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Original poster

Academics Chat Thread

999 replies

LRDtheFeministDragon · 02/09/2017 22:32

I believe the old Chat thread has fallen off the front page of this section, and I thought it might be time to reinstate it. I know it's only sporadically useful, but sometimes it's nice, right?

I am a lowly postdoctoral English Lit type. Finished my PhD in 2014, teaching associate for a couple of years, and now part-time while DD is a baby. I'm currently working frantically to get my book manuscript to the publisher by my deadline (October), and also trying to regain enthusiasm for the job market.

Who else is lurking around here?

OP posts:
worstofbothworlds · 11/09/2017 12:36

We also have more female UGs, then slightly more female PGs, and guess what, about equal new lecturers and vastly more male at senior level.

My generation (late 40s) also had more women at UG level when we were at university so it's not just a historic thing.

I also manage to care less as I have been trying v hard to top up my pension so I can retire early!

Yogafire · 11/09/2017 13:08

We have be opposite re new lecturers - mostly female. I was thinking that more women than men go into academia these days because the pay isn't great.

user7214743615 · 11/09/2017 14:25

Academia is still male dominated at lecturer level in a lot of STEM subjects. In at least some STEM fields it can be so competitive to get permanent jobs, that after getting a job the career progression to higher pay (professor etc) is actually reasonably quick so it doesn't put men off. And fields that require high (international) mobility at postdoc level tend to kick out a lot of the women by this requirement alone.

user7214743615 · 11/09/2017 14:27

BTW it's not easy to be one of the few women lecturers in fields in which male students are in the majority either. Presumably out there somewhere (!) there is an academic field in which biases against women lecturers are not so bad.

Summerswallow · 11/09/2017 17:58

user7214 I would say the social sciences (and my field in particular) aren't so bad for female lecturers, in fact, being female can be a positive thing and our evaluations and recommendations for teaching awards don't seem to show any obvious gender bias, and that's borne out by the large US studies that show bias pretty much everywhere else). Most of the favourite lecturers are female. There are issues to do with emotional workload though, and I do make sure I use the academic/wellbeing system and don't get sucked into providing support which is out of my expertise/what I really want to be doing.

Summerswallow · 11/09/2017 17:59

This does not translate to lack of gender bias within the institution, though, I would say that teaching is becoming devalued as more women excel at it, in the classic gendered way.

ArbitraryName · 11/09/2017 18:17

The favourite female lecturers where I am are always motherly and very unthreatening. Daring to be female and appearing vaguely academic always results in the students hating you (but positively evaluating male lecturers with similar approaches). Being Scottish doesn't help either.

I also don't care if the students dislike me. It makes no difference what I do.

murmuration · 11/09/2017 18:26

Ugh, facing that gender issue in family support - I have deadline tomorrow and I HAVE to finish. Getting foot-draggy feel from DH as I tell him that no, I'm not going to meet him at the take-away, come get me - any time extra I spend walking across town I will spend up tonight working. Perhaps men get this from wives, but I feel like I very rarely ask for extra - I do all I can to get my work done within my working hours and do not take it home unless I absolutely can't avoid it. Like tonight.

I don't want to be working late either, it will have knock-on effects in my health for the next several weeks, I don't need subtle dissapproval on top of it.

Grr. Grumble.

Original poster
LRDtheFeministDragon · 11/09/2017 20:11

I can relate to that, murm. I think it's female conditioning, too. I find it very hard to say no, especially when the implication is that I'd be a spoilsport to say no. I think I'm finding it especially so with DD who is nearly six months. All the men in the couples we know seem reasonably able to take off to work and get on with things. They can feel bad if their wives are struggling health-wise after things like a c-section, or if the baby is really difficult, but they seem to separate that out from the fact that, if they were at work less, their wives would have it easier and their babies might be happier.

Or maybe I'm being unfair. But I find it difficult to take the same attitude.

OP posts:
dimples76 · 11/09/2017 21:16

As a lone parent of a child with disabilities I have absolutely no chance of working during the day at weekends. I often have to work in the evenings when my son is asleep especially to meet marking deadlines. I am dreading this semester as student recruitment has been a bit too successful in some areas so my teaching load has increased significantly. I have also just started a professional doctorate.

My line manager asked how I was going to cope juggling my teaching load, working part time, all my son's appointments and the doctorate. I said I thought my teaching was meant to be reduced, that was four months ago ...

Marasme · 11/09/2017 22:09

[wave]

SL in bio sciences at a RG uni - Teaching started again today :(

keeping head above water, just, and not sure how this year will go, TBH...

I am looking for this elusive sabbatical which would enable me to take a break from the teaching and admin grind!

murmuration · 11/09/2017 22:23

Good point, LRD - I think it is perhaps about a sense of personal reponsibility, which is perhaps societally entrained? Which is why I get so miffed when I do take the very rare moments to work more, as I know I do everything I can to avoid it. But perhaps DH is used to the culture where it is 'just done' and doesn't think about how much I try to avoid it.

Hi dimples. Um, isn't working PT part of how you're going to manage it? Or was that b/c of the doctorate? Annoying when they ask 'how are you going to...' when they're meant to support you.

Hi marasme! Our sabiticals are now not a "right" but instead something you have to apply for and show how much amazing research you'll do. I don't know that I'll ever get one...

Our students are just back. My new admin responsbilities are starting to get real... so far staff have been quite responsive. Hoping it stays that way, particularly if I have to tell people things they don't want to hear!

Whew, and met my deadline for tomorrow.

