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pursue a career in astronomy, but there needs to be
more. Surely it is time to move away from pre-historic
gender typing? Supermarkets and online retailers still
market science toys as “toys for boys”, claiming it is
due to public demand. This is something which has
to change. There is no doubt that women who want
to succeed in science, technology, engineering and
maths (STEM) still face an uphill struggle today and
have to make many sacrifices. Women who want to
take a career break to have a family may have problems returning to the same posts; often they have to
take a demotion in order to get back into work. The
number of women in senior positions within astronomy and physics is still extremely low compared to
men. But it is the 21st Century; why does society as a
whole still think that science is a “boys” game? Only
recently, there was a big fuss in the press on the discovery that the extremely successful “I F**king Love
Science” Facebook page was run by a female, the
British blogger Elise Andrews. To read about some
of the fall-out, take a look at the Guardian’s and The
Independent’s articles referenced at the end. 6&7 I
admire Elise, and the way she handled the fall out. I
have to admit that I myself was guilty of assuming
the page was run by a man, but wasn’t in the least bit
shocked or offended when I found out that it wasn’t;
ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014
Female astrophotography
exhibition on the UKWIAN
stand at the NW Astronomy
Festival