Re: PHYS-L Digest - 24 Aug 2000 to 25 Aug 2000 (#2000-297)

[Margaret Mazzolini <mmazzolini@SWIN.EDU.AU>]

> An interesting statistic that I picked up at the meeting in Guelph:
> About 90% (give or take, I don't remember the exact numbers) of women
> physicists are married to other physicists.

That sounds about right, from my experience, at least for female PhDs, and of course my
husband is a physicist too.

> In fact, for those women who are
> married to physicists, the obvious solution to the latch-key problem
> is the so-called "two-body problem." That is, the couple sharing
> joint half-time appointments. It isn't common yet, but it is becoming
> moreso as physics departments who are interested in becoming more
> female-friendly realize that this is a good way to do it. The rules
> governing such arrangements vary from school to school, but more and
> more schools are realizing that they get a good bargain because for
> slightly more than one salary (benefits often can't be split) they
> often get considerably more than one person's work.
>
> there is certainly more than one way to skin this cat.

This is great for those who can make it work. It does have some problems though (and not
just for the cat):
1/2 time sharing of one job can mean that one partner does most of the research (leading
to promotion and tenure) and one most of the teaching.  Sharing those evenly can be hard
to do - it's often hard to maintain a serious research program working only 1/4 time on
it.
Also, 2 jobs in the same department can be risky - at least here in Australia, where
physics is in decline and some departments are in danger of closure, with others cutting
back on staff.
Not many physics couples I know, here and in the US, have managed to get jobs at the same
place, because of the way their research interests differ.  Often getting jobs in the same
town can be an achievement.
And finally, sharing one job means one full salary only, which may not be optimal (esp.
here) if there are kids & schooling costs, etc, involved.
Cheers
Margaret

> Hugh
> --
>
> Hugh Haskell
> <mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>
>
> Let's face it. People use a Mac because they want to, Windows because they
> have to..
> ******************************************************

--
Dr. Margaret Mazzolini
Astronomy Course Coordinator
Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing
BSEE, Mail Box 31,
Swinburne University of Technology,
PO Box 218 Hawthorn VIC 3122
Australia
email: mmazzolini@swin.edu.au
phone: (+61) 3 9214 8084
fax:   (+61) 3 9819 0856

Visit Swinburne Astronomy Online, online courses in astronomy:
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