tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post2504116377989103764..comments2024-03-14T04:53:49.513-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: Off TopicFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-53681857757889736342013-02-02T13:06:34.422-06:002013-02-02T13:06:34.422-06:00*GRAGH!!* YES!!
At current institution women in S...*GRAGH!!* YES!! <br />At current institution women in STEM organization is totally awesome with all sorts of career development, work-life balance (including families, care of parents, and various other things), bias-awareness, diversity, and networking events. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-5442454690028193792012-12-05T14:14:48.335-06:002012-12-05T14:14:48.335-06:00Decision to go for parenting as a hurtful career m...Decision to go for parenting as a hurtful career move is mostly bad because peers think it is bad. It may, or it may not be hurting. There's no rule actually.<br /><br />An anecdote (doesn't make data, hope it is eases choice if necessary):<br /><br />===========<br />(PhD student to her advisor:)<br />- Okay and last, I wanted you to know that I'm pregnant...<br />(Advisor, suddenly rising in anxiety:)<br />- ...Oh shit! What are you going to do?<br />(PhD student:)<br />- Me? Just like for the first one!<br />===========Laurenthttp://seedsaside.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-10342407368477348142012-11-22T11:15:29.058-06:002012-11-22T11:15:29.058-06:00I tend to avoid going to women's events in gen...I tend to avoid going to women's events in general. Women's workshops, Women in STEM mixers, you name it. I don't really want to put any energy into being a Woman Scientist because being a scientist is hard enough.<br /><br />One thing I have learned from successful people is "Fake It To Make It." I may wonder if my womanhood has any impact on my effectiveness as a researcher, but I have to act like it has no impact whatsoever and go full speed ahead with confidence.<br /><br />Also, I decided not to have children but that story is a lot more complicated than could fit into a comment box. I used to have a blog about it but I got rid of it in order to focus on doing good research rather than on telling and retelling my own dramatic backstory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-52159692553397980322012-11-02T07:11:19.837-05:002012-11-02T07:11:19.837-05:00Just found this:
"Wimminz in Academia sans B...Just found this:<br /><br />"Wimminz in Academia sans Babies" on The Hermitage Blog<br /><br />http://scientopia.org/blogs/thehermitage/tag/academicwomensansbabies/<br /><br />What a breath of fresh air!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-73192662338687229642012-10-31T02:16:29.495-05:002012-10-31T02:16:29.495-05:00The vast majority of my peers have always been men...The vast majority of my peers have always been men since my field is male dominated. And they have struggled just as hard as me and faced most of the same challenges. A few benefitted from white male privilege and old boys club privilege but most did not. There just isnt room for all the white male PhDs and postdocs to benefit from white male privilege. There arent enough jobs for all of them either. Thus I rarely felt marginalized as a woman since most of my peers are men and struggling equally fruitlessly in long term postdoctoral positions. Thus I don't really identify with this whole "women in science " thing as being something special except when it has come to blatant sexism by older men which is insulting and offensive but hasn't in my experience hindered me in concrete ways than most of my male peers who don't have to experience that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-38084303336444955922012-10-30T21:25:11.213-05:002012-10-30T21:25:11.213-05:00This is why I have only attended one Women In Scie...This is why I have only attended one Women In Science/Engineering type event in my life (and I'm now 10 years post-PhD) and long ago took my name off the email list. my husband and I have chosen not to have children, thus I apparently have nothing in common with all other Women in Science.<br /><br />Seriously, they should rename these events "Mothers in Science". Those who are not mothers (whether just not yet, or ever) need not bother applying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-13493382520233229052012-10-29T12:32:00.189-05:002012-10-29T12:32:00.189-05:00A long time ago I asked the WIS listserv organizer...A long time ago I asked the WIS listserv organizer in my STEM field if we could have a little less emphasis on babies and work-life balance, and allow discussion of lesbian issues and lesbian baiting (topics that were quickly suppressed back then). She immediately slammed these as topics of "no interest to women,"(!) and defended the former topic as interesting to "all women." I'd like to think they are a bit more balanced these days, but since I quit the list I wouldn't know...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-23182831783300832182012-10-24T18:13:34.377-05:002012-10-24T18:13:34.377-05:00I'm taking a class this semester about women i...I'm taking a class this semester about women in science. The articles we've read about gender bias in perceived competence, hiring, salaries, etc. have absolutely convinced me that there are much bigger and more widespread issues that women face than becoming parents. I agree with other commenters that it's important for WIS concerns to not be synonymous with "work-life balance." I can imagine it's alienating for women who don't want to have children, and the other problems (though perhaps less visible ones) are faced by more women, and not just at one point in their careers.Karinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16757213778638431428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-14188882640822047242012-10-24T17:47:13.507-05:002012-10-24T17:47:13.507-05:00Also to Anon @ 3:50pm, we do need to worry about ...Also to Anon @ 3:50pm, we do need to worry about not having enough women in cushy PhD jobs. Perhaps it sounds like women are whining about how they have it bad in a first world country, but from a practical point of view, it's bad for America not to have a gender (and diversity) balance in academia. In any type of job, a population of employees that does not reflect the population of the country means that they aren't drawing from the full population. If there's only ~35% of America that's a white male, we're ignoring talent in the other 65%. Scientists and engineers make most of the jobs for others in the population. Gender-balanced teams also do a better job...