SLF wrote:
>> Julia wrote
>> > >This made me wonder whether there are any women-in-science
> > >outreach activities aimed specifically at senior male
> > >faculty. What about, for instance, a group to help the
> > >advisors of female graduate students?
> > >
> > I wince at lumping all female graduate students into a pile-each and
> > every person is quite different.....
>> Yes. And moreover, in my experience, no senior male faculty
> will admit he needs help in advising (or anything else). The
> attitude is that they run the program, and everyone else
> should just get with it.
I think we run a risk of talking ourselves out of doing
anything productive here, by saying 'oh, they'd never listen.'
Which isn't necessarily true -- I've known senior male faculty
members who did listen, when folks took the time to talk to them.
But it takes time to set up forums in which this sort of discussion
can take place.
I've seen folks on this ng
pointing out that they don't have time to do that sort of thing
and maintain their positions at research universities -- but
doesn't the internet give us a chance to overcome that by
setting up online communities to discuss these issues? There's
no getting around it, though, that even if we could place
the discussions online where they wouldn't depend on the efforts
of a few people, the folks on the ground at research universities
would have to be active in setting them up and telling senior faculty
about them. And we would need a nucleus of people committed to
participate and answer questions.
I guess I'm wondering how we could use our time and insight into
the problems of grad students and newer faculty more productively
than just sympathizing with one another. Sure, sympathy helps
you endure a bad situation, but I don't see it changing that
situation. Whereas making the effort to open up discussions
with a wider group might.
Here are some concrete questions:
Does your department have any structure like a subcommittee on advising?
Does its administration have any interest in training advisors?
Does it have any tenured faculty members particularly interested in
advising?
Are they on the internet?
Are there any already existing discussion groups on advising science
graduate students, either in your department or in scientific
organizations?
Do any of us have enough expertise to help folks advise science graduate
students? (I don't -- undergrads only on this end).
If not, who does?
Pat
