1/18/13
New discussion started by Courtney Miller
This used to be me...until I experienced sexual harassment
Kate's previous Discussion post led me to this article. Like the author, geochemist Dr. Caroline Peacock, I used to be able to say I'd never experienced sexism (of any form) in academia and honestly believed that maybe male scientists are just better behaved and more interested in a woman's mind than her...other assets. I was quickly disavowed of that notion as a third year graduate student when I took a week-long course at one of those scientific institutions known for offering courses... So, my initial response to this article is that the author is naive. Or am I jaded? Thoughts?
1/9/12
New discussion started by Courtney Miller
This used to be me...until I experienced sexual harassment
Kate's previous Discussion post led me to this article. Like the author, geochemist Dr. Caroline Peacock, I used to be able to say I'd never experienced sexism (of any form) in academia and honestly believed that maybe male scientists are just better behaved and more interested in a woman's mind than her...other assets. I was quickly disavowed of that notion as a third year graduate student when I took a week-long course at one of those scientific institutions known for offering courses... So, my initial response to this article is that the author is naive. Or am I jaded? Thoughts?
1/9/12
New discussion started by Kate Creasey
Another potentially debatable topic
The science industry competes with better-paid careers elsewhere -...telegraph.co.uk
There may well be a lack of women at the top in science, but few are willing to sacrifice their family to break the glass ceiling when they can get better-paid jobs elsewhere, writes Dr Brooke Magnanti.
10/26/12
Hello ladies, I recently came across this post about a professor making a comment at SfN.
I'm sure many of you have heard about this already. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were. I just thought it was quite interesting because it is an issue that many women experience at a professional setting, particularly a conference. Thank you in advance for your thoughts!http://isisthescientist.com/2012/10/18/what-we-learn-when-professorly-d00ds-take-to-facebook/.
Best, Wanda
What We Learn When Professorly d00ds Take to Facebook…isisthescientist.com
Drugmonkey and Dr. Free-Ride have posts up right now about d00dly University of Chicago professor Dario Maestripieri who recently attended the Society for Neuroscience meeting and lamented on his F...
6 days ago
_______________________________________________________________________________
Question about job applications and references
Question about job applications and references
Started by Alicia Brantley
If you want to apply for a job but you don't necessarily want to leave your current job (i.e., keeping options open, let's just say), do you let your current employer know so you can use him/her for a reference? I should have prefaced this with "this may be a dumb question" perhaps...
If you want to apply for a job but you don't necessarily want to leave your current job (i.e., keeping options open, let's just say), do you let your current employer know so you can use him/her for a reference? I should have prefaced this with "this may be a dumb question" perhaps...
Question about statement of research interests
Started by Stephanie C. Licata
Well I am going to take advantage of our forum, as I need some advice from the fellow scientists out there. I am going to put myself on the job market just to see what exists for me and I am not sure where to begin with my statement of research interests. How detailed should this be? I don't want to back myself into a corner but I also don't want it to be hand-waving either. Any words of wisdom would be great. Thank you!
Comments:
Courtney A. Miller: I'll send you a copy of mine, so you'll at least have an example. Not saying it's the only way to go, but it seemed to have worked :)
Maria Dolores "Loly" Rubio: I'll do the same thing Steph. Where are you applying? Mine is more tailored to industry but I think anything helps. This is a good link: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/0000/the_commandments_of_cover_letter_creation/
It even tells you what to put in every paragraph.
Stephanie C. Licata: Thank you both so much. It is incredibly helpful to have a model! I will keep you posted about how the search goes. I suspect slow due to holidays, but we'll see. Thanks again!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PWN in your resume or CV
Started by Stephanie C. Licata
Hi, all. It was great to see some of the members at the annual SFN meeting this week. Everyone who attended was very positive about the exchange of ideas and support. One tidbit some of us discussed amongst ourselves was a reminder to everyone---scientists and non-scientists alike---to put PWN in the section of your resume or CV that lists your professional organizations. Even if you don't get the opportunity to talk about it with a potential employer, it will tell him/her that you are well-rounded and serious about your career.
