Tuesday, June 7, 2011

In honor of the summer conference season

I will admit that it is really tempting to use this blog as a venting space, especially for the little things that grate that non-academics wouldn't understand and I can't complain about to colleagues. In order to balance out some of the negativity, here are 5 advantages I've found from personal experience to attending conferences as woman in a male dominated field:

1. No bathroom lines. Bonus: During short coffee breaks, there is sometimes a line for the men's room, so you get to enjoy that little role-reversal.

2. When you present, people remember you more easily, as in "I enjoyed your talk--you were the woman who presented this morning. Can I ask you a few questions?"

3. If you present at a small conference while hugely pregnant, people will remember you for many years, even with only minor interactions at the meeting.

4. You are easier to find in the crowd, so it is easier to run into old friends and colleagues at coffee breaks without necessarily prearranging things.

5. Vendors in the exposition will sometimes break out the good swag and/or give you multiple valuable samples (but getting hit on by the vendors is otherwise annoying).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that 3 and the thing in brackets of 5 didn't happen at the same time...

xombie said...

It's not THAT rare to find women in academia I thought. My main boss is a woman, as is my main PI-mentor. I do note though that women are less cocky than men (although I do know a fellow postdoc at NL who is basically a female dog, arrogant and couldn't care less - so unfeminine, if you pardon the expression).

Anonymous said...

I think that it also depends on the part of the particular profession. I'm a woman in a male dominated profession I'd agree with you about points (1), (2), (4), and (5). I can't comment about (4) since that's not been a possibility.

prodigal academic said...

Thanks for the comments!

I also think it is sub-field dependent. I've attended conferences where 30-40% of the attendees were female. I've also been 1 of 3 women out of 500 or so.

GMP said...

xombie said I do know a fellow postdoc at NL who is basically a female dog, arrogant and couldn't care less - so unfeminine, if you pardon the expression

This is what aggressive women always get labeled (bitches, unfeminine, cold). But then if they are not aggressive, then they are presumed not to be ambitious or driven or smart enough. The point is that being a woman in a male dominated field you can do no right; whatever you do, however you are, is under a microscope, and there will be lots of people who will complain that you should be the other way (more/less aggressive, more/less assertive, more/less well dressed, wearing more/less makeup, being more/less friendly). Men don't have that burden -- if a man wants to do science that's automatically fine, whether the man is masculine/macho or totally wimpy.

Unbalanced Reaction said...

I love this post. You are correct on each point... I love #1, #2 is spot on, #3....erm....doesn't apply to me but is totally true. I had never thought about #4, but you are definitely correct. ....and #5....oh...unfortunately definitely true. (But at least I get good, free stuff!)