Hello all,
Although through my grad student years I was a more active participant in the newsgroup, since leaving basic science I have been lurking. The reason for leaving research is a fairly long and boring story and was really due to the fact that like most of us, I want to be really good at my job and I felt that I did not have the drive to make it in academia, i.e. science on your brain 24 hours, in the lab or not. However, it should be mentioned that deciding not to go on to a PhD coincided with the birth of my daughter.
Today I head the PR office for the Faculty of Health Sciences at my university and am classified administrative personnel. My science background helps a lot as PR is basically "who you know." I feel that my options are open and if I decide to go back it will probably be something less basic science and more public health.
Anyway, the real reason that I felt te need to answer is that I have noticed that most of the posts assume that there are men who don't want to be "super-scientists" neglecting anyone else, however they haven't met any. Well, I married one. My husband finished a very successful (4 1st-name publications in very respected journals) Ph.D. a year ago and has always known that he wants to go into industry, be home at a decent hour and have time for the family, soccer games and evenings with friends. The question of going to the States for a prestigious post-doc was never an issue, although my entire family lives in the NIH area and I sure that he would have been accepted with difficulty.
Just to let you know that they're out there...
Erica Greene Rosenstock
