I have a certain amount of hope for the people who are presently in their
mid-to-late teens. The young men seem to find the attitudes of older,
essentially misogynist men utterly foreign; and the young women are a bit
more forthright.
I do note, however, that girls and young women are *not* being taught "the
rules" of achievement: never apologise more than once for a mistake - if
once, indeed; never accept rejection (re-jig that article and send it
elsewhere); move jobs if you don't get what you want out of the one you're
in (which may mean planning ahead with your partner, but if they can be
happy whilst you're eating shit at work are they worth the effort?); ask,
regularly, for raises. Even on an academic salary scale there are ways in
which sometimes a jump up can be achieved earlier than one might think,
and the noise you make about money makes your bosses realise you value
yourself. Always submit yourself as the senior author on what are
essentially *your* papers. If your institution doesn't allow you to be a
PI get the person least likely to interfere with you to act as PI. Lobby
your college or university Senate/governing body to change the rules about
PIs which discriminate against women.
Sadly, we have to take time out from our scientific work to continue to
raise issues about the *context* of that work. That context *is* our work
as much as is 'doing science'.
Or so I believe. I confess that these are articles of faith as much as
articles based on pure reason <philosophy> no, </philosophy>
...
(Dr.) Katherine J. Kaye
School of Geography
Oxford OX1 3TB
ubi Deus, ibi pax; ubi caritas, amor.
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