Astronomy
Communicating in a Male Dominated Field -
Several weeks ago I asked a tenured male colleague to review a paper I was writing, the subject of which he knew well. I proposed some basic physics that applied to a specific subset of exoplanets with ~100% certainty, physics not previously considered by anyone. The response I got was a diatribe. Although no argument was on the basic physics introduced, some of the interpretation of the results was the sink to the harangue. The shock of such a response to the entire paper inevitably caused me to stop work. Why would a colleague be so mean to me regarding a result that most definitely affects his (and his post doc's) work?
Upon further review, I realize I have been in this situation before with similar reactionary results: Men, being typical recipients of my communications, return communication unkindly and I react by stopping work. After all, why should I to share what I know when men are so insulting. I have no problem taking what I know to the grave.
I have recently learned that males communicate via One Up, One Down. In this mind game, one tries to make another feel inferior thereby gaining one-up in status. Women, in general, do not communicate this way. Since I am in a male dominated field, I am told I have to ignore the insults. I would think a better outcome is to have men provide constructive criticism. After all, men should have to learn to communicate even if the field is male dominated as women sometimes are the recipients of their communications.
- Why We Resist Unconscious Bias
By Meg Urry, Yale University, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy. Reproduced from the January 2014 Issue of STATUS: A Report on Women in Astronomy About ten years ago, I sat down at my computer to take the Implicit Association Test devised...
- Impostors Welcome
My title is one of the slogans proposed to increase awareness of Impostor Syndrome by a group of faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students who participated in a facilitated conversation about this subject in my department. Impostor Syndrome is the...
- Aaswomen For June 24, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of June 24, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. One Up, One Down: Your Comments2. Statistics of Women in Planetary Science3. Women Speaker Numbers at Solar...
- Words Matter
Recently, a colleague send an e-mail to all department members after he saw an article in the local paper describing a scientific success of one of our graduates. Another colleague replied to all of us with, ?Our boys are really doing it!? I've thought...
- The Effect Of Demographics In Talk Dynamics
I recently attended a talk on a subject within my area of expertise by someone who is not an expert in this field. He argued that the physics he was solving should still apply to the problem, but it quickly became abundantly clear that his understanding...
Astronomy
One Up, One Down
Communicating in a Male Dominated Field -
Several weeks ago I asked a tenured male colleague to review a paper I was writing, the subject of which he knew well. I proposed some basic physics that applied to a specific subset of exoplanets with ~100% certainty, physics not previously considered by anyone. The response I got was a diatribe. Although no argument was on the basic physics introduced, some of the interpretation of the results was the sink to the harangue. The shock of such a response to the entire paper inevitably caused me to stop work. Why would a colleague be so mean to me regarding a result that most definitely affects his (and his post doc's) work?
Upon further review, I realize I have been in this situation before with similar reactionary results: Men, being typical recipients of my communications, return communication unkindly and I react by stopping work. After all, why should I to share what I know when men are so insulting. I have no problem taking what I know to the grave.
I have recently learned that males communicate via One Up, One Down. In this mind game, one tries to make another feel inferior thereby gaining one-up in status. Women, in general, do not communicate this way. Since I am in a male dominated field, I am told I have to ignore the insults. I would think a better outcome is to have men provide constructive criticism. After all, men should have to learn to communicate even if the field is male dominated as women sometimes are the recipients of their communications.
- Why We Resist Unconscious Bias
By Meg Urry, Yale University, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy. Reproduced from the January 2014 Issue of STATUS: A Report on Women in Astronomy About ten years ago, I sat down at my computer to take the Implicit Association Test devised...
- Impostors Welcome
My title is one of the slogans proposed to increase awareness of Impostor Syndrome by a group of faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students who participated in a facilitated conversation about this subject in my department. Impostor Syndrome is the...
- Aaswomen For June 24, 2011
AAS Committee on the Status of Women Issue of June 24, 2011 eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson, and Michele Montgomery This week's issues: 1. One Up, One Down: Your Comments2. Statistics of Women in Planetary Science3. Women Speaker Numbers at Solar...
- Words Matter
Recently, a colleague send an e-mail to all department members after he saw an article in the local paper describing a scientific success of one of our graduates. Another colleague replied to all of us with, ?Our boys are really doing it!? I've thought...
- The Effect Of Demographics In Talk Dynamics
I recently attended a talk on a subject within my area of expertise by someone who is not an expert in this field. He argued that the physics he was solving should still apply to the problem, but it quickly became abundantly clear that his understanding...