Abstract

The figure above shows the distribution of Speakers for the Women in Astronomy session at IAUGA2022 Busan meeting

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1-Career challenges, problems, and consequences in the Middle east- Alshaimaa Saad Hassanin (#807)

Women's participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a major concern in Middle East countries. As a result of education and economic change, the influence of Arab women in national and regional affairs is growing rapidly. Although the area`s patriarchal ideology remains in place, social practices, i.e. social, cultural, health, and gender issues, are challenging it. These social practices, visible in the workplace, the home, the courts, the political arena, and the religious sphere, are forcing men, women, and other family members to reconsider women's role, status, and leadership potential in this century. We present in this study, consideration of the social, cultural, and gender challenges faced by young women pursuing STEM careers and recommendations that could help the female students, community, and government to support these women in overcoming these obstacles, including gender-balance statistics.

2- Career stories, problems, and efforts in India to achieve gender balance in Astronomy - Annapurni Subramaniam

India, like any other nation, lags behind and strives to create gender balance in STEM, including Astronomy. As a woman scientist and heading an organization in India, I shall discuss some of the initiatives taken towards, awareness, sensitization, policies as well as initiatives toward gender balance in astronomy.

Based on my experience, I will share some of my thoughts on how Institutions can create a friendly environment and gender balance.

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1- A case study of gender inclusiveness in the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) Big Data programme- Bonita de Swardt, Monushia Zimri

The UK-South Africa Newton Fund, Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) Big Data programme, represents a human capacity development intervention looking to increase Africa's research and skills base in data-driven science and associated technologies needed for dealing with extremely large data sets. DARA Big Data was established in 2017 and is considered to be a relatively “young” programme. The programme builds on the skills required for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which is an international undertaking to build the world's largest radio telescope and is seen as a scientific driver for research relevant to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

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1-President of International Astronomical Union - Debra Meloy Elmegreen

Luncheon session welcome speech.

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1-Iranian Women Astrobomers- Encieh Erfani (#458)

As a founder of the Iranian Women Astrnomers' group, I will explain the situation of women astronomers in Iran, their activities and their challenges.

2- Women in astronomy and the IAU: past, present and future- Ewine van Dishoeck (#2337)

A brief overview of the growing role of women in the IAU over the past century will be presented, including actions by the IAU to enhance the fraction and visibility of women. To stimulate further improvements, statistics are crucially important. The IAU collects statistics of the fraction of female members (both regular and junior) for each country which are summarized at https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/distribution/. To illustrate trends among the younger generation, a summary of career statistics of more than 500 PhD students since 2000 in the Netherlands (a country with a significant international PhD program covering more than 30 different nationalities) will be presented.

3- ERC Measures and Practices to Improve Gender Balance in Science- Eleni Chatzichristou 

In recent years, there has been important effort by institutions and funding agencies to improve the gender balance in science. This is especially true for ERC: from creating awareness about ERC grants to the signing of grant agreements, all processes are carefully designed to ensure equal opportunities for female and male scientists. A dedicated working group was set up in recent years to monitor gender balance in ERC calls, and a Gender Equality Plan endorsed by the ERC Scientific Council, was established since the 7^th Framework programme and has been regularly updated. The fruits of these efforts are encouraging: the percentages of female applicants and grantees have been constantly increasing since FP7, through H2020, to Horizon Europe. In fact, the success rates of female/male applicants in most types of grants have almost reached equality in the last two years.

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1- Women-in-Astronomy Division of the Korean Astronomical Society- Jeong-Eun Lee

 In 2016, the Women-in-Astronomy (WiA) division of the Korean Astronomical Society was established to promote exchanges among female astronomers and to establish strategies and action plans to achieve true equality for women. In order to raise awareness of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, such as executive committee, board of directors, and division chairs, within the Korean Astronomical Society and to expand the participation of female astronomers in the Korean Astronomical Society, various activities have been organized by the WiA over the past six years. I will introduce those activities and changes achieved by them.

2-Gender balance in CBK PAN- Jolanta Nastula (#1439)

Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) is an interdisciplinary research institute operating within the 3rd Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences. CBK PAN conducts scientific and technical work in the field of space physics as well as physical and geodynamic research of planets and the Earth. The distinguishing feature of the Center is combining research and construction activities: we design and build space devices, as well as analyze the data obtained with their help.  The CBK PAN employs both women and men in scientific and administrative positions. In this presentation, we will show the present gender balance in the Institute.