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-50345274377413245702012-10-22T17:21:37.987-05:002012-10-22T17:21:37.987-05:00Anon @ 3:50pm, did you purchase carbon offsets for...Anon @ 3:50pm, did you purchase carbon offsets for the straw women that you are burning?<br /><br />As to "alternative" careers, every grad student and postdoc (male, female, etc.) should be attending workshops on non-academic careers. Statistically, most of them will wind up in non-academic careers, and even the ones staying in academia should make that choice fully-informed of the other options. (They should also know something about the paths that their students are likely to follow.) However, I see why some of the readers and commenters here are uncomfortable with workshops pitching non-academic careers as a female-specific thing. There's a fine line between "Here's how to negotiate a position in a male-dominated industry" and "Getting the hell out of academia is a crucial thing for women, here's how to do it ASAP."Alexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-11943842132133954502012-10-22T15:50:19.439-05:002012-10-22T15:50:19.439-05:00Isnt it amazing how the feminist bloc is capable o...Isnt it amazing how the feminist bloc is capable of complaining about practically ANYTHING!!!<br /><br />First its gender imbalance in science.<br /><br />Then, lack of enough support for women in science.<br /><br />Then, too many womens events focussing on babies!<br /><br />Then, not enough men involved in work/life seminars. <br /><br />The last one that FSP throws in, is especially devious. Now its not enough for women to have special events dedicated to them, it is the responsibility of men to show up to these and take active interest!<br /><br />In other words, it is not enough to have spend institutional money and time on these events, even the personal freedom of male scientists is subject to feminist whims. Men must take interest and participate!!!<br /><br />What is next? Male scientists must change their research interests in favor of fields with higher representation of women? <br /><br />Meanwhile, when was the last time someone in America even talked about the problems men face? When was the last time in America some feminist spent some time crying over why women are not well represented among those who work in the sewers or die like dogs in some cave in Afghanistan? <br /><br />No, we gotta worry about why women are not well represented in cushy, elite PhD jobs! (yes...a postdoc <br />is cushy compared to checking for landmines by hand in the sands of Arabia!!) <br /><br /><br />Or how about problems of male scientists? When did we have an event about them? <br /><br />I forgot...male scientists have no problems. They <br />should just man up and forget about it all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-18536156953438728892012-10-22T13:30:51.209-05:002012-10-22T13:30:51.209-05:00To "Anonymous" above, I think you are ma...To "Anonymous" above, I think you are making a very good point. <br /><br />A lot of what is said in the post here and in the comments reminds me of Sheryl Sandburg's (COO of Facebook) caution to women: "Don't Leave Before You Leave." (http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/10/05/facebook-coo-sheryl-sandberg-unedited/). She was struck by how young women were already curtailing their ambitions as soon as they even started thinking about having a family, long before they were even pregnant much less had a baby or were on leave. I think this is a lot of what you are talking about an what we are seeing in science.<br /><br />I worry that these "work-life" balance session do push the panic button on young women in science and they start opting out while they are still in grad school. <br /><br />And I second the Cal WISE students impression of returning depressed or distraught from these sessions. I went to only one as a graduate student, but it struck horror into my heart. What I remember most was a professor saying she had the secret to work-life balance, it was to make sure you talked to your partner for 30 minutes a day, although they would not be consecutive (these minutes included text messages and one line emails). Fortunately, I actually come from an academic family and I called my mother that night in a panic asking if she really only had 30 non-consecutive minutes a day to communicate with my dad. She said that was not the case at all. She said she gave me an early bed time and that left them plenty of time to catch up on work and hangout with each other every night. But for the women at that meeting who did not have the same access to a second opinion, I can imagine them leaving with a full blown plan to leave science or start planning for a child-free life.<br /><br />So maybe the answer is to leave these matters to more one-on-one interactions, somehow institutionalizing this concern in this way may be backfiring.Dr_WISnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-64842391032721872042012-10-22T13:27:08.081-05:002012-10-22T13:27:08.081-05:00Thank you for letting me know! I apologize for the...Thank you for letting me know! I apologize for the double response :)<br /><br />Best,<br />RachaelRachaelhttp://rachaelhelschein.