RASC National Society Video: The Stars Belong to Everyone: Gender and Sexual Diversity in Astronomy

The RASC Inclusivity and Diversity Committee presents a profile of gender-diverse members of the astronomy and astrophysics communities.

What sort of person gets involved in astronomy? Who gets involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math? in 1983, Dr David Wade Chambers created the Draw A Scientist Test to investigate children's perceptions of the scientist and determine at what age a stereotypical image of the scientist first appeared. The DAST has been administered hundreds of times to children all over the world, showing that boys draw white male scientists and that most of the girls do too, proving that children begin developing stereotypical views of scientists from a very early age, with a progressively larger number of indicators appearing as the grades progress. Even Asian students in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea drew white male scientists! Stereotypes such as this affect minorities in STEM professions, including the 2SLGTBQ+ community adversely. Let’s hear from some astrophysicists, cosmologists, astrobiologists, astronomers and engineers to explore the issues involved.