tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post1623591859593125747..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: TMI TalksFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-60857972630580854642010-03-22T09:28:57.375-05:002010-03-22T09:28:57.375-05:00I love this topic, i just want to say thank you fo...I love this topic, i just want to say thank you for sharing your experience..<br />I think it is inappropriate and unprofessional to share personal information in a technical talk.Haadyhttp://www.hadollar.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-44581456780562462142009-12-10T14:11:45.339-06:002009-12-10T14:11:45.339-06:00Your post succintly describes one of the things th...Your post succintly describes one of the things that bugs me about Sarah Palin.LizGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-70175651704794174372009-12-10T12:21:39.579-06:002009-12-10T12:21:39.579-06:00Completely inappropriate. Put this in the context ...Completely inappropriate. Put this in the context of a presentation in a different field, like business. Do you think someone making a business pitch has unnecessary slides of their kids? Tells everyone they are pregnant? It has to be short and to the point. Personal information can be reserved for smaller discussions over lunch or during social times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-87099083792070502612009-12-09T10:05:28.217-06:002009-12-09T10:05:28.217-06:00Are these the same people whom if you go to their ...Are these the same people whom if you go to their lab web page, they have they're own face all over the front page from trips to glaciers etc. This should all be in the "photos" or "other interests" section. I work with several PI's who have 90% of the photos on their web-pages of themselves, not the students. At some point, PI's need to grow up, put the attention on those doing the real work. (And often those writing the proposals that fund the research).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-30075811797783842422009-12-08T19:35:50.250-06:002009-12-08T19:35:50.250-06:00my standard is, if you wouldn't share such inf...my standard is, if you wouldn't share such information/stories/pictures with someone if you saw them at the water cooler or passed them on the street, then you have no business shoving it at them in a technical talk. I think it's pretty arrogant to assume that the room full of strangers or acquaintances is interested to see pictures of your baby or wedding or that they even would care.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-63280753877368781852009-12-08T16:22:36.009-06:002009-12-08T16:22:36.009-06:00I work in child development and it is fairly commo...I work in child development and it is fairly common for speakers to insert pictures of their own children, or of children who participated (with permission from parents). If the former they are usually presented as "my favourite research subjects" or for a brand new baby "we'll be studying this one next year".<br /><br />I also study children in developing countries and occasionally people will present beautiful views from their latest fieldwork trip, or photogenic "ethnic" children. <br /><br />I have never done any of these things (well, I have no children, but I have loads of pictures of my favourite photogenic participants - I keep these for my office walls). But these might be *mildly* appropriate in my field.<br /><br />Just occasionally they will close with a holiday snap from an unrelated destination (usually these are the non-fieldwork people). If it's just one slide, right at the end, it isn't too bad.Dr Spousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-47818640057691997912009-12-08T14:12:44.477-06:002009-12-08T14:12:44.477-06:00The most egregious example of this I ever witnesse...The most egregious example of this I ever witnessed was committed by an MSP. <br /><br />The scene: In-house research retreat. <br />The talk: "Trainee of the year" research award <br />The speaker: Out of town on his honeymoon.<br /><br />So his advisor steps up to the podium. And shows a lovely picture taken at the awardee's wedding. Nice. We assume the talk will follow. No. The entire 15 minute presentation consisted of photos from the wedding. All of which were clearly aimed at showing off what a catch this guy made and how much money they spent on a villa in France. It was quite disgusting, really.Dr. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10554181162530375275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-19425374295215956732009-12-08T12:01:34.323-06:002009-12-08T12:01:34.323-06:00As someone with no kids who is not really interest...As someone with no kids who is not really interested in kids, I'd definitely be offended if it went past one or two slides. And yes, as "serious" women in fields you definitely become self conscious of how your colleagues are perceived. In many of my classes, there are a few clueless students who will ask questions that literally the professor just stated the answer to. Much of the class sighs audibly when this occurs. I am much more bothered when the offender is a woman because I am concerned my fellow male students will assume this typical behavior of "all women" in the field. Versus when you are a man your behavior is usually not applied to your whole gender