Long Burn

Dinner conversation

Every year I help organize a conference in the beginning of June. It takes some effort, hence the blogging gap. The meeting went really well this year.
Saturday night I was eating dinner. There happened to be a lot of women at the table including a Professor from a leading California University, and another man, a Danish salesman. The Professor had a lot of interesting things to say, like when they advertise a faculty position only 10% of the applicants are women, although over half of their students are female. She said that the women applicants are all good, but that a third of the male applicants can be thrown out right away. No chance at all. The women are better at self-selecting.
The salesman on my left nudged me with his elbow. 'Smart men know when to keep their mouths shut,' he said.
The Professor said how most women scientists are married to men who are scientists, whereas male scientists tend to have mates outside of science. Thus the famous 'two body problem': its nearly impossible to find one faculty position in your field, much less two, so the story goes. But the professor said this was a myth. She and her husband had no trouble finding jobs at the same university.
The salesman told me that what the women scientists should do was marry bricklayers. I poured some more wine into his glass.
The Professor said how all of the older men in her department had been really supportive when she was on maternity leave and had two children. They were old enough to have daughters her age, who perhaps had chosen not to go into science, who may also have been dealing with the problems of career and family. They also thought kids were cute. I really liked hearing this.
The salesman told me how easy it was to spot breast implants. True story!
The professor continued saying how the good men today spent time with their kids, did the dishes, and how maybe the older men in her department regretted that they had missed this stage in thier own children's lives.
The salesman told me how he would only clean his side of the windshield, not his wife's, so when it rained she couldn't see out. The dissonance was killing me.
So anyway, I can tell you that I was really glad to hear some positive news from the equality front. Its tough for anyone to have a career, but most likely more so if you are a woman with a family. And who wouldn't want to work in a balanced workplace?

posted by Matt_J @ 10:15 PM