EQUITY & INCLUSION

DOUBLE-BLIND PROPOSAL REVIEWS IN ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

To mitigate bias in the allocation of scarce research resources I have long been a strong advocate for double-blind reviews. I chaired the committee that allocates time on the Hubble Space Telescope convened by the Space Telescope Science that conducted the first double-blind review in the physical sciences in the United States. How this first round of dual anonymous reviews was conducted has been written about widely, here in Physics Today and reported in this article in The Atlantic. Given the success of the process, most granting agencies here and in Europe including NASA, NSF, DoE, ESA and ESO have moved to double-blind reviews.

WOMENS FACULTY FORUM AT YALE

I served as the chair of the Womens Faculty Forum (WFF) from 2011 – 2014 at Yale and have been on the Steering Committee of the  from 2003 to the present time. I am is deeply interested in Institutional Change with regard to Gender Parity in the Academy and building a more inclusive and equitable environment for doing research, teaching and learning. Along with Judith Resnik and Reva Siegel at the Yale Law School, we has co-organized two Gruber conferences titled Parity as Practice: The Politics of Equality held from 30 – 31 March, 2012 and the second one titled Contesting Gender Inequalities” from 25 – 28 April, 2013 at the Law School. I was also a co-author on the WFF Report on Sexual Misconduct that lay the groundwork for the setting up of Yale’s University Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct.

EDGE CERTIFIED FOUNDATION

I currently serve as the President of the Edge Certified Foundation Board . The Foundation is a non-profit that holds the intellectual property of Edge Certified that offers a global business certification setting the standard for gender equality in the work sphere. The Foundation aspires to create a world of equal opportunities, a world where all genders are equally valued and respected in every aspect of economic, political and social life. In particular, they strive to ensure equity for all genders in the workplace.