For some reason that I don't understand but that I really appreciate, I've recently received a number of extremely nice e-mails from readers saying that they have "grown up" (professionally) with my blog and have found it useful. I find this fascinating -- the concept that in the 5+ years of this blog, a number of readers who started reading as grad students, have graduated, postdocked (or whatever), and started faculty positions. Others, who started reading as fairly new tenure-track faculty, now have tenure. That's great.
I am fascinated because I don't know what it is like to go through those professional stages while reading blogs stuffed with advice and information and comments and debate and all those things you get in the blogosphere. Sure, I could have read The Chronicle of Higher Education to glean some news and advice from other parts of academe, except that I didn't, back then.
Somehow, back then, we managed, of course, despite having to walk many miles in the snow without shoes and having to carry large rocks on our heads, just to get from our offices to the library, and so on.
I sort of touched on this topic in a post in February 2010 when I mused about what sort of blogs we turn to for support -- positive ones to cheer us up, pessimistic ones for the comfort of a group-wallow in misery and despair, bizarre ones because we are bizarre, all of the above, or what? I wondered what I would have done had the blogosphere existed back when I was a struggling student and postdoc. But I had no real answer, of course, because for me, it is all just speculation.
Anyway, as I said, these e-mails have been very nice. They have cheered me up while I am in the final throes of my see-you-on-the-other-side ~3.5+ month vortex of travel, meetings, deadlines, commitments, and whatnot that started in late June and is still going on for a few more weeks.
But, as nice as these e-mails have been, I still don't really know how or why it helps to read this or other blogs. I am not (just) fishing for more compliments here. I would like to hear some specific examples -- not just related to this blog, but also to any and all academic blogs that you have read for awhile as you have progressed through various life/career stages.
Sure, I can imagine a few possibilities. For example, there's the how-to kind of post: if you are a student wondering what/whether/how to write to a professor you don't know, or if you are a professor wondering what/whether/how to write a letter of recommendation for someone you hate, I've given some examples (though not necessarily good ones) for dealing with those and other situations that many of us encounter from time to time in our academic lives. It can be useful to see examples of what to do, or not to do.
But what else? And again, I'm not specifically talking about the FSP blog. What is it like to "grow up" with the blogosphere as a source of information, mentoring, and news? Is it the whole cosmic experience of having all these people writing about Everything that is useful, or is there some specific aspect that is particularly helpful to you?
I am fascinated because I don't know what it is like to go through those professional stages while reading blogs stuffed with advice and information and comments and debate and all those things you get in the blogosphere. Sure, I could have read The Chronicle of Higher Education to glean some news and advice from other parts of academe, except that I didn't, back then.
Somehow, back then, we managed, of course, despite having to walk many miles in the snow without shoes and having to carry large rocks on our heads, just to get from our offices to the library, and so on.
I sort of touched on this topic in a post in February 2010 when I mused about what sort of blogs we turn to for support -- positive ones to cheer us up, pessimistic ones for the comfort of a group-wallow in misery and despair, bizarre ones because we are bizarre, all of the above, or what? I wondered what I would have done had the blogosphere existed back when I was a struggling student and postdoc. But I had no real answer, of course, because for me, it is all just speculation.
Anyway, as I said, these e-mails have been very nice. They have cheered me up while I am in the final throes of my see-you-on-the-other-side ~3.5+ month vortex of travel, meetings, deadlines, commitments, and whatnot that started in late June and is still going on for a few more weeks.
But, as nice as these e-mails have been, I still don't really know how or why it helps to read this or other blogs. I am not (just) fishing for more compliments here. I would like to hear some specific examples -- not just related to this blog, but also to any and all academic blogs that you have read for awhile as you have progressed through various life/career stages.
Sure, I can imagine a few possibilities. For example, there's the how-to kind of post: if you are a student wondering what/whether/how to write to a professor you don't know, or if you are a professor wondering what/whether/how to write a letter of recommendation for someone you hate, I've given some examples (though not necessarily good ones) for dealing with those and other situations that many of us encounter from time to time in our academic lives. It can be useful to see examples of what to do, or not to do.
But what else? And again, I'm not specifically talking about the FSP blog. What is it like to "grow up" with the blogosphere as a source of information, mentoring, and news? Is it the whole cosmic experience of having all these people writing about Everything that is useful, or is there some specific aspect that is particularly helpful to you?
