Finding a balance between work and family
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So many people struggle anymore to balance spending time at their job and with their families. And its not just women. Just a few days ago Darren Rowse from Problogger made the following comment at Plurk:
problogger is wondering how to strike a balance between being an available father to a toddler (who knows where he is in his study) and getting work done
For those in academic science its much worse. Especially for women. There have been a few discussions about this in the blogosphere recently: Does Academe Hinder Parenthood?, A few thoughts on female academics and children and How hard do academics with kids really have it compared to the rest of the working world?
Based on what I saw in graduate school I have to agree that it is very difficult. The department I was in had only one female faculty member, she had no children and it was pretty obvious she wasn’t going to. I only knew of one female graduate student who had a child, she was Chinese and her child lived in China and was being raised by grandparents. She likely only saw her child once a year, if that. I knew a guy in graduate school whose wife got pregnant, he was afraid to let his graduate adviser know.
For women its pretty much impossible to have kids while in graduate school or doing a post-doc, or while trying to get tenure. If everything goes smoothly and you can get tenure at all you will be in your late 30’s and it may be too late to have kids. It tends to be easier for men, they can work the long hours and have a wife that stays at home or has a non-demanding job.
As much as I love science, its pathetic how anti-family and sexist the academic environment is. In the links above some readers even left the following comments:
“When I serve on a hiring committee or select graduate students to work in my lab, I don’t want any with children.”
“Those who choose this profession like it, and should not have babies”
What is the solution? I don’t know. But at some point the academic environment needs to change, move into the 21st century and let people live full lives – both men and women.
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Related Posts:
- Work + Life + Family = Interconnectivity
- What do you think of only-children? Freak diseases or high achievers?
- Are your kids getting enough sleep?
June 16, 2008
Women’s Health Weekly Review: June 8 – June 14
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Ovulation
This is really cool – for the first time a human egg has been filmed in close-up emerging from the ovary.
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Antibiotics can help with healing of tears in vaginal tissues during some births
Bone Health
In a new study, 1,200 mg of calcium a day (about 4 glasses of milk) was found to reduce the risk of bone fractures by 72%.
Lupus and ovaries
Breast Cancer
A study shows that when women were given raloxifene, used for osteoporosis prevention, were less likely to develop invasive, estrogen-receptor (ER) positive breast cancer compared with women who did not take the drug.
Other
New research shows that traffic-related pollution can increase the risk of allergies by over 50% and that the closer kids live to roads the higher the risk.
The brain of a 115 year old woman who had her body donated to science was found to have very few abnormalities and almost no deposits of a substance called beta-amyloid, which are involved with Alzheimer’s disease. It had been assumed that various forms of dementia would inevitably develop if people lived long enough.
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Related Posts:
- Lung health in women and children
- Women’s Health Weekly Review: April 26 – May 3
- New breast cancer gene discovered
June 13, 2008
Friday Favorites – Friday the 13th edition!
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Happy Friday – the 13th!
And I thought this Friday was going to be a short post – but then Thursday I found all sorts of interesting news and posts to share!
And I had not realized it was Friday the 13th, until I saw DazzlinDonna’s post today: Using Superstition As A Hook. She says “Make use of the various superstitions and related “holidays” to serve interesting content to your users” – maybe that’s what I’m doing by calling this the ‘Friday the 13th edition’? (But I’ll be honest, nothing else in this post has anything to do with Friday the 13th.)
I’ll go through the more serious stuff first – then the fun things.
Health Care
The National Women’s Law Center tells us about the “Pitifully Inadequate” Health Coverage for the Underinsured.
Reproductive Health
Crunchy Domestic Goddess explains how elective inductions are on the rise in the United States but have certain risks associated with them in Everyone’s eager to meet baby, but are elective inductions safe?
At Our Bodies, Our Blog Christine C. tells us What You Need to Know About the Cost of Mammograms
Autism and Homeschooling
Should kids with autism spectrum disorder be homeschooled or is Mainstreaming better?
Drug Problems
Have you had side effects or a bad reaction to a medication? You might want to read Your Guide to Reporting Problems to FDA
Got Mosquitos?
You may find this interesting and helpful: Is it true that the DEET used in most mosquito repellents is toxic?
Sexism of the 70’s
Flight attendants were expected to wear “kinky leather boots and hot pants or they don’t get the job” – see MomGrind’s Wordless Wednesday: The Glamour of Air Travel (has pictures too).
