The Puppet and The Shrew

Women in leadership--how are they viewed?

This is the topic of a recent episode of the Hidden Brain podcast from NPR entitled "Men:44, Women:0". Within the episode, four women are interviewed: one teacher turned marketing student, one head of a construction company, and two congresswomen (1R, 1D). Using their stories, the podcast explores how women are perceived in positions of leadership. Issues explore include communication differences between males and females (any of our readers hear of "uptalk"?) and the influence of internal bias associated with gender norms on our perceptions of women in leadership positions--both men AND women are affected!

Check it out! And, at the end, listeners are asked to share the podcast with two friends-- 1 male, and 1 female. This is a great way to open conversations about issues facing women in leadership--and science--with the other half of our population, many of whom are committed to furthering women's advancement in leadership positions.

"The Women Who Leave"

Here's an article from Harvard University's newspaper discussing the issues surrounding retaining female faculty members in STEM related fields. It discusses some of the main reasons cited by women who choose to leave academia, as well as the responses of Universities trying to recruit and retain their female faculty members. Are some of these issues realities for female graduate students and post-docs, as well as female tenure-track faculty members?

Try, Try Again! (Or...everybody fails sometimes)

In the wild world of academia, it's easy to get bogged down by "failure." Whether it be a rejection from a particular program or journal, a denial of funding or fellowship, failure hurts. In light of those "failures," it can be hard to pick up the pen and write yet another proposal or manuscript. But, the reality is that, alongside our list of amazing accomplishments, there will be a list of offers we didn't get, of chances taken but not panning out, of recognition not given. A new "trend" is going around of professors, usually those quite advanced in their fields, posting a CV of Failures. These documents illustrate the many ups and downs associated with advancing in academia, and remind us perhaps more poignantly than any other reassurance, that our motto must always be "Try, Try, Again!"

Check it out and remember--everybody fails sometimes.

Let's Talk About Balance! Over Lunch

A Common Grad Student Mantra: 

“How do I conduct research, prepare for my comprehensive exam, grade 50 lab reports, show my face at social events…and feed my dog?!”

One of the most popular topics our group wanted to hear about was managing a work-life balance. This is an issue many of us have begun to face as graduate students, and can probably expect to experience as we advance into our future careers. As we spring into May (yikes!), let’s try something new and meet on campus during the lunch hour for some good conversation!

Please join us next Wednesday, May 4^th at Noon at the Memorial Union. Bring your lunch or grab coffee and a snack, and participate in a conversation about managing work-life balance!  If the weather is nice, we will try to get seats outside. Otherwise, one of us will get there early to sequester some tables inside.

Please fill out this “Survey” to let us know if you will be joining us by Friday, April 29th. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SQCG72H

Hope to see you there and, as always, bring interested friends!

Happy Hour Re-Cap!

Hi All,
TWS members braved the nasty weather and gathered at Umbria this past week to network and touch base on some of our plans for the semester. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we decided to push our first panel/breakout session to April. We brainstormed about some additional options for people to recruit to our panel, and hope that we will find some more success in April. Stay tuned for the official announcement of this event, which we hope arrives within the first two weeks of April.

What Do WE Want to See?

At our first meeting, many of you offered feedback on a survey that included information about your interests for topics to cover as part of this group.

All in all, we have some diverse interests, which is great for this group! Overall, there were a few topics that consistently captured the most interest from respondents. These included:

• Maintaining a Work/Life balance
• My First Faculty Job: What I wish I had known
• Conflict Resolution: Handling conflict situations and hard conversations in the lab
• Communication: Developing effective skills and strategies
• Life as a Female Academic: Hear from some of our own accomplished female faculty members!

As our first major event of the semester, we'll be choosing one of these topics to "panel," where we will hear from selected participants about their experiences. If you really want to see one of these selected, please consider joining us for Happy Hour this Tuesday, February 16 at 6:00 PM at Heidleberg! We will be discussing topics and potential panel members at this meeting. 

Join Us For Happy Hour!

Hi All!

Come kick off the semester with TWS and a Happy Hour this Tuesday at 6:00 PM! We will be meeting at Heidleberg, which is walking distance from campus toward downtown. At this meeting, we will be doing some informal networking as well as discussing plans for our first panel to be held this semester. Happy hour lasts till 7, and offers drink and appetizer specials.

Hope you can make it!