Women in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences

About Us

We are scientists. We know how to generate information. We know how to find information.

This website is dedicated to centralizing all the useful links that you may need or find useful in your postdoc search, faculty search, professional development, and balancing work/life.

As a group, we hold monthly lunch meetings to discuss various issues. Everyone is welcome to attend our brown bag lunches. If you have suggestions for future topics, please contact Cara Battersby.

Meeting Schedule

Date Time Location Topic
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 12-1PM Duane Conference Room Welcome, introductions, goals. Discussion of recent news stories about J.C. Penny and Forever 21's anti-math shirts for girls.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 12-1PM Duane Conference Room Possible WIA-issues speakers, recommendation letter bias, middle school "Women in Science" lunch.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 12:30-1:30PM Duane Conference Room New family-friendly NSF policies, update on admissions recommendations, more on WIA-focused speaker.

Meeting Topics

  • Introduction, Discussion of Group's Function, Meeting Location
  • Women/minority grad student recruitment
  • How to talk to people who think there are no problems facing women, that everything is hunky-dory!
  • Talking about new results for leaky pipeline, wage gap, whatever!
  • Awareness of women/minorities when teaching (since some studies show even women can demonstrate bias in the classroom)

    • Useful Links

  • Pasadena Recommendations for Gender Equality in Astronomy
    • AAS Women in Astronomy Newsletter - Occasional job postings are included in the newsletter
  • AAS Career Services
  • The Production Rate and Employment of Ph.D. Astronomers - PASP article by Travis Metcalfe, NCAR/HAO
  • Employment and Funding in Astronomy - White paper for Decadal Survey
  • AAUW Fellowships and Grants for U.S. and International Women
  • American Institute of Physics (AIP) Education and Employment Data
  • NSF report on Doctorate Recipients from US Universities in 2009
  • Planetary Science Workforce Survey

    • Job Search Engines

  • American Astronomical Society Job Register
  • PhDs.org
    • SPIE Career Center - Job Search
  • Indeed
  • HigherEdJobs.com
  • Physics Today Jobs
  • Job listings on The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • USAJOBS
  • Planetary Exploration Newsletter (with job announcements)

    • Useful and Interesting Blogs (with job postings sometimes...)

  • Women in Astronomy Blog
  • Women in Planetary Science: Half the Bodies in the Solar System
  • Astronomoms: On Being a Astronomer and a Mother
  • Mama PhD
  • A Scientist and a Woman

    • Women in Academia/Science

  • "Taken for Granted: Shocked, Shocked! to Find Disappointment on Campus" - Science article on the "Moral Order" of a discipline, elite vs. non-elite institutions, and being realistic about job prospects; see other articles by Berly Benderly
  • "Returning to Science" - Science article on taking a break in one's career
  • Overcoming the Impostor Syndrome
  • Article about maternity leave for graduate students at Berkeley
  • "Self-doubt plagues female astronomers" - Nature Article, 27 January 2010
  • Female teachers' math anxiety affects girls' math achievement - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2, 2010, vol. 107, no. 5, 1860-1863
  • It is Who You Know and Who Knows You - Chronicle of Higher Education Article
  • 10 Tips for Women in the Science Fields
  • Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist - Excellent article about neurobiologist Ben Barres and his experience as a scientist before and after his sex change.
  • Barriers to Women in Academic Science and Engineering
  • Why So Few? - 2010 AAUW report on the latest research findings about environmental/social barriers to women in STEM.
  • Tenure, RIP: What the Vanishing Status Means for the Future of Education
  • The Real Science Gap - article on the lack of job opportunities for scientists
  • "Staying Competitive: Patching America's Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences"
  • "Keeping Women in Science on a Tenure Track" - a New York Times Blog entry
  • "Women Atop Their Fields Dissect the Scientific Life" - New York Times article in the Science section
  • STATUS - by AAS Committee on the Status of Women
  • Recommendation letters could cost women jobs, promotions - Summary of this study.

    • Job-Related Insights/Stories/Advice

  • Job Applicants: Top 10 questions that you should ask
  • What does it take to land a job anyway?
  • Summary of AAS Jan. 2010 Employment Session + Comments
  • Non-academic Jobs on the Rumor Mill?
  • Information about applying for a job in a federal lab.
  • "Hunting for Jobs at Liberal Arts Colleges" - A great Physics Today article.
  • "How to Get a Teaching Job at a Liberal-Arts College" - Chronicle for Higher Education
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook for Physicists and Astronomers A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • "The Interview Process" Forum at the Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Whose Job Is It, Anyway? - article about searching for non-academic jobs.
  • Is the Husband Going to Be a Problem? - Interesting article about two academics in the humanities both seeking tenure.
  • The Academic Job Talk - Advice from Tomorrow's Professor website
  • Non-academic Career Advice for PhDs - Sean Carroll, Cosmic Variance Blog Entry - 5/18/2011
  • Survival Tips for Women in STEM disciplines - Inside Higher Education article
  • From graduate student to faculty member? - Insights from the Chronicle of Higher Education
  • The Postdoc Interview - Consider asking these questions during your next postdoc interview
  • Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Uninentionally - What NOT to do!

    • Teaching Related

  • astrolrnr: CAE: Improving Astronomy Education - Occasional job postings in addition to astronomy education research, teaching issues, tips, and advice
  • Building a Better Teacher - NY Times article from 3/2/2010
  • How do you grade participation in class? - Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Want to Be a Good Researcher? Try Teaching - Summary of this study.

    • Contact Information

    For meeting or general group info, contact Cara Battersby (cara DOT battersby AT colorado.edu). Original website content courtsey of Quyen Hart (qhart AT regis DOT edu). If you have a link that you would like to add, please email Julia Kamenetzky (julia DOT kamenetzky AT colorado.edu).