As I discussed in my last post, the “She’s an Astronomer” series by Karen Masters asks women astronomers (amateur and professional) the same questions in order to see how different women feel about the same issues. Her recent summary post compiles all the answers to the question “What (if any) do you think are the main barriers to women’s involvement in Astronomy?”. Previously, I talked about the obstacle of poor grade school enthusiasm for science as a barrier to women’s involvement. This post will discuss some of the views of the professional astronomers.
There were varying opinions on barriers to women’s involvement depending on how long a person had been a professional astronomer. Encouragingly, the younger members tended to express the view that strong discrimination against women in science is more or less gone. Recent PhD recipients said that they haven’t experienced any discrimination and that they didn’t feel there have been any obstacles for them. However, the older professional astronomers did not share this same view. Professor Meg Urry said that as an undergraduate and a graduate student, she didn’t expect or notice any discrimination problems, but that as her career progressed she noticed “the huge pile of female talent that goes wasted every year”.
A masters student that was interviewed said that she had a male colleague tell her that now, it was easier to be a woman in astronomy than a man. Professor Meg Urry talks about this issue in her interview, describing that ‘even 30 years ago she was being told that “as a woman, I would benefit (the implication was, unfairly) from affirmative action” and concludes “When people say this today, as they often do, I have to laugh. . I sure do wish it were true [..]”’.
Many issues for women in astronomy are related to the astronomy career path, which involves moving several times from post-doc to post-doc. One astronomer points out that this isn’t a barrier specific to women, and that it is something men have to deal with as well. Karen Masters says, “to remain in a career as a researcher is very difficult for both men and women, and I believe slightly more so for women”. Masters also talks about the difficulty of having two academics in a relationship, saying that “because of the current gender imbalance, a higher proportion of female scientists than male scientists are married to other scientists”. Having a family is also something of concern to some of the professional researchers, who say that it is extremely difficult to be a researcher and have a family at the same time.
The most senior professional astronomers interviewed said that there is still discrimination, but that it is usually subtle. For example, Meg Urry said that “Fewer women are sought after as speakers, assistant professors, prize winners, than men of comparable ability”. She also said that she has “seen talented women ignored, overlooked, and sometimes denigrated to the point where they abandon their dreams”. Another professional astronomer, Pamela Gay, remembered the assumption that she must be a secretary if she was in the physics department. She thinks that it will take a generation and maternity/health care reforms for real change to take place.
The article closes with a statement by Meg Urry about unconscious bias – discrimination done by all of us, male or female, whether we are aware of it or not. She states that since we are raised in a society where men hold most leadership positions, women are often undervalued.
She gives some good advice that I will take to heart: that “every young woman or under-represented minority scientist should learn about this “unconscious bias” so that, should they ever find themselves getting discouraged or feeling inadequate as scientists, they will correct for the effect of a harmful environment and recognize their own considerable achievements and talents.”
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