A sociological study of gender and astronomy in Spain

Abstract

The under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics has been an issue of great concern within the European scientific community and beyond. To initiate actions that will alleviate this deficiency, it is important to understand the reasons behind it. This Perspective highlights the results of our research into the situation of women in the field of astronomy and astrophysics in Spain, which was first published in Spanish in 2010. In that study, we first summarized the situation of women astronomers in Spain on the basis of statistical data obtained from the most relevant Spanish institutions. Then we combined in-depth interviews with teaching staff and researchers that took place at the same time as the statistical survey. We also interviewed groups of PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers to explore potential trends. Here we update the quantitative aspects of this analysis with more recent data from 2016, and present action plans already in place or recently proposed to improve the situation of women astronomers in Spain. We make this information available to the international astronomical community as motivation for further studies. We study the situation of women astronomers in Spain, based on statistical data and in-depth interviews with teaching staff and researchers at all career stages. Our results are presented as a motivation for further similar or expanded studies.