Balancing motherhood and a physics education

Today I read an interview by Physics Today with Randi Ludwig, an astronomy graduate student who has been a mother since her sophomore year of her undergraduate education.  The interview offers a really helpful perspective on what it’s like to be a mother and a student in the physical sciences at the same time.  And although it’s clear that it isn’t an easy thing to do, Randi Ludwig shows that it is definitely possible! The interview also makes a strong case for family-friendly science departments; one thing that made balancing science and motherhood easier was the fact that she could bring her daughter to class with her.  It’s really important that science departments be family-friendly as careers in science can make motherhood difficult.

Here’s the interview: http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition/singularities/forging_ahead_with_astronomy_baby_and_all

Observing diary, Day 5

Here is the diary from my last night of observing!  I’ve had an amazing time, and even though the weather was mostly bad, we did manage to get in some observing over my five nights.
Observing Day 5 (29 July 2011):

8:06 pm: When we came out of playing pool around 6:40 pm, it was beautiful!  There was not a cloud in the sky!  So we opened up the dome early, watched the sunset, and them came inside to sit and wait for it to get dark.  A couple of minutes ago, we were called outside to look at some pretty ominous clouds over Mexico (where the weather is approximately coming from), and there was  TON of lightning.  So we’re going to start pointing the telescope now, and hopefully we’ll get some observing done before the lightning/clouds come our way!

12:22 am: We got to do some observing earlier in the night! We took some spectra of one of our fellow REU student’s objects (it was a galaxy with an active galactic nucleus) and then closed up after about 45 minutes due to lightning off in the distance.  We sat outside for a while, watching the lightning, since it was far enough away not to be a danger to us.  It was surreal, because the skies were totally clear overhead, yet there was tons of lightning elsewhere.  We could see the Milky Way, and I even saw some shooting stars!  After we came in, we watched some Battlestar Galactica, and I think the skies have cleared up and we’ll be opening up the dome again soon.  Yay!

3:40 am: Done for the night!  We were able to get in about another hour of observing from 12:45 to 1:45.  We took spectra of a variable star.  These exposures were very long – 900 seconds.  Then the clouds came back in and we weren’t able to see our guide star or our target, so we had to close.  After that we waited for a while – I tried to do some work but I was way too tired to concentrate.  Then around 3:15 it was decided that we wouldn’t get to observe anymore before the sun started rising, so we came down to go to sleep.  A little extra sleep will be nice tonight, since last night I didn’t sleep very much at all!

Observing diary, Day 4

I’m back on Kitt Peak!  Here is my observing diary for last night (complete with pictures!)

Observing Day 4 (28 July 2011):

4:44 am: A semi-successful night!  I got up to Kitt Peak around 4 pm, and we walked around for about an hour before getting some dinner.  There are some amazing views around here, and I was happy to get to take some pictures (since I remembered my camera this time!).  After dinner the other students and I played pool in the rec room, which was fun.  We then went up to the telescope for the night.  The first thing we did when we got there was fill the liquid nitrogen dewar.  We are no longer using FLAMINGOS, which is the infrared imager we were using last week.  Now we’re using GoldCam, which is an optical spectrograph.  The liquid nitrogen dewar on GoldCam needs to be filled about every 8 hours.  After that, we went to watch the sunset.  The sunsets up here have to be some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen!

Sunset from the 2.1 m catwalk, WIYN .9 and 3.5 m telescopes on left.

After that, we hung around until 3 am because it was really cloudy, and even rainy at some points.  During that time, I did some work, then we played a computer game called Pocket Tanks, celebrated a birthday, and watched Galaxy Quest (although I slept through most of it because I was tired).  Around 3 it really cleared up, so we decided to open the dome (even though it begins to get light a little after 4).  We were so pressed for time that we didn’t really point or focus the telescope.  We got to observe M32, which is a dwarf elliptical galaxy that is a companion to Andromeda.

Andromeda and its dwarf elliptical galaxies. M32 is located just left of the center of the picture. (pic from stargazing.net)

M32 as seen on our "Object Aquisition Moniter". This is used to make sure the object we're looking at is in the dome slit, and the telescope is pointing at it.