in individual situations.FrauTechhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03466617977964303158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-6257311059183792992009-12-08T00:09:13.286-06:002009-12-08T00:09:13.286-06:00I guess I'd have to see the talk in question, ...I guess I'd have to see the talk in question, but I tend to think the human version is better than the robotic version of science. But I'll write something slightly longer on my blog rather than here.Ms.PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06542602867472447035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-48081872143120170082009-12-07T22:40:10.631-06:002009-12-07T22:40:10.631-06:00I'm not sure I've ever heard a professor g...I'm not sure I've ever heard a professor go on and on about his/her personal life and family, but one thing I have come across constantly is science professors' unprofessional attitude with respect to sharing personal opinions on politics or religion. In professional settings, these topics are generally considered taboo, yet some professors seem to find it both necessary and appropriate to go on and on about their political beliefs.<br /><br />As an undergraduate, I worked on a research project with two professors; pretty much everyday the group ate lunch together, sometimes joined by other professors, since it was a small department. The topic of conversation at just about every lunch was politics or religion, and one professor in particular was none to hesitant to share his opinions on a vast number of controversial topics. Even though I was quite happy with the research project otherwise, my strongest memory of that project was how uncomfortable I felt listening to this professor at lunch every day, since we held quite different viewpoints on just about every topic he felt like postulating on. In another case, when looking for a graduate advisor, I spoke with a professor I was interested in working for, and in that thirty minute conversation she managed to make reference to her personal beliefs with regards religion. In another case, members of the group I was working in at the time took a potential post-doctoral candidate out to dinner, and one of the other post-docs decided politics was an appropriate topic of conversation, so I spent the rest of the dinner trying to tune him out.<br /><br />It might be relevant in very specific situations to discuss politics in reference to scientific policy, for example, but in 99.95% of the cases, the discussion of politics in a talk, in front of a classroom, or to your graduate/undergraduate students is completely irrelevant and uncalled for IMHO.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-5330056516310029452009-12-07T20:16:12.180-06:002009-12-07T20:16:12.180-06:00Here's what I think the problem is: very few p...Here's what I think the problem is: very few people know how to give a good talk. The solution is not to pepper your talk with family photos and personal anecdotes, the solution is to learn how to present your content in a way that is not only tolerable but pleasant and engaging. Poor presentations of data are equally distributed among scientists and other thinkers.Prof Panglossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-68539628403316178252009-12-07T18:37:22.815-06:002009-12-07T18:37:22.815-06:00Desktop photo is one thing, but slides in the talk...Desktop photo is one thing, but slides in the talk with kiddo pictures is going too far. And why do people feel the need to do this? I've never seen it, but from the comments here it sounds like it's getting more popular and common, which suggests a peer pressure to show off ones brood outside the shackles of scientific life.American in Oxbridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-87421240321964117292009-12-07T18:22:05.403-06:002009-12-07T18:22:05.403-06:00I once attended a talk by a new professor who prou...I once attended a talk by a new professor who proudly put up a slide of his baby at the end of the talk. Unfortunately the baby was really ugly, I mean, REALLY. some of the audience members gasped, and not in a good way. The person sitting behind me said to his colleague/friend beside him "oh my gosh what's up with that??." And then he and his friend started bantering to each other making fun of the kid's features. And I have to admit I found their banter funny and came up with some jokes of my own but which I kept to myself!<br /><br />So, to all you people out there who do or are thinking of forcing your technical audience to unexpectedly look at pictures of your kids: you should realize that it might not have the effect you were hoping for!