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Nature Astronomy Focus: Gender equity in astronomy

Equity and inclusion of all in the scientific process would ensure a true diversity of ideas, which is paramount for exploiting the full potential of our community to make new discoveries. Despite this relatively universally accepted Ansatz, women and other under-represented groups still face both direct and indirect obstacles in their pursuit of a career in astronomy and space science. Discrimination based on gender, skin colour, disability, sexual orientation and other minority statuses persists in our society at large but also in the microcosm of astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science communities. 

In this Focus issue of Nature Astronomy we put the spotlight on the issue of equity (or lack thereof) in our community by inviting comments on the different manifestations of this persistent discrimination. The data presented by our authors paint a worrying picture. A dense network of often subconscious and therefore insidious biases and discriminatory behaviours lead to very real deficiencies in the representation of women and minority astronomers in almost every aspect of scientific discourse (from conferences to missions, career prizes and citation counts).

The Focus is centred on a research Letter by Neven Caplar and collaborators that asks the question whether women-led papers are cited differently than papers led by men. The answer is yes: with machine-learning techniques accounting for non-gender specific attributes, women-led papers are cited systematically 10% less than their men-led equivalents. This deficit is not surprising and in line with similar findings in other scientific fields. Finally, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein offers her Perspective on the issue of intersectionality and how astronomers at the intersection of multiple minority statuses suffer exponentially more and yet often fall through the cracks of statistical studies such as the one conducted by Caplar et al.

Please click through the content of this Focus (links to free-access PDF files in the "Read more" tabs) and once you've finished reading it, you are invited to move to the "Further Reading" section, where a wealth of additional information awaits your perusal.

There is a trove of online resources for people interested in educating themselves about issues surrounding equity and diversity (in gender and beyond), references to sociological studies on the manifestations of discrimination and bias and testimonies from victims of discriminatory behaviours. Here we provide a short compilation of links relevant to astronomy that we encourage you to peruse.

Below are some Facebook groups that are of relevance and provide safe spaces for astronomers who identify as members of minoritized groups. For most of them being a professional astronomer and adhering to a specific code of conduct is required to become a member. These groups often provide lists for further reading and many of their members are invaluable resources when it comes to self-education on matters of equity and diversity.

National and international astronomical societies are gradually realizing the importance of performing important demographic surveys to quantify problems such as discrimination, racism and/or sexism among their members but also of dedicating resources and effort to protect the weakest and most marginalized among their membership. Here are some relevant resources:

Further national and international resources can be found online on the status of women in astronomy. Few such resources exist for Asia and Africa, though the efforts of individual (typically women) scientists are invaluable in motivating discussion and engagement from the larger local community. It is encouraging, however, that some research institutions with global reach (such as the European Southern Observatory and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey collaboration) are reviewing their own practices.

Nature Research journals have discussed the status of women in science and in astronomy specifically. Here are some examples: