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Culture

It Is Time To Speak Up And Be Heard

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
June 4, 2020
It Is Time To Speak Up And Be Heard

Statement from AURA President, June 2020
“AURA, as a leader in the astronomical community, believes that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce is our most valuable asset. We believe that a community of people of different genders and gender identities, color, ability, systemic advantage and disadvantage, and more – people from all walks of life – are essential to ensuring excellence both in our organization and in the scientific community as a whole. We remain committed to respecting and valuing each and every individual in our organization as a professional and as a person. We recognize that our success relies upon that respect and upon embracing the unique perspectives each one of you brings to work every day.”
American Astronomical Society President Calls on Members to Support Black Americans
“On behalf of the AAS, I would like to express our unwavering support for those in our community who are rightfully concerned for their safety or that of their loved ones, and who have experienced or continue to experience bias and institutional racism in their personal or professional lives. “The AAS is committed to making a positive difference in the professional lives of our members. This commitment will be reaffirmed in our upcoming strategic plan, which will have diversity, equity, and inclusion at its core and woven throughout our priorities and plans as a Society.”
Message from the NASA Administrator – June 1, 2020
“This is not the first time America has seen times of unrest and division, and looked to NASA for inspiration and confidence that we are capable of something magnificent. Let me be clear, NASA is a place where unity, respect, and decency are prioritized, and we will continue to promote an agency culture that aligns with these core beliefs.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

6 responses to “It Is Time To Speak Up And Be Heard”

  1. ThomasLMatula says:
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    About Time! According to this Smithsonian article from 2016 Astronomy is the worst field of science in terms of diversity. The numbers are horrible given this day and age.

    “Astronomy doesn’t just struggle with diversity; it’s among the worst of
    all scientific fields. In its professional ranks, astronomers are 90
    percent white, about 1 percent black, about 1 percent Latino and 0
    percent Native American, according to data from the 2007 Nelson
    Diversity Survey. If you lump physics and astronomy together, as a 2012
    survey did, you get only slightly better ratios: 80 percent white, 2
    percent black, 3 percent Hispanic and 1 percent “other.” (The remaining
    14 percent of astronomers, according to the survey, are of Asian
    descent.)”

    https://www.smithsonianmag….

    Why the Universe Needs More Black and Latino Astronomers

    By Joshua Sokol

    August 23, 2016

    • rktsci says:
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      From Wikipedia, only 17% of black Americans have a BA or higher. They make up about 13% of the population. So, the problem starts at the transition from high school. Programs at the college level just shuffle numbers from one discipline to another. Biology to CS. CS to Physics. Physics to Chemistry, and so on.

      • ThomasLMatula says:
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        Yes removing barriers in higher education is one element of the solution, but interest, actually passion, for a field like astronomy starts in K-12 and continues through college. So STEM programs and outreach at that level are a critical element of the solution. That is why popular magazines like Sky & Telescope and planetariums promoting the hobby of astronomy to minorities are going to be part of the solution. Since the AAS now owns Sky and Telescope they have a tool to make it happen if they are interested in doing more than just putting out press releases.

      • fcrary says:
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        We really need to be more specific about the statistics. I think that’s critical to identifying the problems, figuring out where they are and what to do about them.

        In this case, we shouldn’t be looking at the African American population as a whole. Most people start college straight out of high school (or after leaving military service.) To a large degree, then number of 50-year old African Americans with a college degree reflects how bad things were in the 1990s. I’d like to see the numbers as a function of age. It still won’t be anything close to full inclusion, but it would show the trends and tell us how much of a problem we still have.

        No. Let me put it differently; it would tell us if the current problem is in college applications, college admissions, graduations with a BA, etc. The statistics for the whole population and how many have a degree mixes all those factors, and mixes people who were screwed over in the 1990s with those who got screwed over in the 2010s.

        • ThomasLMatula says:
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          Yes, it would be better to have more detailed information. Hopefully societies like the AAS will more beyond doing simple press releases and do annual surveys to collect demographic information on their membership, and publish the results so society is able to hold them accountable. Then after collecting the data they need to use the information to develop strategies to increase their diversity. But it probably won’t happen unless their members let the leadership of these societies known it is something they want.

          • fcrary says:
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            The AAS and other professional societies have done surveys, as has NASA. Regrettably, they are lacking. They are occasional, rather than regular, systematic and annual ones. I know some of the people involved and they have complained about how hard it is to get funding for “yet another” study on the subject. And, with no disrespect for the people involved, some of them were not conducted well. Most are voluntary reporting, which has all sorts of sampling biases. The many of the ones which go beyond collecting statistics ask poorly phrased questions. The way a question is written and phrased can bias the answers and this fact is not well-appreciated by everyone. To there credit, groups like NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group have noted these problems and said that future studies really should contract out the work to people who do know how to do it and phrase survey questions properly. But I’m afraid things are far from the point of annual, well-executed surveys.