Gender equality in astronomy could take 60 years to achieve
Serious reforms needed to bring more women into space research, modelling shows.
Lisa Kewley in her office. Credit: ASTRO 3D.
Without affirmative action, it could take another 60 years or more before women make up a third of Australia’s astronomers, according to award-winning astronomer Professor Lisa Kewley.
“Women in physics and astronomy report that their careers progress more slowly and that they received fewer career resources and opportunities than men,” she writes in the journal
Nature Astronomy.
Despite earning up to 40% of PhDs in astronomy, less than a fifth of women hold senior positions in space research. They are also three to four times more likely to leave astronomy – a gender gap that has persisted for decades, says Kewley, from the Australian National University’s Research School for Astronomy and Astrophysics.