52 comments:
I've just transitioned from undergrad to grad student. While doing undergrad research, I got advice from you on how not to annoy my advisor and professors. While applying to grad school, I went back and read as many posts of yours as I could on applications and what you looked for in a grad student. And I love your posts on sexism - historical and present. The historical bits make me so glad I wasn't born 30 or 40 years ago - or longer. The present bits validate my own experiences.
Personally, reading blogs like yours has helped give this grad student (soon to be PhD!) a peek behind the curtain, if you will. What does my boss do in that office all day? How/what do bosses think about their students/data/labs? Interviewing/application dos and don't. What to expect from grad school/quals/rotations/post-docs. You all have also taught me all sorts of things about the funding world I would have had little exposure to otherwise.
It's a bit like the insider's guide to being a PI. :)
I'm relatively new to academia as a profession. I just got into the blogosphere in the past year or so as I researched and applied to PhD programs while finishing my MS at my undergraduate institution. For me, the advantage of reading blogs is getting an idea of how the academic machine works. I have a sense of what professors are thinking about students and also a sense of what professors are going through when they are working toward tenure or dealing with department politics, etc. Being aware of what kind of issues people on the internet report dealing with, I am able to be more aware and sensitive to undercurrents around me that I may otherwise have been oblivious to for a long while into grad school. Starting with open eyes, I am confident that I will manage to navigate around some issues that I might otherwise have blundered into. I'm sure it still won't be all smooth sailing, but I have resources to realize that whatever is bogging me down isn't unique to me. At my orientation, some other new students said that they had never heard of impostor syndrome before. Really? That is so common place to me. But I think that is really what blogs and twitter have done for me - socialized me to the academic climate, where things like impostor syndrome are well known. I think my potentially superior understanding (compared with other new grad students) also helps me to connect with professors and further along grad students during academic climate type conversations - it isn't just sage to novice type conversations but I bring something to the table.
Blogs offer camaraderie.
From my perspective as an undergraduate, your blog is helpful because it gives me insight into the "day-to-day" and longer term commitments and concerns of a professor (I don't know any professors well enough to ask the questions your blog addresses). I'm...also rather awkward in person, so knowing how to be considerate of a professor's time and concerns in advance is useful, and takes a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of interactions. (the internet: helping socially inept people since 1980)
Maybe not the feed-back you were looking for, but I thought I'd put my thoughts out there.
Of course the posts that detail specific situations and give advice can be useful if you find yourself in that situation, but for the most part I find the few blogs that I follow (you and Dr. Isis, mostly) helpful because they remind me that in general we are all going through the same things. The things that are horrible and amazing vary a bit based on career stage, but in general most of us struggle with the same things day to day. It is amazing how much easier it is to get through difficult time when you realize you aren't alone. I think in science though we often try to hide those things as much as possible, to pretend that we got to where we are on a completely linear path of awesomeness that we specifically chose. So it is nice to have a window into someone else's career, especially when that person is thoughtful and articulate.
I for one relied heavily on on some of your posts to get through the last bit of grad school and I can't tell you how many times FSP has come up in conversations with other students and faculty.
The "you are not alone" posts (where I realize that crazy ---in some cases, much CRAZIER!--- things happen to other people, too) are the most valuable ones for me.
One example: Google "survive PhD" and you will find thousands of web pages describing how to get through your PhD studies with minimal mental damage. Google "survive PhD defense" and you will find much less, indicating that the defense is not that bad, after all. Nice to know the night before your defense. Or google "survive post doc" and you will find rather positive information. Again, nice to know. I think it helps to see that other people get through academic life and stay (relatively) sane.
Since I started blogging around when I began my tt position, I can't comment on the the entire "growing up bloggy" experience, but since then I have found the community an excellent source of advice, support and discussion. There are many things that may not be easy to talk about within your department and the bloggosphere provides a venue for those topics. There have also been things that I had not thought about prior to reading a post and comments, which have later been useful to have considered.
I've started reading your blog in the last few months of my last postdoc. By reading your posts I get useful advice and mentorship.
By reading the comments of the readers I get all of the above and a sense of "I'm not alone". This is important, departments hire very few tenure track professors at the same time. Since the moment you're hired, chances are that you feel unique, not necessarily in a good way.
What keeps me comming back to your particular blog is that your posts are objective, regular, not opinionated, well-written, and of the right length.
You've really walked me through some dark times, FSP: THANK YOU!
