Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO. F. Patat, The Messenger, September 2016, No. 165, p. 2

Transcription

1 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO F. Patat, The Messenger, September 2016, No. 165, p. 2

2 Preface Ferdinando Patat is head of the ESO Observing Programmes Office and has been working at ESO for <15 years. He leads a team including experienced female astronmers like: Francesca Primas (former head of the ESO User Support Department) and Gaitee Hussain (giving a colloquium at AIP in February 2017) This article is the one of the outcomes of the Time Allocation Working Group (TAWG) that was established to review the whole telescope allocation process at ESO. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 2

3 I got time! Obtaining telescope time at world leading facilities is fundamental for the well-being of an astronomer scientific activity. Gender systematics in the time allocation process have a negative career influence ESO-VLT A similar study by Reid (2014) refers to the HST, see arxiv.org/pdf/ v1.pdf 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 3

4 Telescope time proposals I got an idea! I write, as a principal investigator, a proposal to use ESO telescopes. Fixed deadline for submission. Scientific evaluation by the Observing Programme Committee (OPC) Scheduling by ESO Accepted (in service or visitor mode) or rejected 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 4

5 OPC Evaluation Each proposal is evaluated by non-conflicting members of a panel of 6 chosen to match the science topic. Each proposal is graded 1-5 by each member. The final averaged grade is created after normalizing the mean and standard deviation of the separate referees. The worse 30% of proposals are rejected. Each proposal is assigned to a primary referee. Each proposal is discussed at the OPC meeting. Each proposal is graded anonymously. Panel grades are normalized before producing final rank lists per telescope. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 5

6 Scheduling Performed by ESO staff taking into account of sky conditions and existing allocations (guaranteed programs, long term programs, etc.) Rank classes - A: top 50% of proposal requesting service mode observations - B: other proposals - The transition from A to B is telescope dependent - Proposals requesting visitor mode have no priority rank The statistics that follow refer to runs and not to the overall proposals. A given run identifies the observation with a given instrument and mode. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 6

7 Proposal dataset Normal and Short proposals accounting for > 85% of the time requested on each semester Pre- and Post-OPC grades from October 2008 to September 2016 Representative period of VLT and VLTI observations proposals 3017 distinct principal investigators (PI) 840 proposals per semester with 4.4 proposals per PI pre-opc grades post-opc grades 5.6 referees per proposal 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 7

8 Distribution by career level and gender Submitted 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 8

9 Salient points The F/M fraction is 30/70 in the panels and in the PI community There may be selection effects in choosing the PI of a proposal This can only be established if the gender of all Co-Is is known There are more male than female professional astronomers Better proposal are expected from professional astronomers There is no evolution in the career balance for Students and Postdocs, but there is clear change for Astronomers The percentage of proposals by female astronomers is similar to that of female postdocs; this is not the case for men. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 9

10 Proposal Submission Trends The number of proposals for female PIs is stable. Female PIs submit 8% fewer proposals. About 50% of PIs submit again the next semester (55% men and 40% female). The ratio of effective to potential PI is smal for females. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 10

11 Proposal Grading and Career More experienced scientists write better proposals OR More experienced scientists are trusted to write good proposals Pre-OPC average grades 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 11

12 Run Success Rate The values for students across the columns are similar. The values for All are compatible with those from Males. The values for Females are lower. The success rate can be estimated by All values weighted by the numbers of proposals submitted by gender. The result is 19.3% for females and 22.1% for males. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 12

13 Referees grades Cumulative function of pre-opc grade distributions. In grey are the differences without gender. Proposals with female PIs are disfavoured. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 13

14 IAU memberships and ESO 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 14

15 Conclusions The average proposals submitted by female PIs is 30%. There are on average less females members of the IAU. France and Italy have as many females in the IAU as there are proposals at ESO with female PIs. The ESO PI community is more balanced than the IAU. The female representation in the panels is also 30%; it is lower in the OPC proper. Career effects need to be considered when looking at gender balance. 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 15

16 Conclusions and Ideas The probability for females to obtain observing time is 20-30% lower than for males; it is even lower in case of large programmes. The divergence does not depend solely on the review process. There is a gender bias in the communities at large. Things that can be done at ESO: Raise the awareness of reviewers Make proposals anonymous 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 16

17 Anedocts What is the gender of the PIs and of the Referees? It is not stored in the User Portal (but it will)! First machine classification based on libraries of names, but problems with e.g. Andrea Many had only first initials. All manually checked (>3000)! Both male and females PIs submit proposals at the last minute! Among these proposals females receive better grades! Perhaps females proposals wait to sort out the details and male proposal get just assembled late! 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 17

18 Other ESO related statistics ESO Users Committee: 16 countries 37.5% are currently females Public Surveys: 20 programmes 15% have a female PI Success rate for runs A and VM The number of successful proposals decreases with time! 11/16/16 Gender Systematics in Telescope Time Allocation at ESO 18