Today I had an interesting lunch with a renowned visiting speaker (VS). Among other topics, we discussed that perennial favorite, Where Have All The Women Gone (WHATWG).
VS's institution is distinctly male-dominated, which has always surprised me because the senior faculty there whom I've met are nice, friendly, liberal men. While the primary field of research at that institution does tilt XY, it did not seem like the sort of place whose culture per se would be anti-XX. (I'm just in the mood for all caps tonight.)
I asked VS what he thought about this. His reply was: "We had a job search whose main goal, honestly, was to recruit women to our institution. We offered the job in turn to three terrific female candidates, and each of them turned it down. In all of the cases, it was because their husbands were not enthusiastic about finding jobs in Slightly Obscure Town where our institution is located."
While it is disappointing that his home institution remains a predominantly male enclave, I was heartened to see that their search committee sounds serious about hiring women. It's nice to know that the women are rejecting them, rather than the other way around.
Of course, it is still frustrating that, as always, men are easier to hire because their spouses are more likely to be portable. However, overall I'm encouraged by the news that VS and his colleagues are trying. Three offers to women is not a token effort--it's a significant step at an institution as prestigious as this one.
Therefore, I am trying to get Dr. Hyde to consider more flexible career paths, like becoming an acrobat.
15 years ago
4 comments:
The Black Queen is infinitely more portable than me. I wish I could be flexible and let her be the bread-winner.
While it is disappointing that his home institution remains a predominantly male enclave, I was heartened to see that their search committee sounds serious about hiring women.
The key word here is "sounds". Many institutions "tell" their departments to hire more female faculty.
But few come through with the kind of shit that will make a difference to families, like providing reasonably accessible day care for little children. (Reasonably accessible means you don't need to wait on a three year waiting list to have a chance of a slot.)
Did the institution where your nice coleague hails from make an affirmative effort to help the husbands of these women find suitable work?
Just "making offers" and then washing your hands of the situation because no women take them is unjustifiable. There are structural inequities and privileges that lead to women not taking many offers, and a genuine committment to gender equity requires ameliorating those structural features.
I think it was in good faith. The husband-job issues (insofar as we talked about specifics) seemed related to the fact that the institution in question is not in a major city. One husband, for example, was a doctor looking to specialize in something that didn't exist at the local hospital. Or something like that. In no instance did it appear that the institution had any way to make Backwater Town more appealing to the trailing spouse.
The visiting speaker also mentioned that they had recently hired one woman, and also her trailing spouse. He made it clear that she was the "get" and that they were happy to have her.
I'm right there with PP- and sitting on the search committee side. I can tell you that many of the supposed efforts expended to make a female hire a real possibility (taking care of the spouse, the kids, etc)ARE A LOT OF EMPTY TALK.
On the flip side- the female candidate has to learn to ask for what they need and then feel free to follow up on what serious efforts have been made on her behalf.
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