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1- The Supernova Foundation – Mentoring young women on the path to a career in Physics and Astrophysics- Karin Menendez-Delmestre,  Natalia Vale Asari,  Michelle Lochner,  Ghazal Geshnizjan,  Valeria Pettorino,  Narusha Isaacs,  Supernova Foundation (#2706)

The lack of equal opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at higher levels within the academic context is a reality in most countries. The expression "leaky pipeline" refers to the observation that in each "step" of the academic/professional career, there is a preferential loss of people who do not fit the "typical" image of a scientist. One of the most affected groups is that of women. In the last years, the STEM community has explored actions to counter this trend; mentoring is one of them. Studies demonstrate that there is a greater retention of female STEM students in the early years of academic training when they establish close mentoring contact with a female scientist. 

 

The Supernova Foundation, founded in 2017, is an excellent example of such mentoring efforts. It is an international program that seeks to encourage and support women and gender minorities who wish to pursue careers in physics and astronomy. It is designed to connect undergraduate/graduate students from around the world with more experienced female (astro)physicists. In a nutshell, the Supernova Foundation aims to provide one-to-one mentorship for women students as they transition to postgraduate studies. It also effectively connects and provides a support network across the globe at different stages of their career. Additionally, mentors and mentees organize webinars with useful advice and interesting discussions on career choices, the application process, CVs, work-life balance and gender-specific harassment.

 

The Supernova Foundation has grown over the years and, today, it rounds up ~240 mentees and ~100 mentors from a total of 53 countries. We would like to invite all young students who are women or self-identify as women to come and take advantage of this great online community. The Supernova Foundation is also looking for more mentors, so this is a shout-out to those of you already established within your careers and are committed to a more inclusive and diverse STEM community.
 

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1-ASTROMINAS: Empowering girls through science- Loreany De Araújo,  Taísa de Jesus, Lilian Soja, Elysandra Cypriano (#2666)

A collective founded in 2019, ASTROMINAS was conceived by women from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences and other exact sciences institutes at the University of São Paulo, located in southeastern of Brazil. Based on an innovative approach, with online classes, lectures and group dynamics throughout Brazil, it managed to reach in its 2 editions, held in 2020 and 2021, 1200 girls from different cultures, ethnicities and regions of the country. The main objective was to facilitate the access of young students of basic education to the university, strengthening their contact with women scientists and enabling the development of skills that involve scientific work. In this way, it aimed at the empowerment and feeling of belonging of these girls in scientific areas, helping to demystify the structural idealism of the absence of women in these areas and aiming towards gender equality. The central subject is astronomy which, due to its highly interdisciplinary profile, was a great tool for young students to expand their knowledge in several areas of natural sciences, mathematics and technology. To make possible reaching so many places and minds, the team of organizers was composed of more than two hundred volunteer scientists, at different academic moments, who dedicated their time to become the Fairy Godmothers of the participants, allowing them to see within the scientific environment and project their future at the university. A new edition is being organized this year and the main motivation remains: to bring new brilliant minds to science.

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1- IAU WiA WG activities and survey results - Mamta Pommier, IAU WiA WG members et al. (#1060)

The gender and diversity dimension of science and technology has become one of the most important and debated issues worldwide, impacting society at every level. The International Astronomical Union, through its Executive Committee Working Group on Women in Astronomy, has been a strong advocate for discussing these themes openly and for supporting initiatives that can improve a more balanced representation of diversity in our community.  The IAU Women in Astronomy (WiA) Working Group (WG)'s mandate is to collect information, propose measures, and initiate actions in support of, or to advance equality of opportunity for achievement between women and men in astronomy, in the IAU, and the world at large. It has 198 members as of now from all continents and we look forward to welcoming many more members from all over the world. In this talk, I will provide an overview of IAU WiA WG activities as well as results of the recent survey on 'Working Conditions of Women in Astronomy' and the efforts being carried out by the WiA WG Organizing committee and regular members to improve the working conditions of women in Astronomy.

2- Work opportunities and the study of the female presence in astronomy and space sciences in Tunisia - Mayssa El Yazidi,  Sana Ayari,  Imen Titouhi,  Farah Hani,  Tayssir Ennafti,  Ranya Hamdeni,  Ahlem Loudhaief, Samaher Ben El hadj Slimene,  Olfa Mannai,  Zayneb Jouini (#1275)

Tunisia is one of the North African countries, where culture, tradition, and society still play an important role in females' lives, careers, and futures. The conservative and the "closed culture" of some countries have been always a very sensitive topic to discuss and highlight. Although the religious, cultural, traditional, and even geographic barriers, Tunisian females scientist achieved their dreams and reached their goals and objectives, displaying to the world the capabilities of any woman to overpassing any obstacles and life challenges. 