More Health
Dr. Val explains why drinking raw milk is not a good idea: Is Raw Milk Getting A Raw Deal?
If you or someone you know has peanut allergies, you might want to learn about Peanut Detector Dogs – “special breeds of dogs specially trained to recognize the scent of minuscule amounts of peanuts”. Learn more here also: peanut detector dogs.
This week Rachel had Questions About Medications by Mail
Need to lose weight? Loraleigh Vance tells us about her 6 Secrets to Successful Weight Loss
Learn How to lift without breaking your back.
Need more health information? See Another Healthbolt Carnival.
Useful Stuff
David Bradley of Sciencebase tells us how we can Save Money on Gas
Mother of Confusion gives us tips for 5 yard sale buys to ease the budget
Fun Stuff
Plutoid chosen as name for solar system objects like Pluto.
Bee species outnumber mammals and birds combined.
Mars Update
The Phoenix Mars Lander has finally gotten some martian soil to fall through a metal sieve into the first of eight ovens designed to analyze the soil’s chemical composition. Follow Mars Phoenix on Twitter.
Have a great weekend!
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June 12, 2008
Overcoming Underearning: Book Review Part 6
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This week I’ve read Chapter 5 of ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’ by Barbara Stanny. Lots of good stuff in here, this will take a while.
In this chapter Barbara goes through step 2 of the 5 steps to make you a ‘doer’.
Step 2: Make a Decision
I have to quote some parts from the first part of the chapter which really stood out for me.
“Not one of us will ever make more money until we explicitly decide that’s what we want to do. I saw this with every six-figure woman I spoke to.”
She then explains that a decision is not the same as the goal you set for yourself. “A decision is a promise you make to yourself, a declaration of intention, that says you’re willing to walk through fire to make it happen. ”
Personally, I can say – I am ready to walk through fire to make it happen!
“Making a decision means slamming shut all the doors to other options, blocking off the exits, and, no matter what happens, keep moving toward your destination because anything else is unacceptable.”
Barbara then relates a few examples then there’s an exercise: Making Your Decision. I haven’t finished going through it yet.
Next she talks about “The Grand Conundrum“: a “deeply embedded, rarely conscious, internal conflict, often between the comfort motive and profit motive”. She also explains about how it is necessary to live in a way that is consistent with your values – there can be no dispute between your values and goals. The next exercise involves listing out your values.
Once you make the decision she says 3 things will happen:
1) Coincidences – “You need to be stubborn about the results you’re going for, but very flexible on how you get there.” (This is something I’m getting better at, but still need to work on. I can get too caught up in doing a particular thing and lose sight of why I was doing it to start with and not realize there are other ways of getting to the same point.) It seems that once you are really determined to do something, some opportunities just seem to pop up out of nowhere.
2) Changes in other areas of your life – taking charge of your life is likely to result in some sort of ‘shake up’ – possibly both positive and negative. (When I read this what popped in my mind was Caroline Middlebrook and some of the things she’s talked about in her blog.)
3) Resistance – “Resistance emerges as soon as you enter the Discomfort Zone, the space between where you are now and where you want to be”. Barbara then lists 12 signs of being in resistance. I won’t list them all here, just the ones that stood out to me:
— You’re scared into inaction
— You fog up, space out
— You feel paralyzed
— You find reason not to act
I think the first one, fear, is what affects me the most. Lastly there is a section about decoding resistance and an exercise.
Ok – I’m I am ready to walk through fire now! I’m not letting fear hold me back!
Next time – Chapter 6.
Time for my favorite quote from this chapter:
“Money is a guarantee that we can have what we want in the future.”
— Aristotle
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Related Posts:
- Overcoming Underearning: Book Review Part 7
- Book Review: ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’ Part 11
- Overcoming Underearning: Book Review Part 5
June 11, 2008
Equal Pay Act anniversary
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Yesterday – June 10 – was the 45th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act — the law that made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work. I meant to blog about it yesterday, but got overwhelmed and forgot. It was signed by President Kennedy back in 1963.
Even now women still only earn 77 cents to the dollar so these wage laws really need to be strengthened. Several bills have been introduced repeatedly — including the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Fair Pay Act — Congress still hasn’t stepped up to the plate. Also the Senate still hasn’t passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have a major impact on the lives of women who’ve been subject to pay discrimination.
Maybe with a new president things will get better next year? Lets hope so!
More information:
Ledbetter bill
Fact sheet on equal pay
Contact your Senator about the Ledbetter bill
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