If you are a British or American astronomer, you have done this many times. You are at a meeting and wander over to a table full of Italians. Or Germans. Or Brazilians, or whatever. They are happily chatting away, but as you sit down they switch seamlessly into English. We Brits radiate a strange field that induces a language phase transition as we approach. Germans do not have this power. Sometimes I am tempted to lean in and out and cause an oscillation. Anyway, we are privileged and rather lucky.
I am currently lecturing at the Opticon Awareness Conference in Bucharest, a kind of Euro-astro-summer-school. This year it is specifically for students from South-Eastern Europe – Romania, Albania, Greece, Serbia, etc. Very fascinating. Anyway I spent my lunch preventing some Bulgarians and Macedonians speaking their own undoubtedly fine languages. As I walked back I caught up with fellow lecturers Francois Hammer and Alain Le Cavelier, and stopped them speaking French.
Although I have mentioned three male lecturers so far, there is actually a fair sprinkling of female lecturers at this summer school. Maybe not enough, but some. This contrasts rather starkly with the recent STFC summer school, where 0/18 lecturers were female. Well, Peter C already blogged that one. Anyway. I suppose its Rumania One UK Nil.
The female:male ratio varies widely from country to country. UK is better than it was but not so good. Germany is poor. France and Italy have lots of women astronomers. Some of this seems to have been due to strong role models over my lifetime – Suzy Collin, Jacqueline Bergeron, Laura Maraschi, etc. China has lots of female astronomers; Japan extremely few. Is there a pattern here? Whats going on?
There is also large variation across sub-disciplines in astronomy, which I see in personal experience. When I go to cosmology conferences, women are pretty thin on the ground. When I go to AGN conferences, it’s almost 50:50. Whats that all about? Is it a historical accident? Or something about the way those questions are researched? Herd fashion for aggressive males? Got to be a clue. Some women I know do have a foot in both those camps, so if they happen to be reading, do feel free to comment.