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re:job at Vassar



Last week Cindy Schwarz said, regarding the part time temporary position at
Vassar College: "WHAT WE ARE HOPING IS THAT THERE MAY BE SOMEONE OUT THERE
WHO FOR OTHER REASONS WANTS ONLY PART TIME (RAISING A FAMILY PART TIME,
WRITING A BOOK, SPOUSE IN THE VICINITY, INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY?), NO
SERIOUSLY, MAYBE SOMEONE WHO HAS OTHER REASONS FOR BEING IN THIS AREA,
MAYBE SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO GET MORE EXPERIENCE "TEACHING"."

I like this! The more flexibility in jobs, the better. Many women
physicists, and some men, who subscribe to the WIPHYS listserv have said
that they wish they could work part time.

There are many reasons for wanting part time work in physics, as Cindy
points out. College professors and high school physics teachers typically
work about 55 hours a week at a full time job. That can get repetitive if
you've been teaching at a community college for a long time!

Many women have said on WIPHYS that, besides wanting time to be with their
young children, they desire to have a more well rounded life. For example,
when my 2 children were small, I loved my job teaching half time at a
university. It gave me time to do volunteer work in the community on
behalf of the environment and nuclear weapons reduction. Since my husband
was working full time, the fact that my job wasn't tenure track didn't
matter, although I appreciated the fact that my physicist colleagues wanted
me to work "permanently".

In situations where there are retirement plans that allow a professor to
ease into retirement by working part time for a few years without penalty
in their pension, I urge people to take advantage of this opportunity,
insofar as they can afford it, if they are feeling the least bit
unfulfilled by their work.

My present job, directing the NSF-funded Modeling Workshop Project, is 3/4
time at my insistence, so that I can have time to learn and to fill out my
life with other interests. When I return to Scottsdale Community College
from my leave of absence, I have arranged to work 1/2 time. I'm not
wealthy (and my husband is retired with a very small pension) but we value
a rich, fulfilling life more than excess money and we live "lightly".

Do any of you share my desire for increased opportunities for part time
jobs in physics (particularly long term opportunities)? And are permanent
part time jobs available to you if you should want them?

Happy holidays!
Jane


Jane Jackson, Prof. of Physics, Scottsdale Comm.College (on leave)
Box 871504, Dept. of Physics, Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ 85287-1504.
phone:(602) 965-8438 fax: 965-7331 e-mail: jane.jackson@asu.edu
Modeling Workshop Project: http://modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling.html