We took three spectra of M32 (300 s exposures).  After that we took a calibration spectra of the HeNeAr lamp (this is used to find out how much wavelength is covered in each pixel), and then started to close up.  It took us about 30 minutes to complete the closing procedure.  We have to stow the telescope, close the dome, put an awning over the telescope, refill the dewar, and shut off  fans and things like that.  Now I am back in my dorm room.  I’m really glad that we got to observe SOMETHING at some point in my 5 nights at Kitt Peak.  I also still have tomorrow night, so maybe we’ll get some more observing done then!

A spectrum of M32 (the large black horizontal line)! Those vertical lines that cut across the spectrum are atmospheric lines (that is why they are found throughout the entire slit).

 

The 2.1 m telescope

Inside the telescope control room.

My summer + Observing diary, Day 1

I decided to take a bit of a different direction and talk about the work I’m doing this summer!  This summer, I’ve been working at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, AZ, as part of their Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.  An REU program is essentially a program where a university or an organization brings in undergraduates to do research over the summer.  I did an REU last summer at Williams College, and studied planetary nebulae.

This summer, I’m studying ultra-luminous infrared galaxies.  These are galaxies that emit more light in the infrared than at all other wavelengths combined.  They obtain these extreme luminosities through bursts of star formation, active galactic nuclei (aka supermassive central black holes!), or a combination of the two.  I spent the first part of the summer finding the redshifts of a group of these galaxies – measuring a redshift is essentially a way of finding out how far away a galaxy is.  Now I’m working on measuring their emission line strengths, so that we can find out if they are undergoing star formation, if they have active galactic nuclei, or if both are occurring.

As part of the summer program, the REU students get to observe on Kitt Peak National Observatory.  Kitt Peak is about 90 minutes from Tucson, at an elevation of 6,750 feet.  They have reserved 2 weeks total for the REU students to observe on the 2.1 m telescope.  During the first week, we use an infrared imager, and during the second week, we will use an optical spectrograph.  Each individual student gets to be at the observatory for five nights.  I have three nights using the infrared imager, and two nights on the optical spectrograph.  I got to Kitt Peak yesterday afternoon, and observed for the first time last night.  I thought it would be cool to post a sort of observing diary, since I was writing about what we were doing as the night went on.  So below is my observing diary for night one, starting on the afternoon of Jul 20th, and ending in the wee hours of the morning on Jul 21st.

Some of the telescopes on Kitt Peak, including the 4 meter Mayall Telescope.

Observing Diary, Day 1

4:40 pm: We got up to Kitt Peak around 3:30 in the afternoon.  It was still pretty hot up here, but it cooled off quickly.  It’s nothing like Tucson!  The first thing we did was settle into our dorm rooms.  The dorms are nice!  After we settled in, we went up to the 2.1 m telescope to fill one of the liquid nitrogen tanks (there are two – one for the spectrograph and one for the imager).  The liquid nitrogen is used to keep the instruments cool.  We will have to fill the other, larger tank later tonight.  The larger tank is for the imager.  We’ll be getting dinner at 5 pm, in just a few minutes.  I’m excited to observe tonight! There’s been some thunder, but it seems to be off in the distance.  Hopefully the weather will hold out and we’ll get some good observations.  If not, I hope we at least get good lightning!

Me during the filling of the liquid nitrogen tank

Me on the catwalk outside the telescope dome, with a .9 m telescope in the background.

11:59 pm:  So, we haven’t done any observing of objects yet.  It was really cloudy earlier, with “threatening clouds” (this term is used for any clouds that could potentially produce rain).  Then it actually did rain.  So although we were able to take darks and dome flats, we weren’t able to do anything that requires opening the dome.  Darks and dome flats are used for reducing the images you take of objects.  I had a great time going around and setting up stuff for the telescope.  We even got to go on a dome ride!  Typically with telescopes, the dome rotates in a circle around the telescope, moving the slit.  The telescope also rotates to where the slit is, and moves up and down to take pictures of objects in the slit.  A dome ride consists of standing on floor on the part of the dome that rotates.  It totally felt as if the telescope is moving and you are standing still, rather than what it actually is (you rotating around the telescope).  It’s awesome!  So, for the past hour and a half or so, I’ve just been sitting here on my laptop.  I fell asleep in my chair a couple times.  Hopefully the rest of the night brings clearer weather!