I started reading blogs (this one in particular) after I got tenure. I love giving advice, and FSP already gives great advice so I don't feel like I need to blog. But I like commenting on FSP's posts when I feel I have something to add to the discussion. And, it is interesting to read about common problems PI's have, like how to advise grad students, and see other perspectives on addressing these problems (perspectives of FSP + commenters).
This is the only blog I read regularly.
I started reading while I was a post-doc, 4 years ago. Then I was research faculty and now I am starting a TT position.
Specifics of how this blog (including the discussions in the comments) has helped me:
1. Hearing about how you handled certain situations/decisions or how you wish you had handled them.
2. Seeing into the life of a successful academic and researcher who is also a reasonable and normal person.
3. Hearing about your long journey towards finally earning respect as an independent researcher. I am not alone.
4. Your mentoring experiences/advice are extremely helpful to me.
Thanks.
The single most helpful blog post (to me) you have ever written is the one about graphing your PhD student's mood as he reached the finish line. I *was* your PhD student, going through wild mood swings before my defense despite knowing that my research was good and I already had an awesome job lined up. Reading (and rereading) that post made me feel not quite so crazy. It also made me laugh, and it gave me a sense of perspective.
Now I'm a postdoc, soon to start my first faculty job, and I still read your blog every day for humor, quirkiness, and insight into the next stage of my career.
I read a number of blogs and as mentioned by others, one of the reasons I enjoy your blog is that it is not a rant. Often you describe your experiences (to which most of us nod our heads saying yes, that has happened to us too) and then you ask pertinent questions: how would someone handle this situation? what similar experiences have others had? By asking these questions, I find that those replying to your post often submit very informative advice and provide interesting viewpoints. So much better than a "like" button as a comment.
When I was deciding which schools to attend, I sent you an email asking about the various pros and cons of a particular situation. You made a post of it, and from what you and readers posted I was able to make a more informed decision. Additionally, a lot of other posts that were questions submitted by other readers have been quite helpful. Finally, your writing is from the point of view of an adviser and PI, helping me see things from my adviser's perspective, which in theory should help me not piss him/her off...
I am a postdoc in biomed and I feel that in some important ways my graduate work sheltered me from certain realities of academia, eg managing funding, overt sexism, abusive "mentors". I am not complaining about that. I got to focus on becoming a scientist in a great environment.
I started reading blogs (including yours, Isis, drugmonkey, prof-like, the two body problem, and more) during my first postdoc with an abusive mentor. It was an important escape from this person's megalomaniacal feifdom - science had a life outside those walls and I wasn't the only sane person left.
Now I am in a excellent lab at a better institution, I am grateful for the blogs on a new level, as heads-up on the details of being a faculty. I suppose that is why I tend to read prof blogs -I am trying to keep my eyes on the goal rather than get bogged down comparing myself to my blogging peers. All these great blogs have removed the fear of the unknown about faculty life, and shown it to be the domain of real, imperfect, but excellent people, so that I can imagine it as a possibility for myself, who is as real and imperfect as they come!
"Somehow, back then, we managed, of course, despite having to walk many miles in the snow without shoes and having to carry large rocks on our heads, just to get from our offices to the library"
Like you, I grew up in the "Paper Age". It was somewhat like the Stone Age in its primitive features. To read a a scientific paper, one walked to a place called the library, where large tomes made of paper were stored on miles of shelves.....
PS to the FSP My older daughter just entered college--yours will follow sooner than you think. They also grew up in the age of the FSP blog
Mark P
I started reading your blog in 2006, when I was a second year asst. prof. (I got tenure this year).
I don't read blogs, but came across yours when searching for resources for women in science, and I got hooked.
To me, your blog has been helpful in a couple of ways. First, just the fact that you (often) make me laugh with stories I relate to helps a lot with stress and moments when I don't feel too cheerful. Second, reading the comments has been very educational. Once in a while you have a 'denaialist' that believes that the underrepresentation of women in science is a non-issue, an reading these discussions has help me in my interactions with colleagues that I know feel the same (starting with my chair).
The comments by students have also helped me understand things my students do/say, so for me, it is not only what you write, but also the discussion your posts generate.
In addition, I have to confess that I even read some books you recommended, and I wouldn't mind if you recommend some movies too :-)
I started reading as a grad student, through my post doc, and now I'm in a real job. Your blog (and the few others I read) provided additional context to my experiences, gave me a broader perspective.
