Hello, April

Well, it's been a super busy semester and teaching two new classes is keeping me quite busy.  So busy that I don't have time to read, write, knit or even sit.  I'm most definitely not complaining.  It's been a long, but good semester. I mostly have good students and I'm enjoying the new job. 

So, to give you something to ponder I'll just comment on a few things that I have read about in the last few weeks that might be of interest.

--> FSP writes about this Ms. Mentor column.  My first impression was very negative.  Based on what I read over at FSP I thought: Fantastic, Ms. Mentor just freaked out a bunch of already stressed out PhD students by telling them they now need voice training.  And that pissed me off.   Being a formally invisible female assistant professor, myself, I know that often the problem has absolutely nothing to do with the pitch of your voice, or the ageing ears of your colleagues.  I wasn't invisible just in faculty meetings, but in email correspondence and other written communication.  My thoughts or just about anything related to me was also invisible, even it was spoken by the correct timbre of a male colleague's voice.  The bottom line, if you are invisible, go get another job.    Then I read the article and I was less angry, it's not as bad as what I was expecting, but I still don't think that it was exceptionally good advice either.  My (untenured) advice would be the invisibility is indicative of a bigger problem that needs to be addressed in whatever way it can get resolved.  In my case, that was leaving. If that is not an option, find the ombudsman, let people know what's happening, find an advocate, or a real life mentor.  (Ms. Mentor is good for somethings, but I don't think she'll argue your tenure case for you)  If they are ignoring your voice, they are also likely ignoring your publications, grants and teaching reviews, and that's a dangerous situation come tenure time. 

--> Dr. Isis tells us about extremists.  Yikes, just yikes.  Here's the deal, extreme activism is not ok.  I'm not saying you shouldn't stand up for what you believe in.  Stand and be heard.  Speaking out is one thing.  Bombs and threats of violence are another. That crosses the line and  these people should be arrested for impinging on the civil rights of others.  Period. 

--> Jezebel reports on a new study finds why women leave engineering.  Really? Seriously?  Get with the program people, this is old news.  I left 10 years ago for these reasons, I was 22, "family" didn't have a thing to do with it.  I guess, it's good we finally have some numbers to back up what most women who've been through it have been saying for years...maybe now we can do something about it.