Women hold up half the sky… but they don’t always show up in these numbers in NASA-sponsored astrophysics projects. Why is this? And what can we - men, women, and nonbinary people - all do to welcome people of all genders to projects?

Much of the available advice for participatory science leaders who want to create more inclusive projects encourages more community-driven or place-based approaches, strategies that don’t map smoothly onto space-based research. This event for project leaders of all genders will focus on an element of inclusivity – gender-balanced participation – that is applicable to all projects, regardless of scope.

All participatory projects operate within specific cultural, economic and, and social structures. How do these societal forces shape women’s involvement in NASA-sponsored citizen projects, and what can we do to ensure that we are not inadvertently replicating structures or messages that deter participation in our projects?

This event explores the patterns and possibilities of women's participation in astronomy based-citizen science in the context of the broader field of participatory science, demographic patterns on the Zooniverse platform, and practices from amateur astronomy.

The recording includes three speakers, who help to frame, constrain, and inspire solutions to the question of how  how NASA-sponsored astronomy citizen science projects might be more appealing to and supportive of female-identifying participants.

Dr. Julia Parrish shares observations from a meta-analysis of the demographics of participants in citizen science projects. Julia’s remarks start at timestamp 10:12.

Dr. Corey Jackson shares results from an analysis of participation on the Zooniverse platform. Corey’s presentation begins at timestamp 28:25.

Vivian White shares observations from amateur astronomy groups and an inspiring example of how a group focused on engaging girls in astronomy and their encouraging results. Vivian is introduced at timestamp 47:10.