The SDSS-IV in 2014: A Demographic Snapshot
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Lundgren, Britt
•
Kinemuchi, Karen
•
Zasowski, Gail
•
•
Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.
•
Tremonti, Christy A.
•
Myers, Adam D.
•
Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso
•
Gillespie, Bruce
•
Ho, Shirley
•
Gallagher, John S.
Description
Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Participating Institutions. SDSS-IV acknowledges support and resources from the Center for High-Performance Computing at the University of Utah. The SDSS web site is www.sdss.org . SDSS-IV is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS Collaboration including the Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University, the Chilean Participation Group, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Instituto de Astrofsica de Canarias, The Johns Hopkins University, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU)/University of Tokyo, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Leibniz Institut fr Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), Max Planck Institut fr Astrophysik (MPA Garching), Max Planck Institut fr Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Max Planck Institut fr Astronomie (MPIA Heidelberg), National Astronomical Observatory of China, New Mexico State University, New York University, University of Notre Dame, Observatrio Nacional do Brasil, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, United Kingdom Participation Group, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, University of Arizona, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Portsmouth, University of Utah, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University.
Abstract
Many astronomers now participate in large international collaborations, and it is important to examine whether these structures foster a scientific climate that is inclusive and diverse. The Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (CPWS) was formed to evaluate the demographics and gender climate within SDSS-IV, one of the largest and most geographically distributed astronomical collaborations. In April 2014, the CPWS administered a demographic survey to establish a baseline for the incipient SDSS-IV. We received responses from 250 participants (46% of the active membership). Half of the survey respondents were located in the US or Canada and 30% were based in Europe. Eleven percent of survey respondents considered themselves to be an ethnic minority at their current institution. Twenty-five percent of the SDSS-IV collaboration members are women, a fraction that is consistent with the US astronomical community, but substantially higher than the fraction of women in the IAU (16%). Approximately equal fractions of men and women report holding positions of leadership. When binned by academic age and career level, men and women also assume leadership roles at approximately equal rates, in a way that increases steadily for both genders with increasing seniority. In this sense, SDSS-IV has been successful in recruiting leaders that are representative of the collaboration. Yet, more progress needs to be made towards achieving gender balance and increasing diversity in the field of astronomy, and there is still room for improvement in the membership and leadership of SDSS-IV. For example, at the highest level of SDSS-IV leadership, women disproportionately assume roles related to education and public outreach. The CPWS plans to use these initial data to establish a baseline for tracking demographics over time as we work to assess and improve the climate of SDSS-IV.
Volume
127
Issue
954
Start page
776
Issn Identifier
0004-6280
Ads BibCode
2015PASP..127..776L
Rights
open.access
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