Should one point at potential issues or questions?

Should one applying to a permanent job abroad indicate in their research/teaching statement that moving abroad would not be a problem, family-wise?

I would say you shouldn't because it's got no place in a research/teaching statement; it would most probably come up at interview, but should it be mentioned in your research plan that you're alright with crossing an ocean? Why not add that you love the traditional food of that country while you're at it? And, any kind of people other than those with children might have reasons not to want to relocate (parents to care for, partners not willing/able to move,...).

Or should you, because if you're a mother, obviously people are going to question your actual intention to embark the rest of the family in a very big move. A friend received that advice recently. I guess the idea is that some troll in the hiring comittee could decide that a woman definitely will not want to move - but will adding that sentence really change such people's impression of an application? I doubt it. If anything they'll notice that you're behaving differently.

Surely, expatriating yourself is a big decision, and particularly so if you have children, but it's a light decision for very few people, so why put people on track of a possible issue? If they like your profile, they will want to interview you, and this is probably a much better way to assess one's deep intention and comitment.

Any suggestion?

So I have taken to give a help to this country's association of women in science. My main contribution is going to be to help with the website (gasp! hello I'm stepwisegirl and I know nothing abnout the internet apart from a silly blog. Yes this is how big we are...).

As my first task I am trying to update our list of links. There are three main categories included in the link page:

"Current": I don't quite know what that is; there is currently nothing there. The problem is that recently the site has lacked updating.

"General": mostly lists other associations of women in science/science fields. I suspect it's rather incomplete.

"History of women in science". The links here are old and not very attractive.

So I'm looking for suggestions! The geographic base for the links does not matter although I might bias my final selection towards Europe, because we're here.

You can either make them in the comments of email them to me (see side menu for address).Thanks a lot for your help!

So what is it about being a feminist?

I think I'm a feminist. I'm in a no way a specialist of the sociological details of it and I guess the only definition of it I can give is the one that I have for myself:
-I think women should be given equal opportunities;
-I think both women and men can aspire to combine career and private life, together;
-I think women should not be restricted by other people's preconception of what their role *should*be.

Recently, I became more involved in my country's association of women in science. I had a very interesting discussion yesterday with one of their early members (the association has been going for about 8 years). She was telling me how she wasn't initially aware of the whole "women in science" issue, but that being in the group, she learned about them, why it is important. Now, without being particularly vocal about it, she says she has learned to deal with certain situations and has become aware of a problem she thinks is real.

Monday I had dinner with a very very good friend of mine. She's a young professor and recently divorced with two small children. She's having a tough time with some people in her close family who expect to be more present for the children (she's doing just as well there as the average working mother - let alone on one's own). These people just won't recognize work she has to do to remain on top of things (although they do for her professor brother in law). As I was telling her she should really join the association, she asked me "but aren't feminist a bit against men?". This is definitely not something I can identify to; I tried to explain it to her. But obviously I failed at portraying a more positive aspect of being a feminist. I never really thought, actually, that I might need to explain to her.

Are some of us feminists without knowing it?

Is it not necessary to be a feminist to be aware/concerned of feminist-related issues? Can it be helpful to access such frame of thought?

Still have to work on my stuff I guess.

Let's be curious! (that's why we're here after all)

Yesterday I went to meet with potential new collaborators. We’re currently investigating various ideas of stuff we could do together, and we’re going to look for funding, and hopefully find somewhere to submit a nice proposal for an innovative interdisciplinary study.

One of the three persons present at the meeting is a lady of respectable age, just one year from retiring and she really gave me a boost. She’s all for trying things and being ambitious and daring. “Especially when one is young like you!”. This was so nice and refreshing to hear. This wasn’t about not being realistic: this was about actually having original ideas and a whish to test them. And about knowing that when you submit something the worst that can happen is to be turned down, which isn’t really serious.

