A students aren't quitters

The always-insightful Dean Dad has a recently posted on hiring practices in academia.  I particularly liked this paragraph on why aspiring academics fight so hard and long for super-rare jobs that may not even be that awesome:

I’m convinced that one reason some people won’t let themselves let go of the dream, despite years of external signals suggesting that they should, is a sense that it would reflect a personal moral failing. They’ve identified so completely with the ‘meritocracy’ myth that they feel a real need to redeem themselves within it. It’s more than the money; other fields often pay more. Instead, they see the status of “tenured professor” as a sort of validation of everything they’ve done. Leaving the academy would be admitting defeat and accepting failure; lifelong “A” students, as a breed, aren’t very good at that. It’s not what they do.

Like many of you, I've often wondered why it's so hard for people who are miserable to give up the ghost and try for a different sort of job.  I particularly wonder about really unhappy grad students since they are early enough in their careers to take a different path. I think Dean Dad hit the nail right on the head. I don't really even have anything to add here. 

The winner is...

Thank you all for voting on my wedding dress short list.  I ended up going with something of a mash-up of the dresses I posted before.  I really wanted something with some coverage over the shoulders, and this one came with a little lace bolero jacket that I  will wear with it the whole time.  Also, it's kind of hard to image with these pictures, but I think a sash will go really well with it.

It was a sample dress, which meant I got to take it home right then rather than ordering it in my size.  It will need a major hem, or course, and to be reduced in the bust, of course, but other than that it won't need too much alternation.  Even though they are typically cheaper, I had kind of given up on sample dresses since they are mostly in sizes that are way too large for me, but I got lucky with this one.  It was the last one of many, many that I tried on at a point when I thought I might have to settle for something I thought was just ok.  Then I found this one and I just love it!

 

Keeping a foot in both worlds

One of the tricky things about switching fields, yet being interdisciplinary, is figuring out how much involvement you want to keep in your old field.  My research still incorporates a lot from my old field, and I still identify as more of an Old Field-ologist.  Yet, I want to make inroads into New Field since that's the direction I've chosen for my budding research program.

This identity crisis isn't much of an issue except when choosing journals for papers and picking which meetings to attend.  There are two Old Field meetings this year that I really wanted to go to, but I think I'm going to miss them both in favor of New Field travel.  To be clear, it would have been completely relevant to take my current postdoc research to the Old Field meetings.  I say I switched fields, but they are not completely alien to each other.

Ultimately I'd like to work right on the border of the two areas.  My goal for my postdoc was to learn as much as I could about New Field(s), and then be able to assimilate that with my old stuff into something really cool and unique and interdisciplinary and, I think, hot right now.  So while it's disappointing that I'll miss my favorite meetings and the old friends and colleagues I'd see at them, I think it's better for my progress to go to the New Field events.  I'll be on a steeper learning curve, so I'll probably get more out of them, and I'll probably be expanding my network faster.  But it will be a little sad to tell my science friends, "no, I'm not going to Favorite Meeting again this year.  But I swear I'll be back someday soon".

Thank you

Dr Becca has a nice reminder to send thank you notes after you interview.  Totes.  After the workshop we hosted last year, I sent hand-written, snail-mail thank you notes to every speaker.  It might have been overkill, but I think it left a positive impression.  In fact, a few of the speakers emailed to thank me for the thank you note!

That workshop was a ton of work.  Work that kept me from doing other things, like research.  It was worth it, though, because I got a ton of visibility and really expanded my network.   I sent the thank you notes because we were genuinely grateful to have such great talks, and because I wanted to reinforce my new relationship with the excellent scientists who gave them.  On the flip side, I think there was some risk of seeming like a secretary with the hand-written notes.

We'll probably have another workshop this year.  I'm trying to decide how much involvement I want (to the extent that I'm allowed to decide).  I have lots of ideas for how to improve it, I'm intensely interested in the topic, and it's an amazing opportunity for networking.  But: I don't want people to think I'm a postdoc who organizes meetings instead of doing serious research.  I think the key is to approach it as a group effort by the organizing committee instead of one person (me) being the obvious lead.

Keywords

Does anyone have a good strategy for choosing keywords for papers?  I can never decide on the best 4-6 words that are informative but not already in the title or abstract.  Sometimes I'm perplexed at the keywords on papers I read, so I think other people also find it challenging to pick good keywords.

Just ask

I just read Kate Clancy's excellent post summarizing the panel to which she contributed at Science Online 2011.  The post is awesome, and the comments are great too.  I found the discussion of self-promotion by women compared to men particularly interesting.  I started the book Women Don't Ask a while back, and although I still haven't finished it, it had a big impact on how I think about getting what I want.  For instance, I negotiated for a slightly higher salary than I was offered (although a man probably would have gotten even more), and I feel less guilty than I used to about asking for things at work. 

Still, like many of Kate's commentors, I am amazed at things a man will have the nerve to request.  One man actually asked to be invited to speak at the meeting we had last year, and so we did!  It would never occur to me to do something like that. 

My favorite comment there (so far) was this one by Stephanie Meredith:

And now I realize that when a woman hears the message, "You have to self-promote. Don't be afraid to self-promote," she may interpret that in a completely different way from the man who's sitting beside her getting the same pep-talk. Now I realize that I need to ask my male colleagues for specific advice in this area. Now I realize that when a man encourages me to self-promote, I should be asking "How? What would you recommend in this situation? Are there any other things you think I should do?"

For realz.

Writing highs and frustrations

The paper we submitted to the GlamorMag is going out for review!  We're ecstatic.  Everyone cross your fingers for the next six weeks or so.  kthnx.

On the other hand, all the other papers are such a struggle.  And you know, getting feedback, or even a rejection, doesn't bum me out in a defensive way.  I rarely feel like the reviewers are stupid or assholes or whatever and the comments almost always make the paper much stronger.  But frankly, I'm over it.  I'm tired of most of the papers I'm working on.  My reaction to substantive comments is can't it just be done? Can't I just not have to look at this fucker anymore?

I'm making it sound worse than it is, of course.  I'm venting my frustrations because what's a blog for, after all?  In addition to finding out about our paper's progress at the GlamorMag, there has been movement on a couple of other publications this week.  I submitted the meeting report on Monday, and we already heard back that they don't want it as is, but they invited us to try again with a change in focus (requiring major revision).  That's fantastic and the paper will be much more interesting, but can't I just be done with it?  I also tweaked a draft of a manuscript from my thesis work and resent it to the coauthors today, but I'm expecting requests for big annoying changes.  Can't it just be pretty much fine?

I say, it's a hard knock life being a scientist with stuff to publish.