Committees
Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy
For a comprehensive listing of resources regarding diversity/equity, statistics on underrepresentation, and specifics on racism/white privelege, sexism, ableism, LGBTQIA+, etc, visit the Astrobetter wiki's Equal Opportunity Astronomy page. This page is a more dynamic and likely more up-to-date resource than what we have posted here. Also note the list of astronomy diversity programs.
Undergraduate Resources
REUs / Internships
- List of NSF astro REU Programs
- Banneker and Aztlán Institutes
- Lamat (UCSC)
- Maximizing Student Potential at JPL (also for grads)
- NRAO NAC
- SOARS (UCAR, atmospheric etc)
- TAURUS (UT-Austin)
Scholarships and Research Opportunities
Travel Grants
- AAS FAMOUS grant for travel to AAS meetings
Bridge Programs
- Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge Program
- Columbia Bridge Program
- American Physical Society Bridge Program
- Cal-Bridge Program
- Wesleyan Masters Program
- Princeton Bridge
- CSU LA Masters Program
- CSU Long Beach Bridge & Masters Program
- CSU Northridge Masters Program
List of graduate programs
Institute-Specific Programs
- University of Washington Pre-MAP
- Boston University Pre-MAP
- CAMPARE
- AstroCom NYC
- U Maryland GRAD-MAP
- Berkeley Compass
- ASU Sundial
- UCSD-Morehouse
- Grinnell Science Project
- Boulder CU-STARS
- Utah Graduate Preparation Institute
- Penn State Open House for prospective grad students
Graduate Student Resources
Fellowships
- NASA ASTAR
- NSF GRFP
- Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
Travel Grants
- AAS FAMOUS grant for travel to AAS meetings
Postdoctoral Fellowships and Opportunities
General Fellowships
- National Science Foundation AAFP
- Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships
Institution-Specific Fellowships
- California Alliance (Caltech, Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford)
- California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
- Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity
- CU-Boulder Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
- University of Chicago Provost's Postdoctoral Scholarships
- Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge Program Postdocs
- Howard University / U. Texas El Paso AGEP Supplemental Funding
- University of Kentucky Lyman T Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship
- University of Michigan President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
- University of Michigan Collegiate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
- U Penn Postdoctoral Fellowships for Academic Diversity
Miscellaneous Resources
- Minority Postdoc
- Versatile PhD
- National Postdoctoral Association diversity resources
Diversity/Inclusion Resources
For a comprehensive listing of resources regarding diversity/equity, statistics on underrepresentation, and specifics on racism/white privelege, sexism, ableism, LGBTQIA+, etc, visit the Astrobetter wiki's Equal Opportunity Astronomy page. This page is a more dynamic and likely more up-to-date resource than what we have posted here. Below is a listing of resources regarding equity in academia and STEM, and some race-related topics in particular.
Why should we care about diversity?
- Introduction and Definitions of terms here
- When and how to speak up: No, you're not entitled to your opinion
- How workplace Climate Changes the Knowledge we Generate.
- Understanding some basic diversity concepts interactively: The Parable of the Polygons
- The Devil Doesn't need your Advocacy
- Scientific American Article on How Diversity Makes Us Smarter
- An overview of the concept that racism is hate + power.
Statistics on Underrepresentation
- The AIP report on African-Americans and Hispanics among Physics & Astronomy Faculty
- Additional AIP reports on underrepresented groups in Physics and the Geosciences
- 2013 NSF report on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering
- APS Statistics on Minorities and Women in Physics
- The (general) GRE and Its Predictive Validity for Graduate Student Success: an annotated bibliography compiled by the Graduate Diversity Program at UC Berkeley [pdf]
- Report on Barriers to Faculty Diversity from the American Federation of Teachers' Higher Education Division
- Study on Gender Bias in Astronomical Publications from Citation Counts
On Race and White Privilege
- The Angry Black Woman Required Reading List: a list of concise articles to learn about the basics on diversity from the perspective of people of color.
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Classic essay outlining everyday White Privilege which people of color most likely know well that white people don't often think about.
- Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege, an article about understanding what race privilege is in an era where racism persists
- How to Uphold White Supremacy by Focusing on Diversity & Inclusion, an article discussing how the idea of equality in liberalism can inherently undermine progress on racial equality. Note that this article can be difficult to grasp at first but has some very important points about how "inclusion" as a go-to term can be hurtful.
- What race has to do with Women in Astronomy, and important basic Q&A's about racism in Astronomy
- Minority? We want you to get a PhD, but we don't want you as a professor.
- Just stop talking about Race!, video
- The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism, a keynote address given by Audre Lorde
- Racial Equity Tools, a collection of resources for those interested in understanding and fighting racism
- White Silence - white silence in discussions of race functions to maintain white power and privilege and must be challenged.
- Decolonizing Science Reading List - Ever-evolving reading list on the effects of colonialism and colonialist thinking in science and how to break out of that style of thinking.
Allyship
- How to be a good ally and create a safe space
- Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting there is
- Five tips for being an Ally to a community you're not a part of, video
On Education
- Best way for professors to get good student evaluations? Be male.
- Faculty Whiteness complicates the classroom
- The Values Affirmation Exercise: A simple way to dramatically improve performance in under-represented students
- Factors influencing the success of women in graduate astronomy programs
- What Makes A Physicist? What make women choose physics majors/careers
- How Diversity Affects Teaching and Learning by Sylvia Hurtado illustrates how a climate of inclusion has a positive effect on learning outcomes
- Who Benefis from Racial Diversity in Higher Education?
- Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community
What can I do?
- Learn about your unconscious biases by taking Harvard's Implicit Test(s)
- Impostor Syndrome: Understanding it and guide to Workshop by Astronomer
- Ten simple rules to achieve Conference Speaker Gender Balance
- A guide to best practices in recruitment and selection for hiring a diverse workforce from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
- A handy pamphlet on Unconscious Bias (what it is and how to address it) from AURA
- APS lists of Minority and Women speakers for, e.g., colloquia
- Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Graduate Students from UC Berkeley
- Multicultural Astronomy Resource Guide from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- How to Recruit and Promote Minority Faculty?
- List of Equity and Inclusion Resources at Penn State - does your school have a list like this? Could you make one?
Training
- The US-based National Center for Atmospheric Research's equity and inclusion training program.
Teaching Equity Concepts in the Astro|Physics Classroom
- Wouter Deconinck, William & Mary, "Gender and Race in the Physical Sciences"
- Brown University's student-created course, "Race & Gender in the Scientific Community"
- Jeff Tecosky-Feldman and Beth Willman, Haverford, "The Persistent Lack of Diversity in the Sciences" (PDF)
Useful Conferences
Conferences are not just important for presenting scientific results. They are critical for networking, practicing presentation skills, and fun! Some important conferences to consider attending are:
- American Astronomical Society (biannual, January and June)
- SACNAS (annual in October)
- NSBP (annual)
- Inclusive Astronomy (every two years)
- American Indian Science and Engineering Society
- Undergraduate Women in Physics (annual, multiple locations)
Community
Professional Organizations
- NSBP - National Society of Black Physicists
- NSHP - National Society of Hispanic Physicists
- SACNAS - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
- APS Committee on Minorities in Physics page
- American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Committees and Groups
- CSWA - Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (see also blog)
- SGMA - Committee for the Status of Sexual-Orientaiton and Gender Minorities in Astronomy
- WGAD - Working Group on Accessibility and Disability
- AARG - Astronomy Anti-Racism Group
Mentoring Organizations
- MentorNet
- APS National Mentoring Community
- National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
- Vanguard STEM