She really gave a nice kick to current gloomy perspectives in terms of possible funding. And she’s probably the top specialist in this possibly somewhat obscure area of research (if not being top of the list of funding agencies of various sorts is a criterion for being obscure). She’s so driven, it’s brilliant! Really inspiring. One year from retirement and still curious! I hope I am like that. I bet curiosity and success are related, obscure field or not.

What a news day

Sherry Towers and her study on discrimination of women in physics is featured in Nature today and I'm sure it will make the headline in the blogosphere... as well as the comments on the feature. The only comment currently online will definitely open the debate...

Ah yes, sorry, I'm just emotionnaly biased, I'm a woman. Can't make an original contribution. What am I thinking?

And today on the guardian, some famous economist is questionning the law preventing employers to ask about family plans to candidates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/apr/23/worklifebalance.discriminationatwork

Ah sure, the situation for women is fine. No problem.

At least you don’t have children

Since as started as an assistant professor (lecturer), thing have been hectic, as they are for everyone. I spent three months abroad (leaving my husband at home one month after getting married) during autumn. Since I’m back, I have spent most of my time preparing lectures and figuring out the administration, grant writing, etc. You know the story. At the same time, Husband started a new job as well, as a free-lancer, not exactly stress free either.

At least I don’t have children.

That’s true. It allows me working silly hours with great flexibility. It allows me, when I don’t work, to take care of myself, to arse around. Which I couldn’t if I had children.

Actually, this state of the household is related to a decision we made to delay family plans. People say there is no right time for it, but maybe some times are worse than others. It seemed to us that the time we had initially thought was a good time to get family plans on the way maybe wasn’t the best considering how work turned out for both of us. We thought we couldn’t do this right for the first few years of these new jobs. Are we right? Are we wrong? Who can say?

What I know is that when I hear people say “at least you don’t have children”, well that’s not how it feels to my heart.

The theme for scientiae this month is how our career plans have evolved over the past few years… I never really had a precise career plan, but I seized opportunities to carry on doing what I realised I love doing: research. But the career has interfered with all other aspects of my life. I met Husband doing fieldwork (how’s that for a field collection!), so it’s of course not all bad or impedance. But currently the career is delaying personal life plans. That’s what I chose. But, just like everything else, it comes at a price. This dawned on me only a few weeks ago.

scientiae-carnival

A simple proxy for the expected sex ratio in science and engineering

I happen to work in a building from the early 1970s. It was designed to welcome two existing departments. It was fairly customised to match academics requirements. On my floor there was:
-one female toilet (with space for a potential second one, that was installed in 2001 or so);
-two male toilets and two urinals.

Recently, both sides have experienced a number of technical problems, which have reduced the infrastructure available. A colleague exasperated by the queues found out the legal minimum for these basic equipments. Here are the numbers:
-one toilet for 15 females;
-one toilet for 25 males and 1 urinal for 15 males.

A simple calculation therefore allows to conclude that, at the time of construction, the architect expected to have to provide bathrooms for
-less than 16 females (although more might turn up).
-between 44 and 50 males.

Now, let me elaborate on this. This week I am doing a training, which happens to take place in a building with lecture rooms essentially used by students in engineering. This building dates from a similar time. There are:
-3 toilets for females;
-about 8 toilets for males, and probably something like 4 or 6 urinals (I did not go and check!).

So if we apply to recommended numbers mentioned above, we get:
-less than 46 females;
-about 200 males.

Or in both cases, about 20% female.

How’s this for “built-in” discrimination?

Déjà vu

This is a story told so many times over and over... but I can't help but find it appalling... During a practical yesterday, a student asked a question and after the (female) TA showed the procedure on the computer, the student (very candidly) said "Oh so that's how to do this! So-and-so, the previous (male) TA never wanted to show me because it was useless since I am a girl!"

Of course, this was probably said on a "joking" tone... and, of course, questions from student can be tedious after several hours crammed in a computer room with unfocused students.

But.

I still find this:
-not funny at all
-inacceptable
-unhelpfull
-discouraging.

This is just one more anectode to the mount of stories showing that there is still a long way to go... if only to show these girls they can do it too...