The Society: Minutes of the Women's Caucus Meeting
November 21, 2003
Sylvia McGrath, co-chair of the caucus, opened the meeting at 7:30am. Forty-two people attended, including Jay Malone, HSS Executive Director, John Servos, HSS President, and Michael Sokal, HSS Vice-President. Those present introduced themselves.
Judy Johns Schloegel nominated Pamela Henson to serve as co-chair. The nomination was seconded by Peggy Kidwell and Pam was elected by acclamation.
Sylvia McGrath announced a reception hosted by the HSS Women's Caucus on Friday evening, November 21, which celebrated the numerous achievements of Margaret Rossiter and the thirtieth anniversary of the HSS Women's Caucus. The reception was supported by The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University.
In conjunction with the announcement of the reception honoring Margaret Rossiter, Pam Mack reported that the endowment for the History of Women in Science Prize had become fully funded in the fall of 2003, after a shortfall of $5,000 one year ago. Pam announced that the HSS Council had approved the renaming of the History of Women in Science Prize to the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize.
Pam Mack, who runs the HSS Women's Caucus listserv, reported that it continued to operate in a relatively quiet manner, with some months having no messages posted to it. Messages can be sent directly to the listserv via: hss_women-l@clemson.edu.
John Servos, HSS President, congratulated the Women's Caucus in achieving the funding of the History of Women in Science Prize and for its success as an inclusive organization in HSS.
In light of the thirtieth anniversary of the Women's Caucus, Rima Apple reported on the history of the Women's Caucus. In 1972 Carolyn Iltis submitted a resolution to the HSS Council to create a Committee on Women. In 1973, Mike Sokal and Margaret Rossiter drafted the first report on the status of women in the profession. By the 1980s, the committee was conducting the employment survey. In 1985, the History of Women in Science Prize was established through grassroots fundraising led by Sally Kohlstedt and Michelle Aldrich. In 1987, the first History of Women in Science Prize was awarded.
Rima pointed out that her effort to sketch a history of the Women's Caucus raised many questions that currently cannot be answered. Jay Malone has volunteered to have a graduate student review records held by the HSS Executive Office to help the Women's Caucus document its history. Rima volunteered to organize information that is gathered. Judy Johns Schloegel will assist her.
Judy Johns Schloegel reported on the status of the development of the online Women's Caucus Directory. Following last year's caucus meeting, Amy Bix turned the discussion of what the caucus wanted in an online directory into a form to be completed online. This was created as a web directory by Roger Turner in the HSS Executive Office and tested by several caucus members during the summer. Several problems confronted by the HSS Executive Office delayed the launch of the directory. Jay Malone reported that these problems had just been resolved and that the directory would be ready for use shortly.
Sylvia McGrath read a letter submitted by Amy Bix, who was not able to attend the meeting, regarding the employment survey. Amy has written the analysis of the employment survey for the past six years and has taken on new responsibilities that prevent her from continuing the role. Members discussed if the caucus should continue supervising the employment survey, and determined that it was best to do so. It was noted that the HSS Executive Office manages the paperwork associated with the survey, and the role of the caucus member in charge was to handle the analysis of the data. Cornelia Lambert agreed to do the job; Amy will assist her in the transition.
The caucus discussed the sponsoring of sessions at HSS and HSS-sponsored events. The Women's Caucus did not sponsor a session at the 2003 HSS meeting. Following last year's discussion, the caucus had hoped to encourage the organization of more than one session dedicated to women and gender topics, without privileging one session over any others. Since this did not work out, it was decided that a caucus member should take the role of organizing a session. Interest was shown in organizing a session that observed the 25th anniversary of the publication of Carolyn Merchant's The Death of Nature. Judy Johns Schloegel will organize a session. Debra Lindsay raised the possibility of the Women's Caucus sponsoring a session at the 5th British-North American Joint Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia in August 2004. The caucus did not pursue this due to a lack of time to organize a session, but will consider doing so for future joint meetings.
Joan Cadden announced that UC Davis is looking for a director of the Science and Technology Studies Program.
The caucus discussed new projects and issues of concern to members. The question of representation at HSS meetings was raised, particularly of people of color, people with young children, and those with health problems. A workshop on inclusiveness was suggested. Eve Buckley and Lara Rosenfels proposed establishing an informal childcare network for members bringing young children to HSS meetings. Eve and Lara will work with the caucus co-chairs to communicate with Jay on this issue. They will use the listserv to communicate news about the childcare network.
Thanks were expressed to Sylvia McGrath for her generous efforts on behalf of the Women's Caucus. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50am.
Minutes submitted by Judy Johns Schloegel