3:49 am: Around 2 am, the clouds started to clear, so we opened the dome.  We were pointing the telescope (making sure the telescope knew where it was), and focusing it, and just when we had finished doing these things around 3 am, we got a call that more threatening clouds were coming in and we needed to close.  We spent some time closing up the dome, shutting everything down, and filling out an observing log, then returned to the dorms.  I’m in my dorm now, but I feel strangely awake.  I’m going to watch a tv show on my laptop until I finally fall asleep.  I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get to observe any science objects, but taking darks, flats, and pointing the telescope are all important parts of observing.  So it was definitely not a waste of a night.  I feel like I learned a lot!  Here’s hoping tomorrow brings better weather (or at least some sweet storms and lightning).

Discussing under-representation of women in physics leads to stronger “physics identity” for girls

This article from Scientific American examines the factors that cause students to choose physics, and relates it to the under-representation of women in science.

First, the author discusses what influences a student’s decision to pursue physics?  One factor is an early interest in science.  More so than mathematics achievement, this is a good predictor of whether a student will major in science as an undergraduate.  Also extremely important is a student’s confidence in his or her abilities.  Both male and female students who are more confident in their ability to succeed or complete a task are more likely to get good grades in physics.  Parents, teachers, and fellow students also have the ability to influence a student’s decision.  In one study, it was found that the “more mothers believed in their children’s science and math abilities in grade 7, the more likely those students were to pursue careers in science at age 24.”  The fact that outsiders can have such a strong influence on the careers that students choose to pursue can be problematic when girls encounter people who think that math/science are for boys.

Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics surveyed “3,800 American undergraduate students about their physics interests, confidence and career plans, along with their experiences in high school physics classes.”  The researchers then measured each student’s “physics identity”, which reflects how much they see themselves as the right type of person for physics.  A person with a strong physics identity would have confidence in their ability to complete physics problems, an interest in physics, would participate in physics-related activities, and have other people recognize them as the right type of person for physics. The researchers asked students questions about their high school physics experience; how they were taught, the types of resources they had, etc.  They also asked students if teachers addressed subjects outside of the typical physics curriculum, such as ethical issues, benefits of a career in science, and the under-representation of women.

They found several factors that were related to a strong physics identity.  For men and women, discussing cutting-edge physics, “frequent labs addressing students’ beliefs about the world, opportunities for peer teaching, and encouraging student questions” all led to stronger physics identities.  They found that one classroom experience led to a stronger physics identity for women only – the discussion of the under-representation of women in physics.  Women who were in classes where they discussed the fact that there were fewer women in physics had significantly stronger physics identities.  The discussions had no impact on men.

Acknowledging the under-representation of women in physics to high school students can perhaps help to decrease the gender gap.  Social factors still appear to play a large role in whether students decide to pursue science or not, and having a good teacher is extremely important in encouraging students to go into the sciences.

Statistics on minority women in science

I found some statistics from the NSF on the percentages of minority women in science and engineering, broken down by field.  I have created the graphs presented below with the intent of showing how, among women in science, minority women are underrepresented at the bachelor’s degree, graduate school, and PhD recipient levels.

The following plots show us the breakdown of women in each field by race/ethnicity (i.e. they show the percentage that each racial/ethnic group makes up out of all women in the field).

The racial/ethnic makeup (in 2009) of the U.S. was as follows: 65% White, 15.8% Hispanic/Latino, 12.4% Black/African American, 4.5% Asian, 0.8% American Indian/Alaska Native (the rest of the percentages are made up of the categories Other, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Two or more races).

Next, I’ll be looking at similar statistics for the professor level.  It is clear that while women in general are underrepresented in math and science, in many STEM fields it is even more pronounced for Black and Hispanic minority women.

