Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 20:25:38 -0400 (EDT)
To: aaswlist
stsci.edu
Cc: aaswomenstsci.edu
Subject: AASWOMEN for April 26, 2002
AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Weekly issue of 04/26/02, eds. Meg Urry & Patricia Knezek
This week's issues:
1. More information on fertility
2. And further information on fertility and adoption
3. A British take on Sylvia Hewlett's book about babies vs. careers
4. More on "childless" women
5. A report on the situation of women researchers in France (in French)
6. Article on physicist Joan Feynman
7. Faculty Position in Theoretical High-Energy Physics, University of
Connecticut (Storrs)
8. Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, Hunter College
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1. More information on fertility
From: Caroline E. Simpson simpsoncgalaxy.fiu.edu
More information on Fertility:
The FertilityPlus website is excellent. I learned much from it, and
when compared to other sources (doctors, books, other websites) I still
found it the most useful.
Something to consider also is that you may have other fertility
problems, not related to age, that become much more difficult to
overcome when combined with age. I found out, at age 39, that a hormone
imbalance, when combined with my age, made it essentially impossible
for me to become pregnant. And my age seriously limited the amount of
time I could try, using fertility treatments. A double-whammy, so to
speak.
I too, didn't realize just how dramatically fertility decreases with
age. I had always intended, somewhat vaguely, to have children when
the time was right. Given my delayed career (Ph.D. at 34) and marriage
(at 37), the time wasn't right until 39. When it transpired that it was
pretty much too late. I suspect my experience isn't entirely unique. I
think it just catches up with a lot of us. As it was, I had intended to
wait one more year, since I was up for tenure, but my husband gently
pointed out that I wasn't getting any younger. So I was going through
tenure and fertility assessment/treatments at the same time. This is
Not Recommended, by the way. ;)
Some advice: the standard "try for a year" before seeking treatment is
for those in their 20s. Seriously. If you are in your late 30s or
older, the advice is to try for 2 or 3 months, and then seek evaluation,
because the time is so limited. Some of the treatments aren't so bad
(although most are pretty grueling, and it's all tough emotionally).
I'm 41 now, and still trying to come to terms with never having
children. If anyone out there is in the same boat, I wouldn't mind
having people to talk to about it. There seem to be support groups for
women in treatment, but not for women who have given up.
Caroline Simpson
simpsoncfiu.edu
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2. And further information on fertility and adoption
From: Frances Verter verterdao.gsfc.nasa.gov
There is one more point that should be made about the "statistics"
on fertility of women in their 40's:
For the most part, these are NOT UN-BIASED surveys.
The only un-baised info would be the conception rates of women
who DO NOT receive fertility treatments.
The conception rates of women who DO seek treatments are highly
selective, because fertility treatment is more of a business
than a branch of medicine.
To explain: Fertility treatments are very expensive and are not
covered by health insurance. Consequently, doctors in this
business are competing for patients/customers. Each clinic
likes to advertise that they have a high success rate. In order
to achieve and maintain those rates, they only accept patients
with whom they expect to be successful. Many of them will not
take women over age 42. For example, I have a very wealthy
friend who has been turned away by numerous doctors because
she is over age 42. She could afford to spend a fortune, but
they still won't treat her unless she takes donor eggs.
So when you see older celebrities having babies, there's a good
chance its with donor eggs.
And on the related subject of adoption:
Yet another reason why couples should find out early if they have
fertility problems is because many adoption agencies will not work
with older parents either. This is true in both the US and overseas.
For example, to adopt an infant from Columbia, both parents must be
in their early 30's. Other countries use a formula which combines
the age of both parents. The older you are, the more your adoption
choices are restricted to older children from fewer countries.
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3. A British take on Sylvia Hewlett's book about babies vs. careers
From: Marek Kukula mjkroe.ac.uk
I saw the discussion on Sylvia Hewlett's book about babies vs careers. Had
just been reading an article about this in a British newspaper and thought
you might be interested:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,689521,00.html
Not sure if the suggestion about massive government intervention is particularly
feasible, but it's an interesting perspective.
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4. More on "childless" women
From: Andrea Schweitzer schweitzfrii.com
> In response to Meg Urry's statement from last week's AASWOMEN,
> "For example, in describing the statistics of childless women in
> demanding professions, the unspoken assumption is that those women
> all wanted to have children and could not because they were infertile,
> while in fact, many may have chosen not to have children,"
> Jacqueline Ward hotmail.com> writes:
> I just wanted to point out that [the Time article says]: "But
> Hewlett argues that many other women did not actually choose
> to be childless. When she asked women to recall their intentions
> at the time they were finishing college, Hewlett found that only
> 14% said that they definitely did not want to have children."
I wondered about that, too!
There were 14% who knew themselves well enough at 20 to say that they "definitely
did not want to have children"??? I couldn't have accurately defined my future
plans while I was still in college. Back then, I wanted to do everything!
In college, I wanted to go and get my Ph.D., be an astronaut, wife, mom, professor,
novelist, plus patent inventions, learn about neuroscience and have plenty of free
time on the weekends to play. Needless to say, that hasn't all happened. ;)
According to the boxes I'd check on Hewlett's survey, back in college I was
planning to have kids, but right now I am 35, never married and childless. Gee,
that sounds empty and lonesome, when in fact I'm ok with my choices. (But NOT ok
with the imbalance science/society places on parenthood vs. careers.) Somehow women
like me fell between the cracks of Hewlett's analysis.
Ding! That was my patience with simplistic studies running out, not my biological
clock chiming.