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-78115443840183591462012-10-22T12:17:37.484-05:002012-10-22T12:17:37.484-05:00I want to follow up on the comment by the WISE lea...I want to follow up on the comment by the WISE leader CA grad student that is somewhat relevant to this thread. She mentioned how many of her colleagues come back from these Women events feeling hopeless, in spite of the "you can do it" cheerleading that tends to go on. <br /><br />I really worry about that. <br /><br />There are a lot of good comments in this thread (including from WISE grad student) about the importance of mentoring, and the need for topics other than babies and opting out. So I don't have much to add about what we _should_ do. But I am starting to wonder if the babies-and-opt-out events needs to be added to the list of things we _should not_ do, or at least relegate them to the back seat behind discussion of more positive strategies for success. <br /><br />And I say, even as someone who has both had babies and opted out, that these were NOT things I wanted to talk about, with strangers or purely professional acquaintances, while I was trying to be successful. These were thinks I talked about with my best, best friend over a bottle of wine, in the privacy of my or her home. <br /><br />Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with an economist who is funded by the NIH to study diversity issues in the scientific training/pipeline and workforce. She said a lot of interesting things that would be the topic for another several posts, but one thing jumped out at me, especially since she said it in kind of an off-hand way.<br /><br />She talked about how she and her colleagues had organized many mentoring meetings for junior faculty (not just women or underrepresented groups). At one such meeting, someone went off on the usual "haviing babies is career suicide" and "you can be a success or be a mother, not both" story. She said that they decided to rethink these sessions when they noticed that a few women, over the years, had actually left the tenure track. In other words, the message of fear was so powerful that it had motivated more than one person to leave a tenure track position, which can not have been easy to come by. So, rather than go up for tenure, and risk not getting it, and making decisions about your life at that point, should it be required, these women just jumped off. <br /><br />There are many worse things in life than not getting tenure. I am now really wondering how much that particular fear keeps some people from even trying. That needs to be addressed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-39867426509078189372012-10-21T15:37:34.711-05:002012-10-21T15:37:34.711-05:00I think one should separate two types of challenge...I think one should separate two types of challenges. Type 1 revolves around situations that face women in academia because academia is a system designed by men for men (these include: subtle and not so subtle discrimination, the need to be often aggressive and behave "men-like" to succeed, the old-boys club, etc). Type 2 revolves around family situations and how they affect the academic life and they typically involve everybody (these include: two-body problems, babies, infertility, other health issues, ageing parents, etc). <br /><br />In my opinion, women workshops/programs/etc should focus on type 1 situations while there should be other programs for everybody that are focused on (at least some of the) type 2 situations. As long as we don't have programs to focus on type 2 situations, type 2 are going to hitchhike women programs, which is unfortunate.mathgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641041257943155537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-13416976864193495282012-10-21T12:46:41.767-05:002012-10-21T12:46:41.767-05:00I've always felt really uncomfortable about wo...I've always felt really uncomfortable about women-in-science groups. I don't really understand what they're for. Well, I mean I understand logically what they're supposed to be for, but I don't feel like they succeed very well in fostering networking and a "safe space" and all that.<br /><br />And I agree with many of the commenters that the best way to make things better for STEM moms is to make parenting an issue for men as well as women. I was really impressed with some grad student dads who worked hard along with grad student moms to create a grad student parents' network at my school. This group has spend the past couple years helping to change policy at the school to, yes, benefit moms (more nursing rooms!), but also dads (any parent must be excused from class if they need to stay home with a sick kid). If dads can stay home half the time to take care of sick kids, it means moms can get more work done. I see things starting to change, culturally. But it's going to be a long ride...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-36888662917194887602012-10-20T23:29:48.860-05:002012-10-20T23:29:48.860-05:00To the first anonymous poster: The point is that b...To the first anonymous poster: The point is that babies and work-life balance should <em>not</em> be issues that are unique to women scientists. They should be equally important to men. Perpetuating the idea that they are women's issues hurts women, because it absolves men of baby and home responsibilities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-19005686037131733042012-10-20T00:41:40.065-05:002012-10-20T00:41:40.065-05:00I just gave a colloquium today and met with the st...I just gave a colloquium today and met with the students afterwards. I explicitly told them that I was happy to talk about not just my research but also broader issues about being a scientist as well. I got a couple of questions in that vein.<br /><br />As the male faculty member on the women in engineering committee, I've also helped run a "bootcamp" for female grad students/postdocs hoping to get academic and other positions. "Other" was certainly an option, but I'm pretty sure we didn't try to push a "here's how to leave academia" agenda. <br /><br />In retrospect, though: we aimed it at reasonably senior students. But there's only so much you can do with a senior student. If you know what you have to do as a junior student, there's a lot more potential to do what you need to do.plamhttp://patricklam.