I can echo most of the above comments. As a tenure-track professor, I have found this blog in particularly useful as a "mentor" -- someone who chats with me daily about their honest experiences, in a way that my department colleagues do not feel free to share. It helps to not feel alone. I identify with FSP the most, and thus read your blog the most and routinely.
Do other readers do the following?: I often find myself in challenging situations and think, "What would FSP do about this, or would she tell me this has happened to others, or that is okay to feel that way?"
I've even referenced your postings and reader comments to my Chair to indicate that the situation I am describing is not unique to me, but common to women. This has been extremely useful for both of us. You (and your commenters) sort of virtually increase the number of women in my department!
I starred reading your blog 3 years ago. I started to read with my friends and we would discuss the blog of the day for hours. Often (if not most of the time) I disagree with you. I am no longer a grad student, but I still read your blog to confirm the reason I never want to go back to academics:)
I first starting reading blogs 8 years ago as a stay at home mom in a small southern town. I enjoyed them because at the time, I was new to the area and hadn't found anyone to connect with. I mostly read blogs about crafty moms, and they were comforting because of the reasons that others have stated, camaraderie, support, friendship.
So I'm not afraid to say, I have found blogs to be a direct replacement for actual human interaction.
Yes, I am aware of how ridiculous that sounds, but in my reality I don't have a "female science professor" for an actual friend. My closest friends now, in the physical world, work for the city, publishing companies, are librarians, or lawyers. My husband is an arborist and many of our family friends are tree climbers. All of these folks are awesome, and I love them, but I can't really talk with them about academia. It's sort of a foreign land to them. Even my closest friend, whose husband is a professor, expects me to sympathize with her when it comes to the crazy crap that she has to put up with as a result of his chosen profession. It can be a breath of fresh air at times to hear about someone's experience with things that I am also going through.
I also like to read vegan blogs for this very reason. I'm just not friends with any actual vegans (where I live they are few and far between). So blogs form a surrogate relationship. And they can serve as a vicarious one as well.
I, too, wonder what the effect as whole of academic blogs is on academia. Some people clearly benefit (emotionally, practically) from reading blogs, but can this effect on academia be seen somehow, or measured? I guess there are too many variables.. but it's interesting.
While I didn't start reading your blog until post-tenure, I don't think it's especially mysterious to understand what this blog contributes. This is a culture blog. It isn't just about giving advice, nor is it so much a personal soap box -- some of the most interesting material is in the discussion contributed by readers. This blog is about exploring the culture that female/science/professors occupy. And understanding the culture is especially helpful for newcomers, but also useful and fun for everybody. Culture is fascinating, and it's wonderful for us to step back and examine ourselves and laugh at ourselves and our quirky ways and values.
I started reading as a very depressed postdoc, and am now a happy if manically busy Associate Prof. juggling research group and family. I found the Blogosphere a massive source of support, and it helped to have the full range of opinions from 'I share your pain' (YoungFemaleScientist) to 'There is light at the end of the tunnel but people are weird' (FSP). In the total absence of any real-life female mentors the Blogosphere has been my support network. I guess I'll never get to thank you in person, but *thank you*.
I read blogs for all the reasons that have already mentioned. But one reason that I especially love your blog is that you are always seem so upbeat and unflappable. How did one of your colleagues describe you? As a duck? Calm and serene above the water, but frantically churning your little webbed feet below?
I am a very cynical and sometimes overly negative person, so this is exactly what I need to see sometimes. Just take it in stride, anonymous, take it in stride just like FSP.
I gain for the standard reasons - understanding academia better by insight into other's points of view that initially seem insane, getting amusement during dreary days, and gaining the cathartic chance to vent in comments.
You ask for specifics, however. The direct result of this blog is my employer losing 1-3% of my working effort. I just spotted your post on the non-responsive researcher yesterday. There goes another 15 minutes.
FSP, I began reading your blog daily in the first year of my postdoc and am now in the second year as a TT Asst Prof. Originally, I read because I found it a fascinating insight into the things that my advisor may be dealing with.
Recently, I've found that it has also been practically useful - basically, your blog has allowed me to think about situations before I am in then, which helps me to react much better when I experience them myself. (i.e., as a postdoc I'd read a blog entry where you wondered how to respond to some particularly strange oddball request from a student. Years later, as a PI, a student asked me the same thing, and some part of my brain said, "Wait! FSP had a post on this and the consensus was that the best response is to ___")
Also, as others have said: (a) I enjoy the fact that you honestly ponder subjects, but it isn't a 24/7 rant and (b) the sexism posts validate my own experiences while making me grateful that things are currently better than they were (as sarcozona poignantly said).
