I am not sure that the number of women or the number of men
defines the quality of a conference. It is the topics, the
level of experience built in each topic, and naturally the
experience of the presenters, whether they are men or women.
I have seen both good men and good women in QM, the latter
particularly in teaching. Conferences should be organized
according to topics of research, independently of gender.
Maybe this conference has topics that are mostly covered by
one gender. That does however, not stop anyone from
organizing another conference, where, occasionally, another
gender is more overrepresented.
Again, the outfall of this is in the topic, scientific
advance and expertise, not gender.
If one starts finding missing aspects in terms of WHO is
behind the research, the research will disappear and be
replaced by persons.
The person behind the research is not really of outomst
relevant, it is the research, where I guess all researchers
would agree one (men or women).
> From: owner-chemistry|ccl.net
> To: sergio.manzetti|gmx.com
> Subject: CCL: ICQC shame
> Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 04:12:00 +0000
>
>
> Sent to CCL by: "Clark, Aurora" [auclark#,#wsu.edu]
> It is important to point out that this issue is much
broader than
> merely including women in major theoretical
conferences, it is about the
> repercussions of not including them and the
implications to our field by
> maintaining a status quo that is closed minded. It is
multifaceted, but
> inherently about the growth and development of
theoretical chemistry as a
> discipline and not really about gender at all.
>
> Omitting women from major conferences affects a very
large swath of
> scientist's careers, not only politically, but also
in terms of the
> recognition and distribution of the new work they
produce and in the
> recruitment and education of talented young people
that are badly needed
> in any discipline in order for it to keep its
relevance to the
> ever-changing tides of federal funding and an
evolving scientific
> state-of-the-art.
>
> It is harder for scientists to get promoted if they
are not invited to
> conferences where they are unable to network with
potential collaborators,
> program officers, and reviewers of their dossiers.
Networking works both
> ways, in that not only does it help the female
scientist, but also the
> collaborator...what if you miss out on the next best
algorithm for solving
> some complicated numerical problem because you had no
opportunity to see a
> poster or talk from said female scientist? What if
you pay for a grad
> student to work on this complicated numerical problem
and end up paying
> valuable research dollars for this student to solve a
problem that has
> already been addressed? What if the next Einstein is
an undergrad working
> in your group and she decides she wants to go into
Biology because she
> doesn't see anyone that respects her ideas or
believes in her potential?
>
> One of the beautiful things about conferences is that
they provide a
> platform for showcasing a large group of people
working on a problem. If
> you omit an entire population, then you not only hurt
those you omit, but
> also yourself and your own opportunities to learn and
develop
> a research program, not to mention recruiting new
talent to our programs.
> Without these things we degrade our field and
eventually, it might not
> matter anymore because no one will see the value in
pure, non-applied,
> theoretical chemistry anymore anyways.
>
> So - I view this string not merely about echoing the
chorus of how
> terrible it is that there may be discrimination in
our discipline, but
> also in the health and development of theoretical
chemistry and what our
> field will look like 20 or 50 years from now.
>
>
> Cheers;
> Aurora
>
>
>
>
> Aurora Clark
> Associate Professor
> Department of Chemistry
> Washington State University
> Pullman, Wa 99164
> Ph: 509-335-3362
> Fax: 509-335-8867
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2/15/14 2:57 PM, "Kadir Diri
dirikadir[a]gmail.com"
> <owner-chemistry{=}ccl.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >Sent to CCL by: Kadir Diri [dirikadir ~
gmail.com]
> >Dear Colleagues,
> >
> >I am posting this message on behalf of professor
Anna Krylov -one of the
> >many outstanding women in theoretical chemistry-
regarding the choice of
> >speakers for the upcoming ICQC conference.
> >
> >I would always like to think of us, scientists,
as some of the leading
> >figures in the fight for gender equality. I wish
the choice of speakers
> >for this conference was just a statistical
abnormality. Even that would
> >be unacceptable...
> >
> >Professor Krylov's message follows below.
> >
> >Best regards,
> >Kadir
> >---
> >
> >
> >Dear Colleague:
> >
> >It happened again --- another major theoretical
chemistry conference
> >features an all-male program. One of us began
boycotting such
> >conferences 14 years ago and can't believe that
14 years later we are
> >still seeing such overt discrimination. This time
it is the 15th
> >International Congress of Quantum Chemistry
(ICQC,
> >
http://www.icqc2015.org)
conducted under the
auspices of International
> >Academy of Quantum Molecular Science
(
http://www.iaqms.org), which
will
> >be held in Beijing, China. As of 02/15/2014, the
program features 24
> >invited speakers and 5 chairs and honorary chairs
and does not include a
> >single woman.
> >
> >Are there no women in theoretical chemistry?
Hardly. The Women in
> >Theoretical Chemistry web-directory
(
http://iopenshell.usc.edu/wtc)
> >lists more than 300 female scientists holding
tenured and tenure track
> >academic positions or equivalent positions in
industry and other
> >research establishments pursuing research in
theoretical and
> >computational chemistry, biochemistry, material
science, as well as
> >theoretical molecular/atomic physics and
biophysics. Many of these women
> >are far more distinguished than many of the men
being invited to speak
> >at these conferences.
> >
> >Feeling as fed up and frustrated as we do? Add
your voice to ours by
> >signing this open letter (
http://chn.ge/NQGKUc)
denouncing this biased
> >practice, which we had hoped would be obsolete
long ago (it will take
> >less than a minute).
> >
> >Thank you for your for your support.
> >
> >Prof. Emily Carter, Princeton University
> >Prof. Laura Gagliardi, University of Minnesota
> >Prof. Anna Krylov, University of Southern
California>
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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