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11 months ago
08 February 2011
Curiosity didn’t kill the cat – diffidence did
I found this article on Canadian Girlpostdoc's blog and found it extremely informative - and a bit spine chilling. I think that Kathy Weston has done many up-and-coming scientists a great service for by sharing her experiences (especially woman who might also have confidence issues or be trying to balance work and small children). Although I must admit that balancing kids with a career is a challenge (and that job sharing would be wonderful!) I know many parents (including women) who are successful at both. The trouble is that, I also know many colleagues (mainly women) who admit to a lack of self-confidence and under-used abilities at self-promotion and networking. This lack of confidence and ability to toot ones own horn might be more damaging than I realized. Reading about how Kathy would hide out at conferences I had to cringe. I don’t hide out, but I have a tendency not to call attention to myself in group settings, even when I have something to say. For example, the last time I was at a conference I attended a stimulating workshop. Many times I came up with exciting thoughts and ideas, but was too shy to share them. More often than not others got over their shyness and voiced similar ideas. At the time I thought nothing was lost, since the ideas were discussed without me speaking up. However, my shyness meant that none of the people in that room, who did not already know me, learned anything about my work or my thoughts on the changing nature of the field. Next time I am in a similar situation I will try to remember Kathy’s warning and speak up!
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2 comments:
I agree with you that Kathy Weston's article is very interesting. I have
two comments.
1. Having a mentor is very important for a research scientist. I think a
major factor in my own inability to develop a research career was my
failure to have a mentor at any of the three universities or in the two
different fields I worked. I was too much of a loner to seek a mentor.
That was a big mistake.
2. I think Kathy's emphasis on winning the Nobel Prize as a main goal of
a research scientist is way overdone. Four of her nine paragraphs refer
to Nobelists. Most scientists have different, but no less motivating
goals. I knew well an outstanding scientist who at the end of his career
did win the Nobel Prize. However, I don't believe that was his
motivation. Rather his motivation was his science--making discoveries,
understanding the physical world, and working with other outstanding
scientists. But it is true that his single-minded devotion to science made life
difficult for his wife and children.
Kathy seems to have had an additional problem. Having tenure didn't
ensure life-long employment as a professor at her institution. But her
unhappiness with her research career seems to have pre-dated the looming
redundancy.
P
Of course she had it coming...What well-balanced person wouldn't want "normal life to seep" in (or flood in, for that matter). Marrying, learning to ride horses and play the cello, caring for aging parents and other loved ones, having children and realizing they were far more interesting than work (well, I should hope so!): all the signs of a fulfilling life! Well done :)
K
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