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-55213811446395044152012-10-19T17:48:19.337-05:002012-10-19T17:48:19.337-05:00I recently attended a panel discussion hosted by a...I recently attended a panel discussion hosted by a women's group. The title was something like "The Future of XField in an Era of Limited Resources." The panelists were women in high leadership positions in the industry.<br /><br />The majority of the questions were totally unrelated to the future of XField! Instead, people kept asking about career paths, work-life balance, mentoring, etc.<br /><br />I have no problem with workshops discussing these topics, if it's clear that's the point of the discussion. But it was frustrating to see a panel discussion on an interesting topic totally hijacked. That would never have happened in a mixed group.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-32709412053601846972012-10-19T11:08:34.019-05:002012-10-19T11:08:34.019-05:00The best advice I ever got from a WIS panel was ve...The best advice I ever got from a WIS panel was very simple. Buy yourself a support network. Women in science are more highly paid than women in many other fields. Use that.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-8297280384245337092012-10-18T23:05:05.955-05:002012-10-18T23:05:05.955-05:00Rachael, I already replied to your email. My reply...Rachael, I already replied to your email. My reply was sent on Oct 12. Check your spam filter?Female Science Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-87147967046942177122012-10-18T22:56:36.132-05:002012-10-18T22:56:36.132-05:00My name is Rachael and I am currently writing an a...My name is Rachael and I am currently writing an article examining the use of social media and web 2.0 technologies (ie. blogging, meetup groups, forums, user-generated content sites) by female professionals in STEM. I have identified your blog as a valuable resource and perfect case study for this article. I am interested in understanding your perspective on the role of social media in the lives of women in STEM. Would you be interested in contributing by participating in an interview? My e-mail is rhelschein@gmail.com. Please let me know :) And thank you for your blog! If anyone else reading this is interested in contributing to the piece, please feel free to e-mail me as well. THANK YOU!Rachael Helscheinhttp://rachaelhelschein.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1004891459132836832012-10-18T20:47:26.385-05:002012-10-18T20:47:26.385-05:00This definitely does cut both ways --- though I th...This definitely does cut both ways --- though I think that women get the worst of it. My wife and I are both scientists and new parents, and trying to find some sort of balance between career, infant daughter, and relationship. Among of the things that make this harder are that:<br />a) the world likes to assume my wife is the primary parent, which means she doesn't get enough credit for the parenting work she does, and I get way too much, and<br />b) expectations in my department are calibrated around men who are single or who are secondary parents.<br /><br />I would <i>really</i> like to see more men getting pressure to spend more time being fathers. Yes, there's a biological aspect of birth and nursing that can't be underestimated, but it gets compounded rather than ameliorated by pushing women towards thinking about career/life compromises and <b>not</b> doing the same to men.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-67458203633290101372012-10-18T20:21:27.374-05:002012-10-18T20:21:27.374-05:00I agree with Anon a 11:23. There are many topics h...I agree with Anon a 11:23. There are many topics highly relevant to women that should not be strictly identified as "women's issues."<br /><br />From the post: "...but there's no substitute for talking with others -- sharing stories and experiences, getting and giving advice and support, laughing and expressing anxiety."<br /><br />But this is just it. I'm a woman on the STEM TT, I honestly wouldn't dare bring these issues up in a public way until I'm quite secure in my position, funding, research, and reputation. The culture around me is one of extreme confidence and extreme hours. I dare not break the mold, or reveal that I want to, though I find the atmosphere discouraging. And I honestly think I'm rather alone in not being motivated by the competitiveness and martyrdom (sorry, 'passion') that are allegedly required. Note: My work is quite good, but I think I relate to it differently than many others relate to theirs. I think this might be one of many dimensions in which significant gender differences exist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-89895367283274983442012-10-18T16:44:09.643-05:002012-10-18T16:44:09.643-05:00I do find it frustrating that so much of "wom...I do find it frustrating that so much of "women in science" issues seems to be focused on "moms in science". Yes of course it's a big issue but it certainly isn't the only one. Also I agree with other comments that this shouldn't be a 'women in science' issue it's people in science since many dads face similar issues (although the response to them may be very different). It's hard not think of Romney and that he felt that the issue was that having women in his cabinet meant letting them have more flexible schedules - not that it was an issue that they might get paid less than men or that he couldn't think of a single one on his own. Balancing science and motherhood seems like a huge challenge but we still face other challenges like getting hired, paid, and tenured fairly and I'd like to see that addressed more often in discussions about women in science. I really think that separate 'families in science' and 'women in science' forums/discussions would be helpful as they would insure that the full set of issues gets addressed and maybe encourages people to think about family issues as an issue for men and women.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com