One of the main tasks of the WG is the collection of statistics on women in astronomy worldwide to monitor the progress of the status of women in the field over time. It is often reported that the number of women in astronomy positions is not increasing at a rate commensurate with the availability of qualified female students and that women are not represented at highest levels. Statistics will help back up these claims and those countries that are more progressive can help plan strategies and actions for improvement internationally.

Our aim is to have a uniform approach to the collection of statistics. If you would like to help the WG by nominating a country for which you will collect the following information, please contact Sarah Maddison. To quantify the distribution of women within the hierarchy of astronomy, we are collecting the following information for all countries that are conducting astronomical research:

1. total number of institutes involved
   (universities or other higher education institutes, observatories, government and private bodies)
2. total number of astronomy research staff (men, women, and total)
3. total number of permanent positions (men, women, and total)
4. total number of tenure track (or equivalent) positions (men, women, and total)
5. total number of short-term contract (e.g. postdocs) positions (men, women, and total)
6. number of staff with advanced degrees (men, women, and total)
7. number of staff with are gradute student supervisors (men, women, and total)
8. total number of graduate (PhD and Masters) students (men, women, and total)
9. does the country have open hiring practices or is it restricted to (or priority given to) their own citizens?

Links to reports on women in astronomy on the web:

• Geographic distribution of IAU members, which also included gender statistics. Updated 2006.
• Women in Astronomy - France, 2002
• Percentage of women in astronomy by rank - USA, 2005. Compilation of NSF, AIP, CSWA and NDS statistics.
• STScI/CSWA Survey Results, USA, 1992-2003
• Statistics at a Glance - AIP stats on women in physics and astronomy