In my journey to understand why girls don’t pursue careers in STEM, I found that it’s tough for women in science, women in astronomy, and even more-so for women of color in astronomy. Not only do female scientists deal with under-representation, lower wages, and gender bias; they have also been dealing with harassment and discrimination since pretty much always.
The sexual assault allegations against Neil deGrasse Tyson, are a sad reminder that even the world’s most intelligent women are victims. Several hashtags supporting victims to speak out include #ASTROSH and #MeTooStem.
In 2016, #astroSH started trending which led to hundreds of female astronomers coming forward to share their stories of bullying and harassment.
“Some older male scientists have also made crude remarks about a female speaker’s or chairperson’s way of dressing when they have been on stage in conferences, which is nothing short of gross objectification and harassment. An unfortunate number of women astronomers have had to go through such experiences, and for a long time,” Indian astrophysicist Aswin Sekhar wrote in an article for The Wire.
In 2017, researchers conducted a study on gender, race, and harassment in astronomy. Of those who responded, 85% of women reported they’d encountered sexist remarks from peers. Additionally 27% of white women felt unsafe at work due to their gender, while 40% of women of color felt unsafe.
As a result, Female respondents say they skipped school, work events, and avoided professional opportunities as a result of feeling unsafe.
“If women are disadvantaged from the beginning of their careers, they are less likely to persist in science and medicine,” said researcher Teresa Woodruff. “Less diversity in scientists means less diversity in how the next generation of clinicians are trained.”
Incomplete Timeline of Recent Sexual Harassment Cases
2014- Tchiya Amet accused Tyson of raping her while they were both graduate students at UT Austin in the 1980s.
2015- Christian Ott, astrophysicist and Caltech professor, resigned from a tenured faculty position after an investigation concluded that he harassed two female graduate students.
2015- A university investigation found Geoff Marcy, a UC Berkeley astronomy professor, guilty of sexually harassing four female students.
2016- A 2004 investigation at Arizona concluded that Timothy Slater regularly subjected students and employees to unwanted sexual conduct. Slater remained at the university for several years and at the time of the article was teaching at University of Wyoming.
2018- Two additional women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Neil deGrasse Tyson.
One Small Step for (Wo)Mankind
Since these allegations, some small changes are taking place.
February 2019- H.R. 1396, the “Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act” as introduced. This bill awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Christine Darden, and all the women computers, mathematicians, and engineers at NASA, and its precursor organization the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
2016- The American Astronomical Society started banning scientists who violated its code of ethics from attending meeting and being published in several of the top journals.
“The culture is changing — I have no doubt the culture’s changing for the better,” Hinde said. “But we’re going to have to see systematic protections that make it no longer a ‘culture of quiet,’ but a culture of accountability,” said Katie Hinde, an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, who led the survey of sexual harassment among scientists.
11 Women Astro Geniuses
Here’s an unofficial list, in no particular order, of women scientists and role models who should be recognized for their contributions, research, and outreach.
Jedidah Isler, PhD
Astrophysicist and professor. Hosts a live, monthly web-series called Vanguard STEM.
Dr. Jedidah Isler is a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Astrophysics at Vanderbilt University where she studies hyperactive, supermassive black holes. Her scientific research explores the physics of blazars — supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that create particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light.
Dr. Raychelle Burks
Raychelle is an assistant professor in analytical chemistry at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, USA. She is also an expert on the Science Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science.
Lucianne Walkowicz
Astrophysicist and multimedia artist
Walkowicz works on NASA’s Kepler mission, an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Studies Mars exploration, stellar
“I’m always surprised that people from science and engineering will bring their best data and technical chops to tackle scientific and engineering challenges, but then, when it comes to improving the diversity of their workforce, they often act like there’s no research to inform what their approach should be,” Walkowicz told Fast Company
Aomawa Shields
Exoplanet explorer who interacts with audiences of all ages. Her postdoctoral work focuses on making science more accessible.
Aomawa Shields is an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics, Postdoctoral Fellow and a UC President’s Postdoctoral. She’s also a Fellow in the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Shields’ studied planetary sciences at MIT, received a MFA in acting from UCLA, and a PhD in astronomy and astrobiology from UCLA. She was able to marry her passions together and has been a TV host on PBS’ “Wired Science” and has been a guest scientist on Discovery and History channels.
“As a young girl of color, I didn’t remember seeing a lot of role models that looked like me,” she says.
Priyamvada Natarajan
Yale astrophysicist, studies dark matter, black holes, author of “Mapping the Heavens”
“Being female; being brown; being interested in physics; being highly intellectual in this particular way… I didn’t feel lost, but I felt alone. I still feel it in a lot of ways. There are situations in which I really feel that I don’t belong,” she said in an interview with Quanta Magazine.
Adriana Ocampo, PHD
A planetary geologist and Space Program Manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Ocampo was named 2016 National Hispanic Scientist of the Year.
A pivotal leader on the team behind the Juno mission to Jupiter, as well as last year’s New Horizons flyby of Pluto. She helps guide exploration of our Solar System as the Lead Program Executive for NASA’s New Frontiers Program and is also NASA’s lead scientist for the exploration of the planet Venus.Her team was the first to identify, using satellite images, the asteroid impact crater that likely caused the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Vinita Marwaha Madill
Space Operations Engineer for the European Space Agency, a consultant in space engineering, and STEM outreach and the founder of Rocket Women which tells the stories of successful women from the space industry, technology, aerospace and science research.
“Watching Helen Sharman’s Soyuz launch on BBC News at a young age, and knowing that there had been a British female astronaut, helped me push through any negativity around my chosen career path when I was younger,” Madill told Fast Company.
Dr. Katie Mack
Asst. Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, author of “The End of Everything,” writes and researchers about black holes and dark matter.
Mae Carol Jemison
American Engineer and first African-American woman in space.
“We have been in science all along, even when people didn’t want us involved,” Jemison said on science and minorities. “I want folks to understand that they have the right to be involved. They don’t have to ask.”
Ruth Angus
Assistant Curator at the Museum of Natural History and Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University.
Sarah Pearson
PhD in astrophysics from Columbia University, Creator of Space with Sarah on Youtube.
Pearson shares her knowledge on social media, covering the most frequently asked astronomy related questions she receives from non-astronomers
Nicole Gugliucci
Assistant Professor of Physics at Saint Anselm College
Gugliucci did postdoctoral research with CosmoQuest at the STEM Center SIUE. Co-found Dark Skies Bright Kids outreach program during graduate school at the University of Virginia. She researches better ways to teach physical sciences to students.