I started reading blogs when it became clear that my TT faculty position was going to dissolve (it did). In my dept, only the female assistant professors were laid off or asked to leave whether we had funding or not. The decisions were not related to tenure. The males were promoted or were offered "deals" that allowed them to stay. To this day, my former dept is now all male with the exception of 2 senior women. Reading these blogs helped me to cope with the fact that sexism is real and not just in my head. It's frustrating, but it's somehow comforting to know that I'm not the only one out there who has suffered from it. Beyond the sexism issue, I also find the blogs entertaining and useful for other realms of advice.
I'm a late-stage PhD student. From you (and your commenters), I've learned a lot about the inner workings of academia -- where I hope to end up for a career. I've learned about academic administration and financing. I've learned about the complexities of department culture. I've learned about the wide variety of interview experiences. I've learned about the sorts of sexist experiences women still encounter. I've learned about some of the differences among disciplines in approaching things academe. And while I think I've learned a good amount from you, the fact that you have a comment scroll at the end at least doubles the amount I've learned.
I also read blogs by people in my discipline and I appreciate hearing many different points of view on big questions in my field. One can learn a lot in one's lab group and in one's department, of course, but if you have an even more diverse group of people to listen to, it helps in developing ideas.
Often (if not most of the time) I disagree with you.
I think this comment must be from someone who hates cats, thinks that it would be fun to be an administrator, and loves filling out lots of random paperwork that has no meaning. I can't imagine what else it could mean.
Anyway, thanks for all the comments (including the one about disagreeing with most everything I write). Even though the academic blogosphere makes me feel old (but not wise), I too am glad for the sense of community and am very interested in the responses I get from readers.
I like how anon 12:16 phrases my philosophy: "There's a light at the end of the tunnel but people are weird". That sums it up well.
And yes, Anon 12:39, I was once compared to a duck, and it was supposed to be a compliment. I think it would have been nicer if my colleague had compared me to a swan, but ducks are nice, so I'm OK with duck.
FSP specific answer: your post a few days ago with the graph about PhD student attitude over time (with the dip right before defense time) was just perfect. My PhD student (my first!) is just about to defend and was deep in the bottom of that trench. Somehow seeing that lots of others feel that way at just that time really helped him. I had told him that but seeing it on your blog made it "real" and was a big help!
I'm the only female science professor at my institution. Reading your blogs help me feel part of a community, albeit a mostly anonymous one. Certainly, I have friends/colleagues at other institutions, and they're wonderful. They're not as funny as you, though. But maybe if I read their blogs I'd change my mind.
Your post charting the mood of your grad student a few years back was indeed a highlight for me -- I was working on finishing my PhD. It normalized my bizarre and unique experience (that wasn't at all bizarre and unique). I have lots of non-academic friend, and sometimes when talking with them I feel uniquely bizarre. It's nice to know otherwise (from the internet!).
In addition, I enjoy the fact that you're a physical sciences professor. I like the bio and chem people, but as a woman in a non-bio/chem field (math instead) I like to know that other non-bio/chem women exist.
I follow Dr. Isis and GMP as scientific counterbalances. You three seem like a great triad: you're calm and sensible, Dr. Isis is willing to get a little crazy, and GMP is a combination of (sometimes uncomfortably) straightforward and practical.
"Beate" is my word verification. "Beatific" -- defined as "imparting holy bliss." You remind me that there are women (and maybe someday I'd be one of them?) who are really satisfied doing research at a big university! Sometimes it is hard to remember.
I started reading this blog 2 years ago, when I was a sophomore in college. Now I'm a senior. I haven't gone through a lot of transitions myself, but what little I have done has been helped along tremendously by blogs and other media (including the Chronicle of Higher Education, in fact.) I think that reading science-related blogs has helped me to be as productive as possible in my undergraduate research, because it gave me a way to develop some "lab etiquette sense" without having to fail at everything first. (Not that I don't have excellent mentors in the lab who would prevent me from being too foolish, but I feel better with more info.) I might also think more critically about lab issues (experimental or interpersonal) differently since I've read so many stories about how other people deal with things. In that same vein, it helps me know when our lab is typical and when it isn't.