Data obtained from the following reports:

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/pdf/tab5-7.pdf

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/pdf/tab3-1.pdf

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/pdf/tab7-7.pdf

Female undergrads more likely to answer questions in math class when professor is female

Researchers from the University of Amherst recently studied the performance of undergraduate students with male and female math professors.  The differences that appear in the performance of female students is particularly fascinating.  The data breaks down like this:

1) Percentages of female students attempting to answer questions posed to the class (beginning of the semester)

• With male professor: 11%
• With female professor: 7%

2) Percentages of female students attempting to answer questions posed to the class (end of the semester)

• With male professor: 7%
• With female professor: 46%

3) Percentage of female students approaching professor for help after class (beginning of the semester)

• With male professor: 12%
• With female professor: 12%

4) Percentage of female students approaching professor for help after class (end of the semester)

• With male professor: 0%
• With female professor: 14%

Finally, the researchers evaluated how much women “identified” with mathematics and found that women were less confident in their mathematical abilities when their teachers were men (even when the women were scoring higher than men on tests).

So what does this tell us?  First of all, we need to make women scientists and mathematicians more visible!  Having female role models is  a significant way of boosting women’s confidence and participation in mathematics, so we need to show students that there are many successful female scientists and mathematicians.  Second, there are subtle factors that may alter a woman’s decision to pursue science or math.  While overt discrimination still exists, it is important to be aware of these subtleties, because they play a role in the under-representation of women in STEM fields as well.

Reference: Psych-Out Sexism by Shankar Vedantam

Dealing with rejection

In this season of summer internship applications, rejections abound.  I feel like scientists are always applying for something or another; whether it is grants, internships, jobs, or scholarships.  And although we often have to deal with rejection, it never seems to get any easier.  So here are my tips for dealing with rejection! (They’re sort of slanted toward dealing with summer internship rejection, but I think they could be adapted for almost anything)

1) Give yourself a little time to wallow. Getting rejected sucks, and sometimes there is nothing you can do for the moment to make yourself feel better.  So let it out!  Cry if you need to.  It’s okay to be sad or angry.

2) Indulge. Give yourself a homework break for the night (unless there is something urgent!).  Curl up with a funny movie, hot chocolate, and popcorn (or whatever snacks you fancy).  Read web comics (Science-y ones are the best. I recommend XKCD and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal).  Watch funny videos on youtube.  Look at cute pictures of animals.

How can you be sad looking at a kitten wearing a frog hat?

3) Remember that whatever program you got rejected from isn’t the only program in the world. Maybe you didn’t get into the Super Awesome Program Of Your Dreams, but there will be other opportunities for you to succeed.  There may be advantages to not getting into the Super Awesome Program Of Your Dreams.  And who knows?  Maybe you will get into the Even More Awesome Program Of Your Dreams.

4) Make a list of all the reasons why you make a good candidate. Usually, there’s no way of knowing why a program didn’t take you.  But getting rejected doesn’t mean you don’t have good qualities.  Remind yourself that they will miss out on your awesomeness, but that you will find another opportunity.

5) Try again! The more times you try, the more likely you are to get an acceptance.  Learn from your rejections.  Is there anything you could have done better on your application?  Identify these things, and fix them the next time around.  Trying will undoubtedly come with rejections, but every rejection brings you closer to an acceptance!

And remember this:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

Galaxy Zoo blog Part 2: Obstacles for professional female astronomers

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.”

Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics

Happy New Year!  I wanted to post about this event – The Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics.  There are actually four of them to accommodate people in all parts of the country.  It is a three day conference with the following goals (according to the website):

• To help female undergraduate physics majors transition successfully from undergraduate to graduate studies in physics.
• To foster an undergraduate culture in the Northeast and specifically at Yale University in which women are encouraged and supported to pursue and succeed in higher education in physics.
• To strengthen the network of women in physics in the Northeast and nationally.

The conference includes really cool stuff like panel discussions, research talks, laboratory tours, and a student poster session.  They also cover food and lodging at a hotel.  I totally wish I could attend this, but it unfortunately begins the day after I return from the American Astronomical Society conference in Seattle.  Hopefully I can go next year!  Here are the links for each of the four conferences:

• Northeast
• California
• Midwest
• Southeast