July 22, 2008
Category: women in society
Finally, a thoughtful article about women and work in the NYT. This quote I found particularly important:
"When we saw women starting to drop out in the early part of this decade, we thought it was the motherhood movement, women staying home to raise their kids," Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, which did the Congressional study, said in an interview. "We did not think it was the economy, but when we looked into it, we realized that it was."
Food for thought: how does this manifest itself in science and engineering jobs particularly? Or is it all as
Tierney said (shudder)?
Posted by Alice at 1:50 PM • 4 Comments
Category: conference chatter
As you know, I have just returned from a 3-week visit to Europe, where a main event was attending the Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES) in Davos, Switzerland between July 8-10. Before I forget the experience entirely, let me share some highlights.
Read on »
Posted by Alice at 7:52 AM • 3 Comments
July 21, 2008
Category: Alice shares...
W00T! Although for a lower price than we had hoped, oh well. But a really good closing date, woo hoo! Now on to the inspection drama... apparently we are to anticipate 4 inspectors: radon, termite, general paid for by the buyers, and the bank's inspector. Keep your fingers crossed...
Posted by Alice at 8:47 PM • 4 Comments
Category: Pawley pix • travel
I'm back in the Midwest, and after a debilitating migraine yesterday, back in West Lafayette today. I'm digging out of my email and trying to catch up on student work and mail and the new and interesting weed-based disaster area that is my backyard, and rather wishing I was instead back here at The Orchard in Grantchester CAMBS, waiting for divine inspiration like Rupert Brooke or Virginia Woolf. Without the early deaths, of course.
I should have something new for you to read tomorrow, though. For now, back to it...
Posted by Alice at 6:08 PM • 0 Comments
July 18, 2008
Category: ScienceWoman says... • conference chatter • motherhood • what did they say about "balance," again?
So I attended a pedagogy workshop this week and I brought Minnow along. For those not keeping track, she's now almost 18 months old and still going strong with the nursing (>= 2 x/day, >=2x/night). When I signed up for the workshop, I'd intended her to stay with my mom in Midwest, but in the end she came with me instead. The workshop organizers have been fantastically accommodating, and I want to give a shout-out to the other participants who have been super-friendly and helpful. (Especially, Kim. Thanks!)
But I still feel like a trouble maker. There are plenty of other moms here. Some with kids half of Minnow's age. And none of those babies are here. I'm the only one who had to miss a plenary session because of a talkative toddler. And I felt like I was making excuses for her presence even with the other moms (sick caregiver, food intolerances, etc.) Why do I feel like I have to justify her presence? Why do *I* feel like the bad mommy for dragging her along *and* the bad professional for having here here?
On the meta-level:
Is there some way that even small workshops can provide childcare? What happens to single moms? How are the left-behind babies and daddies coping? What sort of flexibility and accommodation are other couples making in order to facilitate the child-free attendance of the other mommies here? How do we make the whole business of professional travel and scientific meetings more family-friendly?
Posted by ScienceWoman at 8:03 AM • 17 Comments
July 17, 2008
Category: in the news • women in science
John Tierney had a piece in Tuesday's New York Times on "A new frontier for Title IX: Science." Anyone who's read anything by Tierney before knows to expect anti-woman idiocy, but the Times dignified his piece by putting it not in the opinion section, but in the science section. And that poor editorial decision makes the piece worth responding too.
If you haven't yet read the article, here's how Tierney starts out:
The members of Congress and women's groups who have pushed for science to be "Title Nined" say there is evidence that women face discrimination in certain sciences, but the quality of that evidence is disputed. Critics say there is far better research showing that on average, women's interest in some fields isn't the same as men's.
Tierney's phrase "critics say..." translates to "I'm going to ignore decades of research on bias and barriers and focus on the few studies that favor my personal opinion."
Read on »
Posted by ScienceWoman at 9:36 AM • 11 Comments
Category: Scientiae
One of the risks of traveling (two more days left! :-( ) is that you miss things like Scientiae. Podblack has posted the July Scientiae here on "a voice in the crowd" and Cherish has posted the call for posts for August's Scientiae here on transitions. Go read Podblack's post, and submit something fabulous for Cherish's carnival. And thanks to both for hosting!
Posted by Alice at 1:58 AM • 1 Comments
July 15, 2008
Category: ScienceWoman says... • teaching
This week I'm attending a workshop on pedagogy and I'm hearing lots of interesting ideas from people teaching really exciting and innovative courses. They are incorporating service learning, multi-week projects, location-centric courses, and intro courses for particular audiences (say, business majors). They are doing cool case studies, fun field activities, integrating current events, and designing real world applications. It's inspiring, and honestly, a little overwhelming. (And this is only the second day!)
Right now I'm contemplating revising my intro course, but I'm not sure when I'll be teaching it again, and I'm thinking about how I want to structure my new upper-level prep. Since I've taught the intro course before, most of my concrete ideas and questions are relevant to that class.
Read on »
Posted by ScienceWoman at 2:22 PM • 6 Comments
July 14, 2008
Category: environment • travel
While some dismiss the Midwest as "flyover states" and locals decry a brain drain that admittedly I am part of, non-human species seem to be arriving in the area in droves. Here's a pictorial tour of some of the exotic species that have recently settled in the area.
The yellow flower in the middle ground of the pictures is wild parsnip - a really nasty invasive exotic. It also causes a nasty "burn" when it comes in contact with your skin and leaves a brown mark that can last for years. (Renewable energy is quite a bit deal in this part of the Midwest - there are a lot of wind farms being developed and it's not entirely uncommon to see solar panels on houses and garages.)
Read on »
Posted by ScienceWoman at 8:27 AM • 4 Comments
ScienceWoman is a first-year assistant professor in -ology. She blogs about the intersection of science and real life - primarily based on her first-hand experiences. Her older posts can be found 
Alice Pawley is an assistant professor of 
