“Women, systematically, I think, tend often to have a style where they will say less both in person and on paper,” Goodman said. “They’re less willing to go out on shaky limbs, or to write a paper when they have nothing to say.”

“Essentially, she said, women are “not as willing to shoot their mouths off as men,” and that they are thus often perceived as being less prolific and visible.”

Could this be because of a biological difference?????!!!!

Steven S. Hoffmann, Undergraduate Student at Washington University In St. Louis, at 7:45 pm EDT on May 5, 2008

to produce and to reproduce: not mutually exclusive

Being a faculty member is not an 80 hour a week job, Tom. Sure, there are weeks when we put in that much with writing and grading, etc., but let’s not present some overinflated view of our work schedule. Having a rich life outside of academia is what allows many (most?) of us to stay creative, motivated, and happy to do the job, which is really a wonderful job, when it comes down to it.

As far as your “welfare queens” comment, it’s hard to imagine you actually work as a professor if you don’t know that a semester leave after pregnancy is not “free” by any means. Sure, you “get” six weeks, unless they cut you for a C-section, in which case you get a bonus two weeks making it eight weeks of “free vacation” (woo-hoo!) but you have to report back to classes the day after that eight weeks is up. Unless you take unpaid leave for the remainder, which, in my case, would have meant a $12,000 pay cut. Or maybe you have a humane chairperson or dean, who can use creative solutions to accomodate the pesky annoyance of faculty members who reproduce—then you are lucky.

Funny, I never felt like a queen when I was pumping breast milk and crying in my office thinking about my newborn. I resumed a full teaching load eight weeks into the semester, an educationally unsound and inhumane solution to the “pregnancy problem,” which you might know is considered a “disability” from a human resource/benefits perspective, and maybe from yours as well.

So anyway, Tom, you enjoy your long days of uninterrupted work and your productive and serious career. Write us if you find yourself a nice “welfare queen” to settle down with and start a family, and let us know if you see things differently.

Here’s to keeping human beings with lives and families in the ranks of the professoriate.

Respectfully, Violet

Violet, Associate Professor at Midwestern U, at 10:05 am EDT on June 14, 2006

You’re right, and you’re right

Tom is correct, that most men are expected to put in the traditional type of workweek that provides individual and institutional success.

Some men have fallen on the Daddy Track by refusing to take on additional responsibilities or take on too much institutional risk for borderline projects.

Male and Female risk-takers who are married to the job generally do quite well if their health holds up and they have a more traditional partner to take care of the hearth and home.

Violet and other femmunists never seem to publicly answer the hidden questions:

Who wants children in this society? andWho should pay for those children?

The Stalinist solution was of course, the state needs more soldiers and the state needs women’s labor in the factories. Have more children, work more hours in the factories, and the state will give nice medals to mothers.

This helped the Soviet war effort, replaced all the men being maimed or killed off at the front, and showed women they could have it all.

In a poluted, over-populated, over-extended world, does any government really have any business ENCOURAGING population growth?

On purely egalitarian grounds, should any government, corporation, institution, or other entity, encourage reproduction for only elite members of society?

Stay tuned to this station comrades and Zhenotdal femmunists; perhaps there will be more discussion on core issues.

(don’t bet on it though) Nadezhda Allilueva rest in peace!

Dr. F. Gump, at 1:20 pm EDT on June 14, 2006

Serious question

The provost for faculty development says, “and when they get promoted, that’s how we’ll increase the number of women senior faculty members.”

But I thought there was no real chance of “rising through the ranks” at Harvard. The last person to get tenure internally there in my field got it in the 1960s, and tenured people are only hired from outside. Is this correc generally, or does it vary by discipline? Just curious,

Rebecca, at 3:30 pm EDT on June 14, 2006

Just curious

I’m just curious to hear what people think about this scenario: Two perfectly equally qualified people rise to the top of the crop of applicants. One is a man and one is a woman. The woman does want to have children at some point.Is it wrong for the employer to expect smaller production from the woman due to the fact that she will eventually be pregnant, give birth, and in all likelihood, be the larger contributor of time in raising the children. If it is wrong to expect lower production, is it wrong for the employer to let that count against the woman as an applicant?

Daniel, Wash U, at 12:50 pm EDT on June 15, 2006

Madison makes several comments that makes me question her conclusion. First, while the actual birthing process itself may only take a few hours (maybe hyenas take days to give birth, but not humans) the biological and psychological consequences are enormous. I would challenge her to run a a half marathon everyday while being on call in the ICU 24/7 and measure her creativity/productivity as a result. Granted, women (and men) have a choice. But so do institutions. Why would a system that has poured thousands of dollars and years of labor into training highly talented and skilled individuals only to set them up to fail just because they choose to have a family? A few simple things would keep these people on track and maintain their productivity. You would not be indulging or “spoiling” them. You would be protecting an investment and insuring a good return. Highly successful corporations have recognized this. Also, should not an institution of higher learning and research foster an atmosphere of diversity? I am not looking for excuses or a hand up, just decent and affordable childcare.

Finally, I would argue that it does not require 80 hours a week to maintain successful lab and research career. Maybe Madison, but not everyone. Motherhood, if anything increases your organizational and multi-tasking abilities. You have to do it to survive. Working parents can get far more done in far less time, if they are given an environment in which they can focus and usually that means knowing that their children are safe and happy.

accwang, at 7:40 pm EDT on October 4, 2006