Part of what is amazing about writing the blog is that I have had the opportunity to meet some phenomenally gifted writers, brilliant scientists, and dedicated mothers/wives/sisters/daughters that I may not have interacted with in real life. Geologists, botanists, engineers, chemists, physicists. I am honored that some of these women from disparate fields have become close personal friends.
In addition to some of my real life colleagues, I have extended an invitation to come of these women to contribute. The first comes from a woman who, although earlier in her career than the other contributors, is doing amazing things for women in science -- Hannah Jang-Condell, Ph.D.
Dr. Jang-Condell got her PhD in Astronomy from Harvard in 2004. Currently, she is a Michelson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She has served on the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) for the past three years and writes for the Women in Astronomy Blog. Dr. Jang-Condell is also the proud mother of two delightful children, ages 5 and 7.
Here is her letter:
Dear Daughter,
For some reason, despite not having quite made it being faculty yet, people (i.e. Isis) seem to think I have words to wisdom to impart. See, I'm a little reluctant to give out advice because I realize that everyone is different. What worked for me might not work for you. On the other hand, I might be able to point you to the friend of a friend of a friend of mine who can better relate to you.
So here's my advice: you are not alone. Whatever it is you're going through, you're almost certainly not the first. Sure, there may not be many other women in astronomy in your situation, but if you look around, maybe you'll find a woman in mathematics or physiology who has gone through or is going through the same thing.
The example from my own life that comes to mind is when I decided to have children in grad school. It was the right decision for me, but at the time I felt like I was the only woman astronomer in the world who had chosen to get pregnant while still a student. Certainly, I was the first woman grad student in my department to have children and not drop out. Meanwhile, all my friends outside astronomy who were having kids were becoming stay-at-home moms. I felt alone and scared and uncertain in spite of the support I received from my advisor, my department, and my fellow grad students. Everyone was so nice to me, and yet I didn't think they could truly empathize with me.
One day, during the final months of finishing my thesis or possibly after (my memory of that time period is pretty hazy), a senior research astronomer dropped by my office. She had seen me going around with my babies from time to time, and she told me that she had decided to have kids during grad school, too. She congratulated me on both the kids and making it through grad school, and gave me encouragement to keep on going.
Since then, I have found other women who have had babies in grad school and continued on to successful careers. (Vera Rubin, for example.) It made such a difference to know that other people had done what I was trying to do, and to know that it was possible to make it work. It might be hard, but at least it was possible. And I seem to have set an example for other people myself: I know of at least one other student from my grad department who chose to start her family before graduating.
So work your network. Remember, networking is not just about buttering up muckity-mucks to increase your profile. It's also about getting to know people who share your experiences, and also about simply making friends. Academia can be very isolating, especially if you're part of a minority group, like a woman or a mother. Luckily, in this day and age the internet makes it so much easier to connect to other people. I wish blogs like Isis' had been around when my kids were born. Don't be afraid to reach out for help or advice. Those of us who know what it feels like to be alone are happy to help you out.
Best of luck to you,
-Hannah
Education
Physical Science
Comments
What a wonderful letter! GO Hannah and your little ones and your other loved ones. I wish you all well for your futures.
I particularly liked the advice 'realize that everyone is different'. You finally know that it is a hard road when you DO come to realize this, but just knowing it makes it easier to decide on strategies that are right for 'you'.
d.
Posted by: d. | May 24, 2009 12:21 AM
Fantastic letter! I especially like the idea that networking isn't just all about improving your profile, but to actually make connections and even friendships with people.
Posted by: Mrs. CH | May 24, 2009 11:40 AM
Dear Dr. Isis:
The article on Dr. Jang-Condell was inspiring, especially since it all happened in North America. In some European countries like France, female academic achievement is much more common. Often the parents are both professionals.
I wonder how much Dr. Jang-Condell's mate might have contributed to her success. Behind most successful woman there is a considerate man.
Posted by: Peter Martel | May 24, 2009 1:15 PM
Isis, this is a great series. Thanks!
Dr. Jang-Condell, thanks for writing this letter.
Posted by: Digger | May 24, 2009 3:14 PM
Peter: I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here, other than belittling my accomplishments just because I managed to choose a decent man for my husband. Do you also credit male scientists' success to the wives who forgone their own careers in order to keep the house and raise the kids? Or is that simply expected of women, so any woman who doesn't follow that role is deemed selfish?
France's success probably has more to do with their liberal parental leave policies and low-cost public daycare rather than how considerate their men are. In my experience, Frenchmen aren't any less chauvinist than American men.
Posted by: Hannah Jang-Condell | May 24, 2009 6:16 PM
Yeah. And in some European countries like France, you can only be an accomplished scientist if you decide that you want to be one at fourteen, never deviate even a fraction of an inch from your course of study from then on, make impeccable grades throughout your academic career and become a professor by age twenty-five. That's why some European scientists openly sneer at erstwhile fuck-ups like me for not wanting to settle for anything less than full-blown PhD-wielding research science. Since, you know, it's impossible for non-traditional students to succeed. Much less labor bit by bit until they enable themselves to compete on not just a "provincial" but a world-class level.
At least in this country, we understand two things:
1) The power of the umpteenth chance.
2) The righteousness of refusing to "know your place".
I'm not even going to go off on the unlikelihood, even in 2009, of anyone of my race being considered "really English" or "really French"-- even with full citizenship and the acculturation of a lifetime born and raised in Britain or France. Here? I'm that much closer to being considered "really American". I'll take that over Old World snobbery any day of the week.
What does any of this have to do with Dr. Jang-Condell's post, anyway? What the fuck is up with the Goddess comment threads, lately?!
Posted by: Juniper Shoemaker | May 24, 2009 9:49 PM
Or if not her mate, her parents. If not them, mentors. If not mentors, a role model.
