Recommended Actions for the American Astronomical Society: CSWA’s Perspective on Steps for a more Inclusive Astronomy - I. Background and Methods

In a series of two papers, we provide a comprehensive agenda of actions the American Astronomical Society (AAS) can take to create a more diverse and inclusive professional system for astronomers, with a focus on women astronomers. This first paper of the series outlines the background and methods, while the recommendations are treated in the second companion paper (Paper II). We take the stance that since the 2020 Decadal Survey (Astro2020) was delivered in 2021, with its first-ever set of recommendations on the State of the Profession, now is the time for the AAS to take decisive action to transform astronomy into a diverse and inclusive profession. In the spring of 2019, the CSWA surveyed the astronomical community to assess the popularity and feasibility of actions that the AAS can take to reduce harassment and advance career development for women in astronomy. Here we present the quantitative results of that survey and a synopsis of the free response sections, which are publicly accessible. By combining the results of our survey, peer-reviewed academic literature, and findings from many of the white papers submitted to Astro2020, the CSWA has developed 26 specific actions that the AAS can take to help end harassment in astronomy, to advance career development for astronomers who are women and who are other members of historically marginalized groups, and intersections of these populations, and to improve the climate and culture of AAS and AAS-sponsored meetings. This paper presents the data we used to make these recommendations, and the recommendations themselves will be presented in Paper II.