Women’s contribution to science goes unheard

There shouldn't be symposium speaker line ups that look like this one from 1934, in 2013, but for many complicated reasons, there sill are.

The 9th Aircraft Engineering Research Conference, 1934. NASA

I posted for The Conversation UK on a recent article in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. In a nutshell we showed that high quality science led by female academics is under-represented in comparison to that of their male counterparts and that this may have to do with men accepting more speaking invitations than women.

Why is this the case? We don't know, but it is important to discuss it.
http://theconversation.com/womens-contribution-to-science-goes-unheard-15532. 

Also check out the excellent comment stream on Athene Donald's blog
http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/2013/06/24/all-male-invited-speakers-its-complicated/

The bigger picture is important: If this dearth of female voices in conferences harms women’s advancement within academia, then society as a whole is also losing some of its best scientists.

New couch and other musings

While looking at the calendar it occurred to me that it has been a long time since I have posted anything. The winter has been good to us with snow to play in and ice to skate on. The big news is that, after many years, we finally decided to replace our more than 30-year-old couch. That old couch held many memories and has been in my family since I was less than 5 years old, but the padding was literally pulverized and the upholstery was so old we couldn’t sew it together anymore, so we had to let it go.  We bought a lovely chocolate colored replacement (not easily stained) and we are enjoying it.

                                         Our new couch

Life remains just on the edge of “too busy”, but I think we are getting better at noticing when we fall off the edge and are correcting the problem before too much exhaustion or grumpiness sets in.  I am proud of this progress, and it is important when one is working a mentally challenging full-time job, sharing the organizing and cooking and unending cleaning involved in raising two kids, and still doing collaborative data analysis and writing in the evenings. All of these aspects of my life are important to me, and balancing it all has become an exercise in mindfulness.

As I work, especially at night, I ask myself “How are you feeling?” “Are you resorting to unhealthy habits to keep yourself awake (e.g. snacking, coffee), or are you cruising along with enough fuel in the energy tank?” I try my best to stop when there is not enough fuel in the tank.

Another trick I use is to pause frequently and take note of all the times when I am literally happily humming along in whatever I am doing, be it editing and writing at work, running around with the kids, or analyzing or writing something at home. It helps me to remember that most of the time I am very happy in my life.

The kids continue to grow. The “little one” officially moved into a big boy bed (no more baby) and he has retained the ability to use his puppy dog eyes to get me to do whatever he wants. The “big one” asks and answers questions, thinks things through aloud, and even attempts humor. Often his attempts at a joke are more amusing than the punch line, but I love that he is trying. He is also getting very good at recognizing sarcasm. I don’t want anyone to think that I shower my kids with sarcasm, but it is one of my main methods of humor. Therefore, it makes me proud when he says “Mommy that was sarcasm, right?” and I can answer, “You got it!”

Life rolls along, we grow a litter older every day, and a little wiser too I hope.

The joy and the irony of getting what you want

I have two wonderful children and a wonderful husband.  After years of living on different continents, I now live close to my parents, which makes it possible for them to get to know their grand kids. I have a full time job that is intellectually stimulating and keeps me learning something new every day. This job allows me to have my evenings and weekends free.  When I get home and sit with my kids on my lap, snuggling them and breathing them in – I am in heaven – and I know that I am a very lucky lady.

                               Photo: D. M. Buehler

But having what you want can mean having no time to enjoy what you have.

Like most working parents, having weekends “free” means using weekends to do the cleaning, the laundry, the groceries, the cooking for the week, the visits to the grandparents, and the squeezing in of swimming lessons. Weekends are more exhausting than weekdays! And then there are those “free” evenings. After racing home to spend time with the kids, feeding them, putting them to bed and doing a mountain of dishes, I sit down at 10 pm to try to write up my research. No one forces me to work in the evenings. It is not in my job description. But I feel a responsibility, to my colleagues, to my funders and to myself. What makes this ironic is that I recently made a career adjustment in part to escape an unspoken but unyielding pressure to work nights and weekends.

It would seem that I cannot escape myself.  

So I need to be mindful. When I am literally falling asleep in front of the computer late at night, when it takes weeks to kick a spring cold, when I am too busy rushing around to enjoy my truly wonderful life, then it is time to slow down.

It doesn’t take much: stopping to be mindful of the sun on my child’s hair, noticing the delicate beauty of the flowers in the courtyard where we live, taking an evening to do yoga and get immersed in a novel after the kids are asleep. 

Because no matter how you define what it is that you want – happiness comes from noticing and enjoying what you have.

Conferencing to reignite academic fire

Nothing reignites academic fire like seeing old friends and colleagues at a conference.  Arranging the trans-Atlantic trip was a logistic challenge - including the inevitable bout of stomach flu while preparing my talks - but it was worth it!  To make the trip as short as possible I gave two talks in two countries in 4 days.  Yet there was still time for a quick hike in The Peak District (near Hathersage) and tea with scones and clotted cream in Castleton. 

The Peak District near Hathersage.  Photo: D. M. Buehler.

There was also time for scotch and haggis in Strathpeffer and birding on the shores of Munlochy Bay. 

 

Rainbow in Strathpeffer.  Photo: D. M. Buehler.

Catching up with friends, hatching collaborative plans and trading ideas was wonderful.  But meeting with friends who are also juggling a scientific career and a family was like a drink in the desert. I really missed the solidarity of shared strategies for juggling kids and work.  At home my social circle (although wonderful) involves either academics without kids or parents who are not academics.

It was a change that helped me battle against the exhaustion that comes with having everything you want - kids, job, puzzles to solve - just having a bit too much at once.   And back home the kids were angels with hubby who was quite capable of handling them on his own.

Scientists and babies

A recent study (see here for a great summary) published by sociologists Elaine Howard Ecklund and Anne E. Lincoln raises a very important point – the pressure-filled road to tenure keeps both women and men from having as many children as they would like.  This affects their satisfaction with life, and pushes them to leave science as a career. 

Are our babies stressed when we are writing grants?  Is baby stressed when dad is writing a grant too?  It’s not just mom’s responsibility. Image: www.cafepress.com

For me the ground breaking part of this study is that it establishes that this is not a women’s issue and should not be treated as one.  This is a societal issue.  There are a plethora of possible solutions and each has pros and cons.  Because I am a scientist, I don’t have time to get into all of them here (though this may come in a later post).  The point here is that it should not be up to women to highlight or to solve the “problem” that child-bearing years clash with post-doctoral and tenure-track years.  Rather it is our responsibility as a society to face this biological reality and to accommodate it. 

Achieving work-home balance and life satisfaction is a complex and nuanced challenge.  Family friendly policies in academic institutions, such as on-site daycare and reasonable paternal leaves can surely help.  In Canada these already exist for staff and faculty, and are a great success.  But, as researchers spend more and more of their youthful years as post-docs and graduate students, shouldn’t these benefits be extended to these positions as well?  I am not a Pollyanna – I know this will need to be paid for, somehow - but shouldn’t it at least be on the table? 

Imagine this: Your graduate student or post-doc walks into your office and announces that the family is expecting a baby.  Instead of immediate angst about how this person will be supported financially: Will it come from your (already cash strapped) research budget?  Will you have to turn the family away with nothing?  Imagine saying: “Congratulations! Here is the number for XXX in HR, s/he will set you up with the forms you’ll need for your leave.  Now since we are both passionate about science let’s talk about how we can best accommodate both your family and our research while you welcome your new addition.”  Wouldn’t that be nice?