Friday, July 1, 2022
By:
Happy July! This week seemed to go by very quickly and I am realizing how short summer and this internship really is.
At work, I am uploading the most recent data sheets from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Once I have the excel files downloaded correctly, I will be able to update the website. This means there will be new graphs on APS web pages and the ‘Compair you Institution’ webpage will have the newest data. There have been a couple technical issues which have hindered progress but I am working through those with the help of my mentor, Christine and great tech team, Nathan and Milton.
I read a paper called A comparative examination of research on why women are more underrepresented in some STEMM disciplines compared to others, with a particular focus on computer science, engineering, physics, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and biology by Michelle A. Rodrigues and Kathryn B. H. Clancy. I appreciated hearing more about statistics of disparities in higher education by field rather than having STEMM all clumped together. Overall it was depressing to hear how underrepresented women and especially women of color are in STEMM the higher up in education one goes. The paper emphasized that we need to change the culture in STEMM to make it more inclusive but it also noted why that is so hard to do. I am looking forward to reading the paper next week.
Here are some things from outside of work this week:
Earth, Exoplanets, and Everything in Between presentation at the National American Indian Museum, hosted by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It was cool seeing just how many planets exist that could have life! The speaker, Dr. Knicole Colón, is also very inspiring!
Someone saw a cockroach and GW housing apparently has a zero cockroach tolerance. This was 7am on Monday.
I saw this friendly groundhog right outside of the American Center for Physics (ACP) on my way home from work Tuesday!
We had a great group potluck this week! So much good food :) And thanks Janessa and Emma for letting us use your room!
Upcoming, I am planning on going to the Embassy of Colombia today with a friend to watch a movie hosted by the Embassy of Chili called “Spider!” And Saturday I will be checking out a farmers market with a friend in Arlington called The Old Town Farmers' Market which is the oldest farmers' market in the country held continuously at the same site! It’s a little far away but it is in front of Alexandria's historic City Hall which I am looking forward to seeing. This Sunday I will be going to the National Museum of African American History and Culture!!! I am really looking forward to this as I got tickets over a month ago Hence my suggestion to future interns or anyone traveling to DC - book your tickets for the National Museum of African American History and Culture very early, they sell out fast! (They are also free as is every Smithsonian museum).
Until next week,
Lucy Corthell