BBC News: Women Play Increasingly Powerful Roles at UN

Nick Bryant of BBC News New York writes: “Long an all-male enclave, the UN Security Council now has a record number of women. Does that influence how diplomacy gets done at the highest levels?”

“I think we listen well … I notice that the women tend to take more notes.” ~ Samantha Power, US Permanent Representative

“Women have greater and deeper and more profound insights into how to resolve problems.” ~ Joy Ogwu, Nigeria’s Ambassador

“Women tend to discuss more, to want to find solutions … Faced with problems, we say: ‘Well you know we should do something. This is not proper. We should do something.’ There’s this desire to find these solutions. I don’t know whether it’s the mother factor, or what, but there is that aspect that I noticed in the council.” ~ Dina Kawar, Jordan Permanent Representative

Read more at www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30012139 .

NYTimes: Executive Women Finding and Owning Their Own Voice

Richardson-Heron, Napier, Miller, and Ming
—four women interviewed in NYTimes (13 Nov 2014) article
“Executive Women, Finding (and Owning) Their Voice“

In a New York Times article posted on 13 November 2014, Adam Bryant interviews four executive women—Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., Chief executive of the Y.W.C.A. USA; Sharon Napier, Chief executive, of Partners + Napier (an ad agency); Jody Greenstone Miller, Chief executive of the Business Talent Group; and, Jenny Ming Chief executive of Charlotte Russe.  The four women speak on women and leadership: the importance of taking stands, and of making sure they are heard.

Follow this link to see the article: Executive Women, Finding (and Owning) Their Voice

BBC News: Rosetta comet landing: Professor’s excitement

The European Space Agency’s successful landing on the Rosetta comet is an amazing achievement.

As a side effect, it has also led to a lot of discussion around the representation of women in science. Here’s a great clip to keep in mind of Professor Monica Grady, who “was in on the Philae lander project from its earliest days and jumped for joy when she found out the news.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30022765

Guardian: Is the Sexist Scientific Workplace Really Dead?

Source: www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/nov/04/is-the-sexist-scientific-workplace-really-dead

One excerpt:

“The authors [Williams, Ceci, Ginther, Khan] claim,

out of the 124 hires made in physics … only 13% of the applicants were females (… much less than the percentage of females among PhDs …), but 19% of those invited to interview were women, as were 20% of those actually hired.

This tells me that more women than men are dropping out before applying for a faculty position at all. That may indeed be due to women’s choices, but the choice may be determined or at least affected by a hostile workplace – not discussed here – rather than by innate ability. Those who stick around may therefore not be typical: not only tough but particularly bright. This can only be speculation but it might explain why women are hired at rates higher than their presence in the application pool might suggest. Reading the study by Williams et al. it looks as if they wish to convey that all is so hunky dory that the higher percentage of female hires is down to a particularly beneficent environment.”

NYTimes: Academic Science Isn’t Sexist

Source: www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/academic-science-isnt-sexist.html

Quote:

“Our analysis reveals that the experiences of young and midcareer women in math-intensive fields are, for the most part, similar to those of their male counterparts: They are more likely to receive hiring offers, are paid roughly the same (in 14 of 16 comparisons across the eight fields), are generally tenured and promoted at the same rate (except in economics), remain in their fields at roughly the same rate, have their grants funded and articles accepted as often and are about as satisfied with their jobs. Articles published by women are cited as often as those by men. In sum, with a few exceptions, the world of academic science in math-based fields today reflects gender fairness, rather than gender bias.”

NPR: Is ‘Leaning In’ The Only Formula For Women’s Success In Science?

Quote: “I’m sure that there are people who are skeptical that a woman can do this job as well as a man,” Arnold says, adding, “I am blissfully unaware of such people — and have been gifted with the ability to ignore them completely.” She advises other women in fields dominated by men to do the same. ~ US National Public Radio “Shots” Health Blog, article “Is ‘Leaning In’ The Only Formula For Women’s Success In Science?” by Kelly McEvers.