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-23924392700683089142009-12-07T17:36:46.786-06:002009-12-07T17:36:46.786-06:00I recently heard a talk by a MSP, who was Hispanic...I recently heard a talk by a MSP, who was Hispanic. He was traveling around giving talks as part of a speaker award. He said he wanted, as part of these talks, to also give his own story of how he got interested in the field and his own path. <br /><br />It was given at the beginning of the talk, was quite interesting and relevant to the research (he was a seismologist and grew up in LA with earthquakes happening). <br /><br />It struck me that we almost never hear MSP's talking about their path to professorhood - how they got interested. It was a nice change from the usual talk.Harvestarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00317051491563130105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-39646489179405045132009-12-07T17:09:40.512-06:002009-12-07T17:09:40.512-06:00I hate it when speakers put pictures of their kids...I hate it when speakers put pictures of their kids in their technical talks. One speaker even put a picture of her recent wedding, saying "besides my research progress, here is my other life progress." Geez. No one cares, OK?? Why do you think anyone cares?? <br /><br />It is bizarre. You would not go up to a complete stranger on the street or in your office hallway and say "wanna see photos of my kids?" I think everyone agrees that's kinda creepy. Yet, speakers do practically the same thing when they put their kid pictures in their technical talks. The difference is that they are imposing on not just ONE stranger on the street but 10,20 or 100 depending on the size of the audience. Secondly, it is not a question "do you WANT to see my kid's pictures?" instead it is a demand - "you WILL see my kid's pictures whether you want to or not, here they are, look at them." I think it is the latter that is most irritating, the presumption that anyone else cares about seeing your kid.<br /><br />In my technical talks I don't put pictures of my extreme rock climbing trips or other extra-curricular activities (some of which have led to some spectacular "OMG!" pictures that have made it into outdoor sports magazines and websites, and which I think are a helluva lot more interesting to look at than someone's toddler). that would just be plain weird and I would feel embarrassed to display such lack of professional judgment even though I'm proud of my extra-curricular achievements. It is just not relevant and thus inappropriate so I don't understand why people have no qualms about inserting pictures of their family into their talks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-82678192296085562962009-12-07T16:07:05.636-06:002009-12-07T16:07:05.636-06:00OK, CPP, I think you're out to lunch on this o...OK, CPP, I think you're out to lunch on this one. I think the more including kids is "normalized" the better. Women professors are seen as exotic and perhaps showing kid pics reinforces that, but rather than "forcing" them to "normalize" by drawing a thick line between fam and work, perhaps it would be better for we normal d00ds to also include family life.PalMDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14237425909802958448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-81980104883607677192009-12-07T16:00:26.707-06:002009-12-07T16:00:26.707-06:00Sounds as though it was too *much* info that was t...Sounds as though it was too *much* info that was the problem. I don't have any problem with a couple of indicators of family status as long as it is not distracting. I disagree with PP that the solution is for nobody to mention family status, ever. Yes, men often get unwarranted cookies even when mentioning their parent-ness but so what? If it helps to balance out the *percept* that science men are not really parenting parents and science women are, so much the better. because there will be times where a science woman cannot possibly hide that she is a parent within a professional context. More so than for men.Drugmonkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05414353815962084981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-68777727606052551492009-12-07T15:37:54.806-06:002009-12-07T15:37:54.806-06:00@Anon 2:01 PM – If FSP is really talking about you...@Anon 2:01 PM – If FSP is really talking about your advisor, it sounds like she did more than just add a “personal touch.” The thing is, as one of the younger women that your accomplished advisor would be trying to encourage, I’d find that performance sad. I’d be sitting in the audience imagining what awful things this woman must have gone through to make her so screwed up about personal-professional life balance. I appreciate the sentiment, but there are much better ways to serve as a role model – beginning with modeling behavior that one’s younger colleagues should actually emulate.Hopenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-54312250651095198162009-12-07T14:24:26.949-06:002009-12-07T14:24:26.949-06:00That particular example does sound like TMI, and a...That particular example does sound like TMI, and a bit odd, but I don't have a problem with the odd personal aside.butterflywingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16873407072604417252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-57481568556250452722009-12-07T14:01:12.223-06:002009-12-07T14:01:12.223-06:00FSP,
