2019/08/01 by N. E. B. Zellner, Zellner, Nicolle, JoEllen McBride +25
Medicine · Social Sciences · #Career Development and Diversity #Diversity and Career in Medicine #FOS: Physical sciences #Health and Medical Research Impacts #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1908.00597
openalex publication_date 2019/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) is calling on federal science funding agencies, in their role as the largest sources of funding for astronomy in the United States, to take actions that will advance career development and improve workplace conditions for women and minorities in astronomy. Funding agencies can and should lead the charge to produce excellent diversity and inclusion outcomes in our field by the 2030 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Anecdotal and quantitative evidence, gathered both by the CSWA and other groups, shows that many structural barriers to success remain in our community. We acknowledge the success of programs like NSF-INCLUDES and NSF-ADVANCE and endorse their continued work. We also recommend further action to remove barriers to success for women and minority astronomers. Key recommendations are: - Federal agencies should push academic institutions to reconsider their support systems for scientists by requiring a high standard of pay and benefits. - Federal agencies should fund research and programs that explore and implement strategies for improving the experiences of scientists. - Federal agencies should require Principal Investigators (PIs) to provide plans for creating inclusive work environments and mentoring young scientists.