's what happened to biophysicist Mitiko Go when she spoke out about an instance of egregious sex discrimination. One Woman Is Not Enough, an editorial just published in Nature, recounts the tale. It's no wonder Go had to be essentially at retirement before she felt she could risk speaking up. Instead of retiring, however, she's now president of a university and a member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy. She's in a position to push for serious change.
Women make up only 12.4% of scientists in Japan, and the editorial notes:
Japan needs its women like never before. There are fewer students than available university seats and a trend away from mathematics and science among students. The society is greying, and there remains an unwillingness to open the borders to foreigners on a large scale.
There is government support in the form of money for programs to encourage young girls to enter science, but all the encouragement in the world isn't going to help if the culture of science remains untouched. That's why Go's actions as university president are so critical:
As part of her model programme, Go encourages all researchers at Ochanomizu to work 9 to 5. To do so, she has changed rules and faculty meeting schedules. This is by no means a revolution. But it may be a step in undoing a culture that has handicapped Japan by keeping roughly half its creativity under wraps. Too bad it can't happen faster.
Notice the key bit of leadership here: she has changed rules and schedules. It's not just rhetoric about diversity being good and we need more women in the workforce to stay competitive, blah blah. She's taken specific actions to disrupt the prevalent culture that excludes women. Real institutional change requires just that: changing policies and procedures, not just figuring out how to shovel more women into a hostile system and help them cope.
It may be a small step forward but it's a significant one. Three cheers for Mitiko Go!!!!
Hat tip to reader Beth Montelone on this story.
Why Boing Boing Doesn't Blog About Housework
Mrs. Whatsit pointed out that Propter Doc has recently written on the topic of blogging under a pseudonym. It's a very thoughtful post and touches on many of the issues we discussed at the NC Science Blogging Conference. In the middle of the post, Propter Doc says the following:
If you blog about being a scientist then you are probably in a position where you need to take steps to conceal your identity. The world doesn't need to know what flavor of scientist you are, or even your gender.
Is this really the case? That is, does your gender not matter in science blogging, even (or especially) the pseudonymous variety?