I think you are talking about my doctoral adv...FSP,<br />I think you are talking about my doctoral advisor here. She always added a personal touch to her talks where she has slides about her family. But she can do it because she is in the National Academy and comes from a decade when she was one of FEW women physicists/engineers. She wants to add these personal notes to her talk to encourage women students/young women faculty to think that there is a possibility to have a family life and an academic career. I think she serves as a role model to young women faculty like myself.<br /><br />I disagree with comments here that it is inappropriate. I think it is perfectly appropriate and perhaps needed (and in my advisor's case she has earned the right to tell everyone how she became who she became).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-51946978172190728022009-12-07T12:11:44.847-06:002009-12-07T12:11:44.847-06:00I'm a biologist, so talks I go to often featur...I'm a biologist, so talks I go to often feature "my favorite human" slides, where the offspring of the speaker is the human in a phylogeny or similar, in contrast with other model species. I don't have a problem with this, and I've seen it by both young moms and dads. If the speaker has no offspring usually a favorite famous person is used instead.<br /><br />Sounds like your speaker was way more extreme though. She seemed to be pretty self-conscious about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-12043740107318650962009-12-07T11:27:10.240-06:002009-12-07T11:27:10.240-06:00I can understand throwing in a personal anecdote h...I can understand throwing in a personal anecdote here and there, as long as it's casual and relevant (somehow). I think having pictures (and it sounds like a lot of them) is way over the line.<br /><br />I agree with you - when I go to hear a research talk I want to hear about their research. In that case, I would almost think that she's trying to make excuses for why her data isn't as good as it might be.<br /><br />For the record, I'm in my first post-doc, so I don't think it's a generational thing.Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695509619557410413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-80132617703165490022009-12-07T11:14:44.804-06:002009-12-07T11:14:44.804-06:00In moderation, asides about kids are not so differ...In moderation, asides about kids are not so different from other asides in talks. Surely you've been in a talk where somebody notices an artifact in the data that resembles something from pop culture or sci fi or whatever, and then has a humorous slide noting this. Or they extrapolate a calculation to a ridiculous extreme, just to see what the limit is, observe a resemblance to something in sci-fi, and the next slide is Spock saying "That is illogical." Or something like that.<br /><br />Having one of these in a seminar talk, if tastefully done, lightens it up a bit for an audience that may be sitting in a dark room after a heavy lunch. Obviously, though, having more than one or two, or doing them tastelessly or going on about them, will be a problem.<br /><br />So if somebody decides to do his/her humorous aside with Sesame Street or Ice Age or Dora The Explorer or whatever and says "As the parent of a 3 year-old, that's my main TV viewing these days," I don't care.<br /><br />If it goes overboard, sure, there's a problem. And I respect the decisions of those who prefer to just not go there at all. But surely there should be room for those who aren't quite as strict, as long as they are moderate and tasteful.<br /><br />And getting upset over desktop photos? People seriously get upset if they see a kid in a desktop photo? Really? If you get upset over what you see while the speaker is fiddling with the buttons during setup, then you should really just chill and spend those last 30 seconds of pre-seminar time in the traditional manner: Gossiping and grabbing free cookies.<br /><br />Again, I get why some people prefer not to show these things, but I don't get why some people freak out if they see these things (in moderation).Alexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-68117396742235245782009-12-07T11:12:15.580-06:002009-12-07T11:12:15.580-06:00I like to see pictures of people's kids as scr...I like to see pictures of people's kids as screensavers, and don't mind a minute or two of personal anecdotes in a 45-minute talk, even if irrelevant to the science (most session chairs waste far more time telling me every lab the speaker has ever stepped into, dropping names of people I've never heard of and who aren't there).<br /><br />I don't think I've ever seen one of the "too much information" talks. Generally the talks I go to are so crammed with information that there isn't time for that sort of aside.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14528751349030084532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-51705013546706805152009-12-07T11:00:48.183-06:002009-12-07T11:00:48.183-06:00Surely TMI. If I attend a conference I want to lea...Surely TMI. If I attend a conference I want to learn something, usually there are parallel sessions and time is sparse. Don't waste is with pointless stuff. <br />Although, on a small, familiar conference, where everybody knows everybody well and with no parallel sessions it may be ok to show some personal information, but I prefer to have that at the end of the talk (if the presenter didn't go into overtime). I had once private information in a talk on which I was first author, and that was when it was given by a student of me. He added a photo of my son on the last slide, because I gave birth the night before and hence couldn't give the talk myself. But, then again, that was a very private meeting where everybody knew me. So it was charming and people actually wanted to know why I wasn't there. And, it wasn't my decision.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com