In good news, just noticed several females promoted to Prof this round! Gives me hope that it's possible, and the new 'more balanced with teaching' criteria are really being considered. Especially how much teaching/admin I do.

purplepandas · 11/09/2017 23:15

That is great news 're the female profs murmur. I have literally just stopped for the eve and also wonder why I can't seem to get things done. I am really cheap at saying no ( big factor). Somehow found myself agreeing to two things that may be fun but slightly outside of my research. Thinking that it might be okay to backtrack now before formal agreement. I am struggling now with workload so unlikely to get better but hate hate letting people down.

ArbitraryName · 14/09/2017 08:12

All the profs in my department are now female. When I arrived they were all male. The department is 90+% female though and there are only 2 profs.

They're both the kind of prof that you literally never see and never do anything for the department though. I'm not sure that they've realised they're supposed to provide academic leadership for the rest of us.

No

worstofbothworlds · 14/09/2017 09:39

Well, my sabbatical ends tomorrow (except it's my day off) and I submitted a grant yesterday. However I decided to submit the same project elsewhere and that deadline is in two weeks... never mind, only one lecture to prep for before week 6 and we always start teaching late anyway - I think we have one of the latest week 1.

Both grants are for a fellowship with a junior colleague from overseas, so as they are held at my Uni and her English is good but needs a little polishing, I've done quite a bit of the writing as I'm officially PI/mentor type person. She was so sweet in telling me how amazingly fast she thought I did the proposals, I told her it's only because I just ignore anyone else who needs stuff from me (but don't tell them). I certainly don't feel quick!

ArbitraryName · 14/09/2017 23:04

I'm on my way from a conference. I've done my best at networking but I'm awful at it. The best I've managed is a long dinner conversation with a PG who asked me about DH and talked about how wonderful he is (she didn't know he was DH). I am definitely the crap academic in this relationship.

ArbitraryName · 14/09/2017 23:05

Worst: I bet you're quicker than me!

Yogafire · 15/09/2017 10:29

Ha ha arbitrary. I'm always relieved at conferences when the conversation switches to the non-academic. Once I'm onto politics, my family, TV, holiday destinations etc I'm away. Anything but my research please! It's just so forced and unnatural

murmuration · 15/09/2017 13:29

Oh, arbitrary, how weird and awkward - did you tell her he was DH?

I'm am so glad that I changed admin roles. My old role is being beset by crises, which 5 people are struggling with (the new role-holder, a secretary, and three teaching fellows who were drafted to help the new role-holder). I remember earlier this summer saying I felt bad about the 3 teaching fellows doing all this work, but then someone pointed out that if I had remained in the role, I would have been expected to do all of it - what at that point was taking 4 people to handle. And I would likely be handling all the new crises on my own as well. So I think I moved at the right time. Still have a bit of guilt 'dumping' it on these other people, but then I remember that person's words and realise that I would not be offered the help the new person is getting, so feel less guilty.

ArbitraryName · 15/09/2017 21:10

murmuration: it sounds like you've had a stroke of luck there. Things don't usually work in one's favour like that. Definitely do not feel guilty.

I did tell her he was DH. It was a very strange conversation. And the super-networking conference mr wonderful she was describing is quite a long way from the reality of daily life with him. It actually really makes me angry when he becomes mr sociable and fun at conferences, given what he's like at home.

yoga: yes indeed. I'm brilliant at recommending things to watch on Netflix. Less so at discussing my research. I never manage to meet anyone who is interested in anything resembling my research anyway. I'll do my best to network and somehow manage to talk to an administrator, a mechanical engineer and a brand new PhD student in film studies (no matter what the conference is about, it'll be this random a selection) but no one that meeting might be helpful to either of us or who might have an interest in hearing me not say anything very useful about my research.

Also I find chit chatting with people I don't know well quite draining. There was a second day and I'm pretty exhausted from it all. I was very happy to get a text from the taxi company telling me that my taxi was waiting outside to take me to the station.

DoctorGilbertson · 16/09/2017 12:51

I also hate networking. I was failing to make small talk with a prof and out of the blue asked what he watches on TV. He told me (a daily soap) and now I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION!!! every time I see him I want to ask him about this soap opera rather than anything remotely academic (I have restrained myself so far). So be careful, even small talking about TV at conferences has its perils.

bigkidsdidit · 16/09/2017 13:21

I love chatting at conferences but I never talk about work. I always open with Strictly Grin

ArbitraryName · 16/09/2017 13:31

That's hilarious DoctorG.

We don't have normal tv. Just Netflix and Amazon prime. So I can't even manage discussion of strictly. It's amazing how many conversations with colleagues you have no understanding of when you haven't been watching strictly/love island/etc.

bigkidsdidit · 16/09/2017 13:35

I don't have telly either, but my Amazon prime has BBC iPlayer. Anyway my point is ive made good friends at conferences - which have led to collaborations - by never speaking about work

ArbitraryName · 16/09/2017 15:34

I suspect that you manage to talk to people who are at least vaguely interested in the general direction of your research. Not me. I could go to a mediaeval history conference looking to meet mediaeval historians and come out having only spoken to a software engineer, a cardiovascular surgeon and an ethnomusicologist (about Netflix). If there are people who might ever collaborate with me there, I will somehow not find them. It's almost a talent.

When I was a PhD student, I managed to make several good conference friends all of whom never made any attempt to have an academic career. We're still friends (so that's good) but it's hardly been a career success. All DH's PhD period conference friends, on the other hand, are academics and they work on things with him.

I'm like the anti-networker!