BJM8

Well said! This has been my contention all along!

Momwaitingfornew

Asking about one's marital status and/or plans because of children is supposed to be illegal. It was illegal in my time, too, but it didn't stop two interviewers from asking about the engagement ring on my finger.

BJM8

Interesting article about women in the academic workforce and how their careers are affected by having children. Perhaps this answers some of those nagging tenure questions: Part 1

[quote]Do Babies Matter?

The Effect of Family Formation on the Lifelong Careers of Academic Men and Women

For women academics, deciding to have a baby is a career decision. Traditional narratives of the academic career must adapt to new demands and new constituencies.

By Mary Ann Mason and Marc Goulden


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BJM8

Here's another interesting article regarding tenure of female faculty members:
Part 1
[quote]Family-Friendly Policies and the Research University

There are plenty of pitfalls on the road to a family-friendly university climate. The commitment to a positive change must start at the top.

By Kate Quinn, Sheila Edwards Lange, and Steven G. Olswang


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BJM8

Here's part 2! Enjoy!

BJM8

Here's part 3
[quote]Recommendations

BJM8

I don't think so, and neither do the professors who were working at MIT at the time. Read on:
[quote]Moving on from discrimination at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARY-LOU PARDUE, NANCY HOPKINS,
MARY C. POTTER & SYLVIA CEYER



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cellardweller

BJM8:

Your numbers comparing "staff" at the various science departments are meaningless as you aggregate lecturers, lab instructors, associate professors, emeritus professors (retired) and tenured professors.

A comparison between the the ratio of full (tenured) professors is on the other hand the only relevant comparison. They are the ones with the power, compensation and prestige.

As I mentioned earlier the ratio at Smith is 3/11 or 27.2% female. The data is here.
http://www.science.smith.edu/departm...y/faculty.html

At MIT the number is 13/47 orm 27.7%. The data can be found here.
http://mit.edu/biology/www/facultyareas/viewalpha.html

Considering that MIT has probably the most distinguished biology faculty of any institution in the US as measured by membership in the NAS, and therefore has to fish in a much smaller pond, the fact that it assembled such a diverse faculty is actually very impressive.

I don't want embarass you further with some of the other departments like chemistry where the number of female tenured faculty at Smith is ZERO.
http://www.science.smith.edu/departm...ultystaff.html

Maybe next time you attempt to make a comparison try to compare apples to apples.

unforgiven

This was a very good thread that helps us who have chosen to attend women's colleges reinforce the importance of our choices, we shouldn't make it a place where we get catty- for lack of a better word- with each other.
I think the ultimate question is the value that each school puts on educating women and encouraging personal growth. I think women's colleges- esp. smith- do this very well because they have made a conscious decision to do so. Schools like MIT are wonderful and prestigious but the problem is that most of the time brilliant women are lost in the system. When you are at a women's college, everyone is working towards making sure that you succeed, not just in academics but as a leader and well rounded woman. This is why so many women in leadership come from the women's colleges.

BJM8

Cellardweller: You keep talking only about "tenured" positions, as if they are the only ones that matter. What a smoke-screen! LOL

If you bothered to read any previous posts, and if you know anything about education and tenure, it is given to teachers (profs) only after a certain amount of service to the school or college, and if they have attained good evaluations. C'mon now...do you think we are all that stupid?

I gave you the numbers of faculty and staff at each college respectively; not just tenured staff. Read post titled "Family-Friendly Policies and the Research University" and learn about females getting tenure at colleges. If you want to compare apples to apples, then let's. But segregating data is what got MIT in trouble in the first place, and as an alum, you follow their strategies!

BJM8

Another Cellardweller smoke-screen. Do we only measure distinguished profs by the professional organizations that they belong to? Hey, don't get me wrong, MIT is a great school with great profs. But if the conversation is about the numbers of female faculty members in sciences as compared to their male counterparts at the two schools...you gotta be kidding, right?

BJM8

Speaking of the NSA however, here is a study still going on. Can't wait till we see the results. I guess they see a problem also?
[quote]Project Scope
STATEMENT OF TASK



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BJM8

Cellardweller...this is a quote from YOU!
I already proved you wrong on this one (see posts 193-194), but I am perplexed that you suddenly disagree with what you said previously about MIT doing a great job with numbers of female faculty?!?! Which is it? Less filling, or more taste? I guess, according to you, males outnumber females by a great margin at MIT. Now, isn't that the data I showed you? (How could I forget...ONLY tenured faculty count, according to you!) *LOL*

laureldj

<<This was a very good thread that helps us who have chosen to attend women's colleges reinforce the importance of our choices, we shouldn't make it a place where we get catty- for lack of a better word- with each other.>>

I agree!

It seems that the main points are:

-Smith and other women's colleges are a great choice for some women and schools like MIT are a great choice for other women.

- Women have some catching up to do in the sciences and MIT and Smith both seem to be taking steps to help that cause along.

Yay Smith! Yay MIT! Go team go! ;-)

I'm not sure why Cellardweller wanted to post on the Smith board (can't expect a very receptive audience) but honestly, even though I love it here, I think he made some good points. Others have made good points as well, but it has gone pretty far past being constructive.

This is an information forum for students and parents of students looking for info on schools they may be interested in attending. There are some very helpful people who post here and a few who are not so helpful, but this is not the "Daily Jolt for Adults" guys.

All of the sarcasm and comments just short of name calling are probably not going to portray Smith in a good light.

It is almost starting to sound like the root of the argument is "Mine is bigger than yours!" :-)

unforgiven

I completely agree that that's how it is sounding. I also agree that the info is great to read. Just present it guys, let's decide whether it is relevvant or not based on whether it helps us improve ourselves!