I may be "childless" according to Time Magazine, yet in my life I am surrounded by
kids!
I have as much time with kids as I can handle: my boyfriend has kids, I do childcare
monthly in my neighborhood, there are always a passle of 3-year-olds to play with
when my friends have parties, I do astronomy programs in the public schools, and the
neighbor kids like to hang out by my front porch and talk.
Articles that would reduce me to "35 and unlikely to bear children" miss the point
about what my life is all about. Sure, it's important to have accurate information
about your fertility for family planning. But having children in your life is not a
black and white issue that is set only by a biological clock - there is a whole
spectrum of opportunities to enjoy children.
Cheers, Andrea Schweitzer
P.S. I'd like to see a cover of Time on topics such as:
Do you wish that science/society would provide more options for those who need a
break from long work hours, such as part-time positions, or the opportunity to get
back "in" after time "out"? (yes!)
Would you like to see men worrying as much as women do about how to combine careers
and families? (yes!)
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5. A report on the situation of women researchers in France (in French)
From: Regis Courtin Regis.Courtinobspm.fr
For those who read French and are interested in the situation of women researchers
in France, here is a link to download a recent (March 2002) report published by
the Ministry of Research:
"Les Femmes dans la Recherche Francaise" at
http://www.recherche.gouv.fr/recherche/parite/frf.htm
Astronomy and space research are under the denomination "Sciences de l'Univers" in
the various diagrams.
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6. Article on physicist Joan Feynman
From: Luisa Rebull rebullipac.caltech.edu
Here is a reference to a great article on Joan Feynman, who has just retired
from JPL.
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,231816,00.html
Dr. Luisa Rebull Staff Scientist, SIRTF Science Center
Caltech M/S 220-6 voice 626-395-4565
1200 E. California Blvd. FAX 626-568-0673
Pasadena, CA 91125
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7. Faculty Position in Theoretical High-Energy Physics, University of
Connecticut (Storrs)
>From WIPHYS posting of 04/25/02:
The Physics Department of the University of Connecticut solicits applications for
a tenure-track faculty position in theoretical high-energy physics. The position is
intended primarily for a junior faculty member at the Assistant Professor level;
however, exceptional candidates may be considered for a higher level appointment.
Applicants should have a demonstrated ability to initiate and lead independent
research, an established record of publications in scientific journals, and strong
teaching skills. The appointment may be made as early as January 2003. Applications
should be sent, with a CV, a statement of research plans, and letters from at least
three references, to:
Prof. Gerald Dunne, Chair
High-Energy Theory Search Committee
Department of Physics,
University of Connecticut, Unit 3046
2152 Hillside Rd.,
Storrs, CT 06269-3046
Screening of applicants will commence on August 15, 2002, and will continue until the
position is filled. The University of Connecticut actively solicits applications from
minorities, women, and people with disabilities. (Search #02A438)
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8. Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, Hunter College
>From WIPHYS posting of 04/25/02:
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, HUNTER COLLEGE
Issue Date: Monday, March 18, 2002
PVN Number: RMP-147
The Gender Equity Project, beginning 1 June 2002, has the mission of insuring equity
in the hiring, retention, tenuring, and promotion of men and women scientists at Hunter
College, and of insuring that men and women scientists benefit equally from resources
and are recognized equally for their achievements. Science faculty include those in
natural science, biological science, social science, computer science, and math. The
post-doctoral fellows on the project will learn how to evaluate institutions of higher
education with respect to gender-fair practices and how to develop interventions to
ensure gender equity in organizations. In collaboration with the project directors, the
fellows will devise and administer a large number of assessment tools, develop programs
for improving institutional practices in hiring and promoting faculty, and develop
programs for improving the status of individual women scientists. Via regular laboratory
meetings with the project directors, the fellows will get a background in and learn how
to use research from social psychology, organizational change, economic theory, and
other fields, as well as from material about "best practices", in order to define
problems and develop effective interventions. In these important positions, the
Post-Doctoral Fellows will help develop a model for establishing gender equity in
science.
The post-doctoral fellows will work with the project directors to accomplish the
following:
* Develop appropriate measures of faculty contributions and administer
institutionalization of those measures
* Develop quantifiable assessments of faculty access to resources such as salary,
start-up packages, laboratory and research support; perform assessments; develop
a plan for institutionalization of assessments
* Develop instruments for measuring faculty marginalization and isolation; develop
interventions to ameliorate marginalization
* Develop a sponsorship program for women scientists
* Develop educational programs for men and women about gender and science
* Develop workshops and colloquia on gender and science
* Develop materials and brochures for other institutions to use
* Develop web-based educational materials for wide dissemination
* Assist in preparation of progress reports
* Assist in preparation of grant proposals
Qualifications:
* Ph.D. in physical, biological, life, or social science, or math
* Interest in a science-based approach to gender and science problems
* Strong administrative and organizational skills
* Ability to interact with faculty, post-doctoral fellows, students,
administrators, funders, and the wider public
* Ability and willingness to learn computer-assisted packages, including database
management and web design
* Strong writing and communication skills
* Ability to work as part of a team and to manage independent projects
Salary:$30,000 - $40,000
Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the positions are
filled. To apply, submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae or resume, and the names of
three (3) references. The cover letter should summarize the candidate's qualifications
for the position and his or her interest and experience in gender issues.
Dr Virginia Valian or Dr Vita Rabinowitz
Department of Psychology
Hunter College
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Open until filled.
THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK IS AN EQUAL PORTUNITY/
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT EMPLOYER.
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