Science blogs (including this one) also helped me figure out what I want to do after college. I decided not to go to graduate school right away, and I think that's partially because science blogs make me take the idea graduate school quite seriously. I have also read enough posts about the struggles that people have in graduate school and after that it no longer seems like the default best choice for me. If I leave science, then I guess I'll have to look for an additional set of support blogs, but I bet they exist for pretty much any field these days.
I started reading your blog just after graduating from undergrad, while I was pondering grad school. I continued pondering for several years, and your blog helped me feel still connected to the community--it was one thing that made it easier for me when I finally decided to apply, and also helped me with the process. I've just started my first year and already feel so comfortable--reading about life on the other side definitely helps demystify some things!
I started reading your blog as a young female graduate student. My department was going through some very dysfunctional political spasms when I arrived, which I was totally unprepared for, and which affected me and other graduate students who started around the same time a lot more than they should have. Also, there are no tenured women in my department, and the pre-tenure women seem not to advance as quickly or be taken as seriously as the men. I was at a loss as to why that was so and got very frightened about my future. Reading your blog and the comments helped me to figure out to what extent my experience was "normal", to see the light at the end of the tunnel, not feel so alone, to figure out various rules of academic etiquette and ways of handling certain difficult situations. Also, I sometimes direct people to your blog when I encounter the attitude that "sexism doesn't exist / no longer exists in academia", although I am not sure whether this helps.
I've just transitioned from undergrad to being an M.S student (in the same lab, thankfully). The difference in workload, expectations etc...is HUGE and I've used this blog as a way to figure out how to approach professors, talk to my committee and keep myself cheerful after seeing lousy data. I'm applying to PhD programs soon, so I'm now going through your posts on applications and approaching professors
Basically, this blog also explains nuances of funding, that professors are actually human and shows me the light at the end of the (neverending) tunnel.
Blogs help me know what is possible - not just 'this person got a job and so will I', but I saw a post and a bunch of comments on Professor in Training's blog about how some schools allow you to pay for things like manuscript submissions from slush accounts, and some don't. That would've been helpful to me on the job market, since I would've known to ask about such things, but now it's helpful because I can bring it up to our administration and enact some change in the way we control our slush accounts.
I am one of those who graduated with my Ph.D. degree while reading your blog. I think among all the ones that I liked, at some point, you wrote that some students don't study but they should take it into their hands and be hardworking - or sth. like that. Anyway what ever you wrote, I thought I was not working hard enough and more so complaining. So then I started working harder. It actually makes me happy when I work.
Then, after I graduated, I became a postdoc. My adviser has never been one that is pushy of publishing papers. Sometimes it takes him forever to read, but overall, he is supportive. Just recently, you mentioned that if you are a postdoc (or grad student or academic etc.), you should try to publish. That you should put an effort and write, and your adviser should support you. Obviously this put me back to work when I was enjoying the life after PhD :) So I like it. Keep writing please.
Yes, and the funding world. I got a lot of great information on that too.
Does anyone else just read for the entertainment value, not to learn anything in particular?
As a F PhD student in the sciences, one of my favorite things about your blog is that it reminds me I'm not alone. Your blog shows me that other women have and are dealing with the same sexism issues I am, and they're having successful, happy careers. Also, you seem to have had some much odder experiences than I have had thus far, and you've thrived, so maybe I can, too.
I love the humor you bring to the blog, especially your bemused tone at the odd things that occur in daily academic life. I find it useful to read a professor's perspective on student-advisor relationships, teaching, hiring new faculty, and departmental politics.
I also like reading for the camaraderie. I am a TT assistant prof in a geoscience field, and routinely hear comments like: (in the mailroom, when talking to 1 of 2 other female faculty) - hey look! nearly all the women in our dept are in here! Joy. Same fellow refers to us all as 'ladies' (PhDs aside). So your mostly upbeat attitude helps cultivate thick skin and a general approach of letting it all roll off. Your philosophy seems to be: When considering whether to laugh or cry, laugh whenever possible and cry only as a last resort. Seems like a good rule to work by all in all (re: being a token - very token - female prof).
from anon 9/28/2011 01:06:00 PM: your blog has allowed me to think about situations before I am in then, which helps me to react much better when I experience them myself.
This is why I find so much value in your blog and others in the science culture blogosphere. I've learned how to be more self-aware, more informed, to have enough data at hand to use and pre-visualize by imagining myself using it in situations where previously I would have been flustered and upset.