In the past we have posted some discussion topics on our Linkedin group. Because there are several new members that either are not on Linkedin or have not been able to see them, we are re-posting them here:
Making do with what we have vs. asking for what we deserve
As women, we make do. We don't want to be too pushy or seem too aggressive. It is apparent when women scientists ask for funding, or even when any of us in our respective professions ask for a raise or a starting salary at a new job. This behavior appears valuable, but actually is a huge disservice!
The following link is to an article that was published by the Joint Committee on the Status of Women at HMS/HSDM. While it is about the gender differences that exist in funding for research, the underlying message is generalized easily to all women across all professions.
http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffocus%2Ehms%2Eharvard%2Eedu%2F2008%2F041808%2Fdisparities%2Eshtml&urlhash=Tpqs&_t=tracking_anet
I would like to hear your thoughts on this behavior and I think it would be helpful to brainstorm some ideas about how we can make it less uncomfortable to ask for what we need, deserve, and should have. For example, where do you focus your eyes when asking for something? What are the phrases that should be avoided? What tone of voice should we be using?
Together, let's stop making do!
November 28, 2008
3 comments
Courtney A. Miller • Thank you for posting this! I couldn't agree more that this is a particularly insidious issue impeding our progress.
Whenever I find myself or a friend getting stuck on something such as asking for a raise, I ask the simple question "What would a guy do in your exact same position?" Or I'll be even more direct and ask a guy how he would handle the situation. I've found the answer almost always reveals that we've rightfully earned it. Unfortunately, our natural tendency is to think it isn't "polite" or "nice" to ask for what we've earned. How crazy is that? And we're doing it to ourselves!
So there's my approach--"What would a man do?"--a twist, I suppose, on a popular question. (Do we need to make bracelets with this mantra to serve as a reminder??? haha!)
November 28, 2008
Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili • I agree that this is a huge problem. I find myself putting important conversations about salary and promotions on hold when I clearly believe that I deserve them. The truth is that I, like most of you, don’t want to come across as being aggressive or pushy! Also, I am going to admit it, I want everyone to like me :)
Here are some thoughts on the issue as I sit here and think about how I can change my own behavior. What would make it easier to ask for what we want is:
1. An unbiased view of one’s professional performance
I ask people in the lab to evaluate me from time to time. This is not required by my job but I always want to know how I am doing. For example, I ask them to rate my teaching style, management style, bench work, knowledge on subjects, etc. I find this to be very helpful in many ways. I take this as an opportunity to gauge my performance, to make changes and improve on what I am lacking. It also gives me strength and reassurance that I am doing well and that I deserve what I am going to ask for (if I get positive feedback that is). I think that making official evaluation forms would be very useful incase one needs the extra ammunition ☺
2. Fair self-assessment
You have to be fair and truthful to yourself in order to know what you truly deserve. If you are being honest with yourself and your fair assessment tells you that you are brilliant then there should be no guilt or bad feelings associated with what you are going to ask for, right? :)
Bottom line is that if we can honestly evaluate our performance in the work place then asking for what we deserve becomes very easy.
We also need to stop thinking that just because we may come across as being aggressive or pushy it doesn’t mean that we are not NICE, helpful, professional, team players, and all the other positive adjectives that you can attribute to a valuable member of the team. On that note, I am going to ask for a promotion… I am all fired up! :)
November 29, 2008
Christine Outram • On Ghazaleh's point - seeking an unbiased view of professional performance is a great idea - especially because it is so easy to assume that others understand us or our way of working. Or the opposite - to understand when we are being too hard on ourselves and need to lighten up a little because people see our strengths for what they are.
I am putting a reminder in my calender to do this once every few months... :)
December 7, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment