2010 Women in Astronomy Meeting

The inaugural meeting of the ASA Women in Astronomy Chapter was held on 5 July during the 2010 ASA Annual Scientific Meeting in Hobart. The lunch time meeting was attended by over 60 people (32 women and 35 men). The Chair welcomed everybody to the meeting and introduced the aims and objectives of the new chapter, along with the rationale for establishing the chapter.

The focus of the meeting was on best practice in family friendly policies in the workplace. Several examples were presented, with a showcase on the CSIRO Ruby Payne-Scott award. Last year’s recipient, Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths, spoke of her experiences with the Ruby Payne-Scott award, which she used to invite collaborators to Sydney to work with her and to host a workshop at ATNF.

A general discussion followed about the sort of family friendly policies would work best for different people in different situations. It was suggested that people could use these examples to lobby their own institutes to instigate similar practices.

For a copy of the meeting notes, click here.