None of us accomplish anything significant in a vacuum. If you're looking to belittle someone's accomplishments, there will always be an excuse. So, I wonder, why is it that this question only seems to come up with non-(white male) people who've managed [1] to do it with less of that support system?
[1] Don't try to come up with counterexamples -- I bet the odds. The people pulling this BS aren't questioning white male bios.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | May 24, 2009 11:30 PM
Hey, c'mon - give credit where credit is due.
Supporters may be able to "lead a horse to water, but they cannot make it drink".
The drinking is ALWAYS, ALL done by the horse itself. (Reference to horses as magnificent, beautiful and intelligent creatures).
d.
Posted by: d. | May 25, 2009 1:46 AM
Also, it's not like France is some kind of egalitarian utopia, either:
http://www.sauvonslarecherche.fr/spip.php?article2168
To everyone else: thanks so much for your support! It was fun writing this letter, and I'm glad you appreciate it.
Posted by: Hannah Jang-Condell | May 25, 2009 3:51 AM
What an excellent letter which could not be more true! When I first came back to grad school from Mat leave I felt SO ALONE. It was only after starting this blog, did I realize that I was not the only non-white mom in grad school, which is very very encouraging. I am finally figuring out this balance thing and owe a tremendous amount to the people who have come out of the woodwork to tell me how great I am doing or how it is possible. Like Dr.Jang-Condell, I am the only person in my surrounding do this, so its hard to feel anyone understands. thank you for reminding me that people do!
Posted by: ScientistMother | May 25, 2009 7:03 PM
Hey people, don't worry too much about the balancing act, EMBRACE A DEGREE OF IMBALANCE - if you overbalance, just pick yourself up and laugh about it, like a toddler learning to walk. Balance is totally overrated (and I don't believe it really, ever happens).
d.
Posted by: d. | May 25, 2009 7:15 PM
Thankyou Hannah for the letter and especially the networking advice. Networking is one of the hardest things for me personally and I think that approaching it in the frame of mind to share experiences and make friends will make it easier!
Posted by: Angela | May 26, 2009 8:43 AM
Thank you, Hannah, for this letter, and thank you Dr. Isis for enabling these messages to get out! What a great reminder to all of us to seek out those who have already been through this and ask for their help. I also had a child as a grad student and have a second now as a postdoc. Of course, I have to thank my husband and my very understanding advisors for their help, but I really appreciate all of the great advice and encouragement I have gotten through the years from my advisor and the postdoc (now a successful assistant prof!) in my predoc lab. They both are great role models for working moms, and they have helped me so much with all of the juggling that we must do. Even now that I have moved on to my postdoc, they are always there when I have questions or just need to vent. And it's always fun to catch up on both the science and kid stories when we see each other at conferences - the most fun kind of "networking."
Posted by: Jenny | May 26, 2009 10:56 AM
Our daughter was born during my final year of grad school. I was given the quarter off from being a TA right before the birth but had to TA two weeks after the birth. When she was five months old, we moved for me to begin my postdoc and my husband had primary responsibility for her until she began day care at 20 months. Our son was born in the middle of my postdoc. I took him with me to my office (not a lab) until he was 4 months old and could start at the day care center where our daughter was. In both cases, my programs, my advisors/mentors, and my spouse were very accepting of my choices. While it was not easy, it was possible and we all survived!
Posted by: Barb | May 26, 2009 5:11 PM
This letter reminds me of a post I wrote about Scientiae a while back, when I realized all the women contributors wrote about personal setbacks (divorce, children, etc.) and none wrote about, well, scientific career-specific things. At all.
Hannah, I'm glad Isis asked you, as a postdoc. And I'm glad that, although a little late in the game, you found some women to support your life choices.
Kind of funny, though, that these women suddenly came out of the woodwork when you did something quintessentially feminine like having kids. I'd try it myself, if I were the slightest bit interested in being a parent (!).
Uh, thanks anyway?
Posted by: msphd | May 28, 2009 1:50 AM
And your comments (msphd #15) remind me of an anecdote from a friend who taught computer-literacy classes to professionals (years ago when many ppl did not have these skills). She said, if something went wrong, the women would say 'WHAT HAVE I DONE?' but the men would say 'What is WRONG WITH THIS MACHINE?'
If you listen, you will find it is generally true. And it is consistent with your comments about what women generally chose to write about.
It has made me more aware of (a) not blaming myself and (b) pointing out to males that it is unfair to blame me, or the machine, for something that neither of us did.
d.
Posted by: d. | May 28, 2009 2:09 AM
Hey, Isis,
I'm not sure how trackbacks work at Scienceblogs, since none of my trackbacks never seem to track back. So, I am going public here and shilling for my blog post on the latest letters here.
As I wrote in an earlier post, my experience with encouraging women to be scientists was during their high school years. Your letters project here would be educational for the pre-college set, too, so in my meager way I am trying to spread the word.
Posted by: wheatdogg | May 29, 2009 12:36 AM
I also intentially had my child during my PhD, I was done with course work, but still had a few years left. I was amazed by how many comments I got "are you married?" "were you TRYING to get pregnant?" "are you going to continue with your PhD?" needless to say, I was the only woman I knew who got pregnant as a grad student, and it has been pretty lonely road (academically).
Having a kid in grad school has made my life much harder (I have NO free time, I can't pull all nighters like I used to, field work becomes much more complicated when you have to deal with punping breastmilk or returning to daycare before 6pm) but I also feel like the purpose my child has given me has kept me going through my PhD when times got rough.
It's good to hear from someone else who has been down this path. when you look at the stats, folks like us are more likely to be lost from the leaky pipe, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Posted by: soil mama | June 3, 2009 1:19 PM