In this work, we will share the situation of females in sciences and in particular in astronomy, astrophysics, and space sciences, in Tunisia, and highlight the diverse difficulties that women and girls can face in life, proceeding with their careers and research. We will present previous experiences of successful female stories and present the projects that are dedicated to supporting women in sciences and astronomy.

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1-Empowering Women through Training and Skill Development- Priya Hasan (#526)

The Women in Astronomy Working Group started a new initiative on Training and Skill Development for Women. Skill development programs aim to enhance the ability of women and extend support groups by providing proper guidance, infrastructure, interactions, and encouragement. I shall present the data of the two Training Programs held in November 2021 and January 2022 to discuss the key issues, participation, and outcomes of these programs. These programs cover important areas like python, astropy, overleaf, ADS, virtual observatory tools like TopCat, ESASky, etc.  Interactive Social Media groups help continue the interaction and sustain the progress of participants. Data on the program to be held in April will also be presented. It is hoped that this initiation will help in improving data analysis skills and awareness amongst young and early career researchers as well as those interested in updating their skills.

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1- How does gender equality benefit men? - Santiago Vargas Domínguez (#1237)

Gender inequalities have historically prevented many women to access knowledge, being able to show their full potential, and developing in many different aspects of their personal and professional lives.

Although there are increasing interest and initiatives to promote gender equality, still many people think that it is something that advantages women at the cost of men and that strategies to address some of the issues related to gender equality do not take men into account.

In this talk I will put some ideas on the reasons men should care about gender equality, adding more inputs to highlight the importance of talking about it but also to implement actions towards gender equality in our daily actions, and in our academic communities. Men should promote gender equality because it is fair to do so, but ultimately, men will also benefit from it.

2-President of Korean Women Scientists and Engineers (KWSE)- Seong-Jin Ju

Luncheon session welcome speech.

3- Women participation in Latin America astronomy- Silvia Torres-Peimbert (#2495)

Only through great efforts it has been possible to gradually achieve recognition for women scientists around the world. The discipline of astronomy is no exception. In this work I intend to present not only statistics but to comment about the achievements that women astronomers in Latin America have obtained. As expected, the case study that I am most acquainted with is that of Mexico, which I propose to enlarge to comprise the whole area.

4- Challenges for young women astronomers in South Korea to continue their careers based on statistical surveys- Suhyun Shin (#559)

I will introduce how young women in South Korea have grown up to be the key players of society in Korea’s social, cultural, and economic background, and will present common difficulties they have faced to maintain their roles in our society based on various statistical surveys. The college enrollment rate of women has overtaken that of men since 2005, however, the employment rate for women in their 30s is ~26% lower than that of men in 2019. The difference in South Korea (~26%) is huge in comparison to those of Europe (~13%), the U.S. (~15%), and the OECD (~20%). 58.2 % and 43.3 % of women with permanent positions take maternity leave and parental leave, respectively, whereas 6.6 % and 1.8 % of women with temporary positions use these leaves in 2019. About 30% of married women natural scientists in their 30s have halted their careers due to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare in 2020, implying the existence of the glass ceiling. In this talk, I examine the current state of young women astronomers in South Korea, understand problems they have encountered, and suggest possible solutions to alleviate the challenges through getting insight from statistical surveys provided by South Korea and the OECD.
 

5- STI Indicators and the Design of the 2022 Edition of Women and Girls In Astronomy IAU Global Outreach Project - Suzana Filipecki Martins

Since 2019 the IAU Global Outreach Project Women and Girls in Astronomy takes place annually between the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February and the International Women’s Day on 8 March with the aim of promoting the inclusive advancement of astronomy. The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) set two overarching goals for the 2022 edition: a) to challenge perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, social norms and stereotypes towards women in Astronomy, and b) to foment the uptake of astronomy by girls.

The design of the project activities was guided by the findings of the “Gender Gap in Science” project and by UNESCO’s STI gender indicators (SAGA project). There were interviews that promoted the visibility of women in leadership positions within the astronomical field. Shared videos highlighted diverse profiles of women in astronomy, sharing different role models and promoting astronomy as a viable vocation for girls and young women. The role of women in astronomy was further addressed through social media posts featuring historical female astronomers. The online campaign also promoted outreach events, astronomy inclusion projects and outreach activities, and by doing so strived to mainstream gender perspectives in astronomy outreach. Lastly, in cooperation with the Women in Astronomy WG, the project put forward the “Draw an Astronomer Contest”, where children sent a visual representation of how they imagine astronomers look like. The contest promoted awareness of non-conscious and cultural gender biases observed even in young children.

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