Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2009 APS March Meeting
Volume 54, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 16–20, 2009; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Session J4: Panel Discussion: Around the World in 180 Minutes: Differences and Similarities among Women Physicists |
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Sponsoring Units: CSWP FIP Chair: Eliane Lessner, CSWP, and Cherrill Spencer, FIP Room: 306/307 |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:15AM - 11:20AM |
J4.00001: Session Introduction Invited Speaker: A panel discussion session providing a worldwide assessment of the status and experiences of women in physics, paying attention to the different cultures and environments they work in and to how the age of the physicist affects their perspective. We will hear about women physicists in Korea in particular and Asia in general, in Egypt in particular and Africa in general, and in the Caribbean. Six invited speakers will present analyses of the progress being made in promoting women in physics from their personal experiences and as assessed from their participation in the Third International Conference on Women In Physics (ICWIP2008) convened in Seoul, Korea in October 2008. From Albania to Zimbabwe, with representation of all the continents, ICWIP2008 congregated 283 women and men physicists from 57 countries to share the participants' scientific accomplishments and evaluate international progress in improving the status of women in physics. This three-hour session is organized jointly by the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics of the APS (CSWP) and the Forum on International Physics of the APS (FIP). Audience participation in the panel discussion will be strongly encouraged. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:20AM - 11:45AM |
J4.00002: Looking back, Looking Forward: An International Perspective Invited Speaker: The recent IUPAP International Conference on Woman in Physics (ICWIP) held in Korea brought women physicists together from all over the world. It was a wonderful conference and the third in a series that began in 2002. How did these conferences originate? What was their driving force? What has changed in the intervening 6 years? I will give some of the history and my experiences in the role of secretary general and the first female officer of IUPAP. I will also share some thoughts about the future, and what must be done to make sure that the situation for women in physics continues to improve around the world. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:45AM - 12:10PM |
J4.00003: The 3$^{rd}$ International Conference on Women in Physics: Global Perspectives, Common Concerns, Worldwide Views Invited Speaker: The 3$^{rd}$ International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP), held in Seoul, Korea, in October 2008, brought together 300 participants from 57 countries, including a diverse 22-member U.S. Delegation, for a 3-day summit of stimulating discussions, thought-provoking presentations, inspirational posters, and networking. Held under the auspices of the Working Group on Women in Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), this meeting built on the successes of the 1$^{st}$ (Paris, 2002) and 2$^{nd}$ (Rio de Janeiro, 2005) Conferences and further clarified the importance of diversifying the field of physics worldwide. Although considerable progress has been made since 2002, it was clear that the global scientific workforce is still under-utilizing a large percentage of the available female talent pool. If human society is to benefit to its fullest from various contributions that the field of physics can offer in addressing global issues of economic crisis, energy, environment, water, health, poverty, and hunger, women of all races and nationalities need to become fully included and engaged in the national and international physical community. To address these and many other issues, the ICWIP unanimously approved a five-part resolution to IUPAP recommending actions to promote the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in physics and related fields. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 12:10PM - 12:35PM |
J4.00004: Marshak Lectureship Talk: Women in Physics in Egypt and the Arab World Invited Speaker: Until the end of the 19th Century Science was not classified into different disciplines. The first woman named in the history of science was Merit Ptah (2700 BC) in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In the new Egypt the first girl's school started in Cairo in 1873 and the first University in 1908. Only a few girls attended the University at that time, mainly studying the humanities. The first Egyptian woman physicist graduated in 1940 and received her PhD in nuclear physics in the USA. Nowadays the number of women in physics is increasing in all branches of physics, some of them are senior managers and others have been decorated with various prizes. In this talk some statistics will be given to show the percentage of women in physics in relation to other fields of science in Egypt. In Saudi Arabia the first girls' school started in 1964 and the first college for women, which was a section of King Abdul-Aziz University (where education is not mixed), started in 1975. I was the founder of the Physics Department of this women's section. Egyptians have played significant roles in teaching schoolchildren and university students of both sexes in all the Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Kuwait, Yemen, the Gulf States, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. But with respect to Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, our role was limited, since classes are taught in French. Arab women living in the countries located east of Egypt still have many difficulties facing them, needing to overcome many technical, academic, and social problems, while women in the countries located west of Egypt have fewer problems. There were many problems in the early days of education in Egypt but the women of Egypt worked hard to gain the same rights as men and were able to pave the way for all Arab women. I myself met many difficulties in my early days. This talk will also describe the impact of the regional conference on Women in Physics in Africa and Middle East, which was held in Cairo in 2007. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 12:35PM - 1:11PM |
J4.00005: Women Physicists in Asia Invited Speaker: I will present the history of women scientists in Asian countries and discuss the current status and experiences from women physicists, and ways to create a better future for women in physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:11PM - 1:36PM |
J4.00006: Women in Physics: A Caribbean Perspective Invited Speaker: This paper is concerned with aspects of post-secondary education of women in physics in the Caribbean, focusing more specifically on the main university campuses in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados. Within this framework, there are three institutions of tertiary education that provide for undergraduate and post-graduate studies in physics. On average, the bachelor-level graduating class is roughly 40\% female. A great majority of these students go on to seek master's degrees in engineering. Among those enrolled in graduate programs featuring research in astronomy, materials science, environmental physics, medical physics, and quantum physics, 58\% are female. Significant numbers of women from the selected countries and from the Caribbean region are engaged in bachelor and doctoral programs in physics abroad, but no formal survey is available to provide the relevant quantitative information. However, an attempt will be made to quantify this component. Based in part on personal experience, a comparison will be made between domestic and foreign educational pathways, in terms of access to resources, level of research training, and occupational opportunities following graduation. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:36PM - 2:26PM |
J4.00007: Panel Discussion Invited Speaker: \\ Panelists:\\ Yevgeniya Zastavker, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering\\ Young-Kee Kim, Fermi National Accelerator Facility and University of Chicago\\ Karimat El-Sayed, AniSharms University, Cairo, Egypt\\ Renee Horton, University of Alabama\\ Kandice Tanner, University of California, Berkeley\\ [Preview Abstract] |
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