Astronomy for All - All for Astronomy? A Pilot Study of Amateur Astronomy Community Attitudes and Experiences

 

There is a growing body of work on equity, diversity and inclusivity within professional astronomy [1] [2] [3], [4] [5][6][7]. Collaborations between amateur and professional astronomers (pro-am collaborations) are on the rise. But the literature on equity, diversity and inclusivity within amateur astronomy is still sparse. It is increasingly important to understand the makeup of the amateur astronomical communities, and the barriers to wider involvement. In this day and age, astronomy should belong to everyone, and everyone should feel like they belong. 

 

The demographics of astronomy societies and online astronomical communities, including adjacent communities such as citizen scientists, appears skewed towards being mostly white and male, e.g. in the Galaxy Zoo project there was an observed 82:18 male:female ratio [8]. Anecdotal evidence for usage of astronomy forums and sites again suggests a ratio of 80:20 male:female at best. For the Rosetta Mission Amateur Observing Campaign over 90% of observers were male. 

 

It is now established [9] that this should not be ascribed to a lack of interest in astronomy (or science in general) in different audiences. Rather, it is driven by the subtle biases that persist in associating only white males with a science interest [10] and the multiple ways in which these biases discourage traditionally under-represented demographics in engaging with science and engineering [11][12]. Traditionally under-represented people face the challenge of not being able to build a strong science identity.

 

Work is underway to quantify the scale of the issue of bullying and harassment in astronomy e.g. the recently completed Royal Astronomical Society survey [13].

 

Is astronomy unwelcoming to under-represented groups? Is the problem that the fewer under-represented people who are part of the initial pool then do not feel welcomed when they join, fuelling a vicious circle?

 

We investigate the demographics, and the attitudes and experiences of members of the amateur astronomy community in the UK, through surveys distributed through traditional institutions, online forums and groups, and social media. The results will be presented in an interactive poster, and we will use the interactive, virtual nature of the meeting to stimulate a wider discussion within the community.  

 

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[3]      M. Allen, “White males dominate UK astronomy,” Phys. World, vol. 31, no. 2, p. 9, 2018.

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[8]      M. Jordan Raddick et al., “Galaxy zoo: Motivations of citizen scientists,” Astron. Educ. Rev., vol. 12, no. 1, Mar. 2013.

[9]      J. R. Cimpian, T. H. Kim, and Z. T. McDermott, “Understanding persistent gender gaps in STEM,” Science (80-. )., vol. 368, no. 6497, pp. 1317–1319, Jun. 2020.

[10]    B. A. Nosek et al., “National differences in gender-science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol. 106, no. 26, pp. 10593–10597, Jun. 2009.

[11]    B. Wong, S. Kelsall Greener, and J. Woydack, “ASPIRES Young People’s science and careers aspirations, age 10-14,” 2013.

[12]    A. MacDonald, “‘Not for people like me?’ under-represented groups in science, technology and engineering,” no. November 2014, p. 1‒32, 2014.

[13]    RAS, “RAS Harassment and Bullying Survey The Royal Astronomical Society,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://ras.ac.uk/education-and-careers/ras-harassment-and-bullying-survey. [Accessed: 30-Jun-2020].