Rewriting the Rules
Women Astronomers and the Codification of Cnduct in Astronomical Societies (1950–2000)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55283/jhk.23170Keywords:
Astronomy, women scholars, scientific societies, gender equality, scientific prizesAbstract
This article examines how women astronomers navigated, contested, and sought to reform scholarly codes of conduct within scientific associations during the twentieth century, focusing on the case of astronomical societies, specifically the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Drawing on archival research, including correspondence, meeting records, handbooks, and institutional publications, it traces a shift from women’s accommodation to implicit gendered norms (before 1970), through active contestation and demands for reform (1970s–1980s), to the codification of more explicit standards of conduct in the 1990s. We distinguish between implicit and explicit codes of conduct and argue that, by putting matters of gender equality on the agenda of scientific societies, women astronomers helped transform previously unspoken expectations into explicit objects of discussion and reform. In doing so, they also produced new knowledge about inequality within their profession, notably by documenting experiences, naming structural constraints, and mobilizing statistics and international comparisons. The article centers on two key moments of transgression and codification: Margaret Burbidge’s 1971 refusal of the Annie Jump Cannon Prize and the drafting of the Baltimore Charter for Women in Astronomy in 1992. More broadly, it shows how scientific societies became spaces where norms of participation and conduct were not only enforced but also made visible, debated, and gradually reformulated.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Anna Cabanel, Joris Vandendriessche
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European Research Council
Grant numbers 101042343