These are classic ways to increase competence and confidence: I'm reading a lot about heliping children's emotional and critical thinking development by practicing visualization techniques almost exactly like this, having it in such a REAL and entertaining narrative helps it sink into my psyche better.
And I thank you too. You were the first blog I started to read, on the recommendation of one of my undergrad students when I was a postdoc. I'm now a 4th year asst prof (but technically 3rd year because of tenure clock baby stoppage), and I still get bolstering and mentoring from this internet land every day.
I started reading just as starting my post doc and wanted to get more insight from (mainly female) professors. why? Because there were none where I was at and some experiences might be more genderbound.
More often than not though, I have enjoyed reading your blog, as others academia, while trying to sort out where I wanted to go with my research/career.
It's been immensly good to read about student encounters, odd things that happen, and most of all sharing of these things since dpeneding on where I've been (old dep, older dep, present one) it hasn't always been that many people with whom I could share those thoughts with, or who shared with me.
I think the last thing is that it's been easier to get answers from "psudo" ppl online, who has a profile and knowledge, than from people I know face to face since there seems to be a lot of insecurity and prestige in the corridors... ^^
I started reading your blog as a baby grad student and have recently transitioned into a postdoc. There are several reasons I've kept up with it:
1. You're an FSP! In real life, I have had almost zero contact with FSPs. There were a couple in my old department, and one in my current department. I've never had a female PI/mentor or committee member. The gender imbalance and sexism situations were important for me to read about so that when they started happening to me, I wasn't thrown by them and had already thought through how I would respond to them.
2. Teaching! In real life, I have almost zero contact with professors who teach. At my two institutions, all of the faculty do research at least 95% of the time (and any teaching they get "stuck" doing is to graduate students). Your posts about teaching are important to me because I would love to teach, but have nearly no experience at it. My grad PI expressly banned his students from "wasting time" with teaching, TA-ing, or participating in any training related to it. I'm still too new at my postdoc to start looking for teaching opportunities, but I hope to take some on during my postdoctoral training. I love reading the posts that show us how you think about teaching, and present problems that teaching professors encounter.
Thank you, FSP!
I am working on finishing my phd, and I just had my first child. I have a lot of support, but I nevertheless get depressed by the competitiveness of the job market. I have real life examples of women successfully balancing academic life and family, but I am not close to any of these women and it often feels as though they are just absolute superheros, and what they have accomplished may be unattainable for a mere mortal. Your blog gives me some insight into the life and mind of such a person, and helps bring things down to mundane (or strange) reality, and hence seem possible.
The only thing I hate about your blog is that you don't filter that guy who says lots of bad words (and whose name is not even worth remembering). Please block him, I beg you.
I did a PhD and couple of years after that with almost no mentoring, so your blog has been great in helping me understand a lot about what I need to do to succeed, how to cope with various difficulties, that I am not alone in some of my struggles, etc.
I'm now a post-doc, I started reading your blog when I was still a doctoral student.
One thing that is extremely useful in "academic blogs" in general (and yours in particular) is that you can get knowledge of "unwritten rules" and inner workings of the academic world, stuff that you surely don't find in institutional websites.
This is particularly useful/interesting when you are confronted with a blog from another country: you can get an insider perspective of the inner working of academia which you have no chance to get yourself. Then it's nice to compare with your experiences, in your own home country.
Of course, every blogger has his/her own perspective on things so you receive a partial/subjective view but, hey, some partial knowledge is still better than no knowledge at all!!!
I wasn't able to comment when I first saw this post, but your blog has been very helpful to me so I wanted to add my comment. In grad school, it was hard for me to understand how academia really works. I never knew which parts were particular to my own advior/field, which were semi-universal, or which were just plain bizarre. So I think this blog helped give me some of that feeling of what professors really do, both on career-long and daily time scales.
Partly it was so helpful because I didn't have much non-technical mentoring in grad school. I have some more now, but your blog is still helping me. It's helpful for specific issues that you happen to write about and also to get a general feel for the academic/scientific process.
My favorite part is that you are very matter-of-fact, and constantly show your love of figuring things out. When something bad happens, you don't focus on blaming people who caused your problems, you just say something like: this happened to me, it was bizarre, I felt this way about it, then I did this, and it seemed to work. I don't understand how someone could argue with such statements, but then crazy people show up in the comments "I don't believe you! You didn't feel that way, I know how you should have felt. You're just a cat at a keyboard pretending to be a professor". I digress . . . my point is, you are very helpful but I only skim the comments now.
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