In November 2013, we were very privileged to host Amy Cuddy at WCS-UW.  It was an all-around blast, and everyone learned a lot from our fabulous guest speaker.  Many of us started using “Power Poses” regularly in our own lives.

This last January 2016, Amy Cuddy’s popular power-posing research went up against the scientific tradition of replication study.  The new study couldn’t replicate the effects of power posing, though, Cuddy argues, several elements of the original 2010 study were changed.

BigThink:  A New Replication Suggests ‘Power Posing’ Is a Waste of Time, but Here’s Why You’ll Still Be Told to Do It for Years to Come
Slate:  The Power of the “Power Pose”: Amy Cuddy’s famous finding is the latest example of scientific overreach.
NPR: ‘Power Poses’ Co-Author: ‘I Do Not Believe The Effects Are Real’

What do you think, clever scientists?  How much faith should we put in power posing?  Will you still be using it in your personal life?

We’re delighted that a UW professor was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics, but are disappointed at the committee’s alarming trend of only awarding the prize to men.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/10/04/its-been-53-years-since-a-woman-won-the-nobel-prize-in-physics-whats-the-hold-up/

This week’s C&E News features an article entitled “Women crack the academic glass ceiling” on the increased representation of women among chemistry faculty at major research universities, according to surveys conducted by OXIDE, the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity. Though the percentage of women professors is still only 19.1%, this represents an improvement over the last survey and an encouraging trend. The article also includes interviews with several professors (including Christy Haynes, who gave a talk for WCS in fall 2014!) on how their departments are improving diversity and what else can be done.