I have to admit I was a bit taken aback by the statement of Aaron. If he had said that about minorities and affirmative action, it would be CLEARLY inappropriate. But women are still discriminated against, not just deliberately by institutionally, and the plain facts are that despite women and men showing up equally in grad school in science, women tend to not stay in scientific fields (I think that recent blog post about the Life History of an Ecology PhD was illuminating and mentioned something about this as well), so it is wonderful that the NSF is making strides to help women and families out. I myself would have continued a traditional trajectory in science rather than accidentally going into science writing had I not had a child, and then wanted to stay home and raise that child. I created my own career so I could keep a hand in wildlife/conservation but still stay at home. Then when I went back to get my PhD at Rice in 2003, I ended up having to drop out because of a divorce. Had I had some sort of financial support from NSF (well I had a GRFP, but not help with the kids/childcare), I probably could have stayed. Now that the kids are almost off to college, I can return to a PhD program, and get back to that original career path of conservation and policy work but I may be looked at like an old-lady now among a bunch of 20 and 30 year old students - LOL. Fortunately I am pretty bohemian and youthful :) But I digress.
Wendee Wendee Nicole, M.S. Wildlife Ecology ~ Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian Web: [ http://www.wendeenicole.com ] Blog: [ http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com ] Twitter: twitter.com/bohemianone Email: [email protected] Online Magazine Writing Class starts July 20, 2013 - Ask me! On 7/4/13 6:49 AM, "David L. McNeely" <[email protected]> wrote: >Dossey, indeed you do have a life. But with no spouse and no kids, you >have no basis for understanding what those who do have kids face in >managing to work while managing their families. It is a great loss to >science for them to drop out of work, or to have to miss work in order to >care for children. > >This isn't money to hire a baby sitter. It is to allow the working >parent a little time off in the early stages of parenthood, while keeping >the NSF project he or she has committed to going by hiring a temporary >replacement. > >Not having children, you would not face that concern, and thus would not >have that expense. This is sort of like a lot of things going on in >society right now. You oppose something that has no effect on you. > >In Europe, new parents get extended leave. I do not know how that is >worked out for ongoing projects. Here, I do know that new parents >working at enlightened institutions that provide family leave have found >that even with taking the leave, they still had to work in order to keep >a project going. They just didn't get paid, and they still had the >problems of providing for their family to be cared for. >---- "Aaron T. Dossey" <[email protected]> wrote: >> Sounds like institutionalized discrimination against unmarried people >> without kids to me. But with nepotism (spousal hires, etc.) running >> rampant in the ivory tower, I don't expect better in academia. >> >> I wonder if I can get some funding to hire a maid or help with various >> things as such. I am not married and have no kids, but society forgets >> that people like me still have a LIFE. Some help with laundry and >> cleaning, maybe some errands now and then, would help me a lot to >> balance my LIFE and WORK. >> >> I don't like the direction this NSF thing is going at all. >> >> >> >> On 7/3/2013 11:01 PM, David Inouye wrote: >> > >><http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13109/nsf13109.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT. >>mc_ev=click>http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13109/nsf13109.jsp?WT.mc_id=U >>SNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click >> > >> > >> > >> > Date: July 2, 2013 >> > >> > >> > BACKGROUND >> > >> > Instituted in 2012, NSF's Career-Life Balance (CLB) Initiative is an >> > ambitious, ten-year initiative that will build on the best of >> > family-friendly practices among individual NSF programs to expand >>them >> > to activities NSF-wide. This agency-level approach will help attract, >> > retain, and advance graduate students, postdoctoral students, and >> > early-career researchers in STEM fields. This effort is designed to >> > help reduce the rate at which women depart from the STEM workforce. >> > Further information on the CLB initiative may be found on the >> > Foundation's website. >> > >> > The primary emphasis of NSF's CLB initiative in FY 2012 was focused >>on >> > opportunities such as dependent-care issues (child birth/adoption and >> > elder care). These issues initially were addressed through NSF's >> > Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program, where career-life >> > balance opportunities can help retain a significant fraction of early >> > career STEM talent. In FY 2013, the Foundation intends to further >> > integrate CLB opportunities through other programs such as the >> > Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and postdoctoral >> > fellowship programs, as well as expand opportunities such as dual >> > career-hiring through the Increasing the Participation and >>Advancement >> > of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE) >> > program. Each of these opportunities will be described and >>implemented >> > separately. >> > >> > >> > PURPOSE >> > >> > The purpose of this DCL is to announce a gender neutral supplemental >> > funding opportunity for NSF research awardees that support >> > postdoctoral investigators. NSF recognizes that dependent care >> > responsibilities and other family considerations pose unique >> > challenges for postdoctoral researchers. >> > >> > Principal Investigators (PIs) of research awards are invited to >>submit >> > supplemental funding requests to support additional personnel (e.g., >> > research technicians or equivalent) to sustain research while the >> > postdoctoral researcher is on family leave. These requests may >>include >> > funding for up to 3 months of salary support, for a maximum of >>$12,000 >> > in salary compensation. The fringe benefits and associated indirect >> > costs may be in addition to the salary payment and therefore, the >> > total supplemental funding request may exceed $12,000. >> > >> > Special instructions for use by PIs and Sponsored Projects Offices in >> > preparation and submission of postdoctoral investigators-Life Balance >> > Supplemental Funding Requests are included as an attachment (see >> > below) to this DCL. >> > >> > Additional questions should be directed to the cognizant NSF program >> > director identified in the award notice. >> > >> > Sincerely, >> > >> > Wanda E. Ward >> > Office Head >> > Office of International & Integrative Activities >> >> >> ATD of ATB and ISI >> -- >> Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. >> Biochemistry and Molecular Biology >> Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs >> Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation >> http://allthingsbugs.com/about/people/ >> http://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs >> https://www.facebook.com/InvertebrateStudiesInstitute >> 1-352-281-3643 > >-- >David McNeely
