Get Herald RSS"So you want to be a professor?"
For many graduate and undergraduate students considering an academic career, it can be difficult to answer "yes" without hesitating. The path to becoming a professor is long and sinuous, intimidating and mysterious. Academic careers can be even more intimidating for women, who must deal with particular hurdles because of their gender.
Last Monday, the Graduate Women in Science and Engineering Program organized a panel discussion to help graduate and undergraduate students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics academic careers think about the challenges of becoming a professor. The panelists included six women professors from across STEM fields at Brown.
The discussion, titled, "So you want to be a professor?" was the Graduate WiSE Program's first event of the 2007-2008 school year. Graduate WiSE coordinators Barbara Dancheck, a third-year doctoral student in Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, and Jaime Toney, a second-year doctoral student in Geological Sciences, helped organize the event, along with Geeta Chougule, a WiSE program coordinator, and Associate Dean of Medicine Nancy Thompson.
Though on paper the event catered to female STEM graduate students, Dancheck emphasized the importance of the discussion for both men and women interested in all academic fields in her opening remarks.
"Many of the challenges that women face while pursuing academic careers are challenges that men face as well," said Dancheck, who moderated the panel discussion.
A combination of pre-determined and impromptu questions guided the discussion among panel members and the audience. Panelists discussed their own experiences as they decided to go into academia and general concerns about issues that graduate students face, such as the challenge of balancing work and family life and the importance of mentoring and networking.
Panelists gave a range of responses to the question, "What made you decide to become a professor?"
"I have no idea," said Professor of Neuroscience Diane Lipscombe, the first panelist to answer. She fought roaring laughter to continue her response.
"I just kept doing what I liked to do," continued Lipscombe. "I always knew that I liked solving puzzles. ... I knew I wanted to do something that would be useful for other people as well as myself."
"I wanted interactions with people beyond fellow physicists," said Associate Professor of Physics Meenakshi Narain. "I enjoy interacting with students on a daily basis and teaching basic science - I'm doing my part to train the next generation of scientists."
Teaching responsibilities also helped attract Assistant Professor of Chemistry Carthene Bazemore-Walker to academia. "I like helping people learn - I had enjoyed tutoring other kids as far back as grade school," she said.
When asked about what makes the pursuit of academic careers particularly difficult for women, some panelists noted that gender-based differences in communication habits present unique challenges for women.
"Women approach self-promotion completely differently," Narain said. "Women have to deal with stereotypes of male colleagues. If you talk about your successes or results with humor and humility, men may not take you seriously. But if you take the same loud, forceful stance in the same way that a man might, many male colleagues may label you as aggressive. It is hard to find a balance."
"(Women) might have to be louder and more vocal than (they) might feel comfortable being in other settings," said Assistant Professor of Biology Rebecca Page.
Panelists also noted that decisions about having children during graduate school or while committed to postdoctoral or junior faculty positions were particularly difficult choices for young women.
"You have to coordinate really well with your spouse, and again, you need stamina to survive the days when you're running on fumes because your kid was up sick at 3 a.m.," Bazemore-Walker said. After her response, Bazemore-Walker gathered her things, preparing to leave to pick up her daughter from day care. "It's a challenge, but I'm trying to make having a family and a tenure-track position work," she said.
"The flexibility of an academic schedule is great for young parents, assuming (they) are not teaching," Lipscombe said. "And even if your really big grant doesn't go through, and your research results are completely lousy, you can come home to your kids screaming, 'Mommy!' at the door, who will still think you're the best person in the world."
But panelists agreed that for men and women alike, those who are interested in STEM academic careers need to be passionate about their work to survive likely setbacks during the course of their graduate school and postdoctoral careers.
"You must love what you're doing, and you'll probably discover that as a grad student or postdoc," said Professor of Engineering Tayhas Palmore. "Set your sights very high and remember that your career is not a 100-yard dash, but a marathon."
As for practical advice for success in the academic world, all the panelists agreed that finding good mentors and networking with peers were critical to each of their successful careers.
"Seek out mentors who are good scientists, but also nice people," Professor of Geological Sciences Jan Tullis said. "Friends, mentors and social support networks are incredibly important."
"To be successful, you need diverse support in your field. Continuously interacting with scientists outside your home institution is the best way to do this," advised Lipscombe.
"The chance to travel, discuss research, meet potential new collaborators is a very practical way to increase your contacts," Lipscombe said. "If you take time to stay in touch with other people, you'll find that you'll soon have a lot of good people looking out for you in the world."
Panelists also discussed whether taking a break from academia after undergraduate study or in the middle of graduate studies was helpful for students aspiring to become professors. Their answers were mixed. Palmore characterized experience in industry as "very important" for engineering fields, Tullis described industry experience as "valuable for some applied disciplines like hydrology" for geological science fields. Lipscombe and Page both agreed that no matter what students in biological sciences do, they must continue to publish.
At the conclusion of the discussion, all the professors glowed when describing how much they loved the flexibility and freedom of their careers.
"I am my own boss," said Palmore, counting on her fingers to stick to the imposed five-word limit.
"It's a great career," said Lipscombe, who almost stuck to four words before adding, "As long as you're willing to give up your favorite hypothesis."
Overall, students found professors' advice encouraging and useful, even if they had heard some of the same messages before.
"(There were) a lot of comments to publish, publish, publish," Angela Allen, a second-year doctoral student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program, told The Herald. "I've heard these things before, but it is nice to hear them again from successful women who also tell you, 'Hey, you can do it!' "
"Hearing professors say, 'This is the best career in the world,' was the most encouraging message of the day for me," said Dancheck, one of the WiSE graduate coordinators.
"Good advice," Dun Nguyen, a third-year physics doctoral student, told The Herald. "But I wanted more details, advice on how to do interviews for faculty positions." Nguyen also observed that finding mentors and developing support networks was difficult as a graduate student.Dancheck also shared Nguyen's frustration with feeling "isolated" as a graduate student.
"One of the nice things that WiSE provides is a starting place for students to meet and form academic and social support networks," Chougule, a WiSE program coordinator, told The Herald.
"So you want to be a professor?" was sponsored by the Brown University Division of Biology and Medicine, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Brown Graduate School.
