I am appalled to hear that this sort of thing is still going on. It was
common when I was in school in the 60s but that was 40 years ago! Who are
these dinosaurs?? Have they been living in Afghanistan all these years?
1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
and pollution.
2000's: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
MAY help restore populations.
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Judith S. Weis, Professor Department of Biological Sciences
Rutgers University, Newark NJ 07102 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: 973 353-5387 FAX 973 353-5518
http://newarkbiosci.rutgers.edu/faculty/weis.html
On Sun, 5 Nov 2006, Anita Lahey wrote:
> As a 42 year old female graduate research assistant in fisheries =
> ecology,
> only Audrey Mayer and Margie Mayfield=92s comments spoke to my =
> experience in a
> male-dominated research field. Put simply: gender bias exists. To write =
> off
> gender bias as a maternity/paternity-leave question is to muddy the =
> waters.
> I have experienced bias in fisheries ecology as a female, but very =
> little
> bias due to the possibility that I might someday consider having a =
> child.
>
> =20
>
> Bill Silvert said he suspects women don=92t enter oceanography because =
> the
> =93equipment is heavy and cumbersome=94. That, Bill, is an example of =
> gender
> bias and one that women in field biology run into quite often. Granted
> fisheries ecology is a bit unusual in that, like firefighting (and
> apparently oceanography), it is considered a =93man=92s world=94. Are =
> women really
> strong enough to pull people out of burning buildings? Are women really
> capable of carrying backpack electrofishers?
>
> =20
>
> Let me relate to you my own experience. At my undergraduate western land
> grant research university, my undergraduate advisor, an =93old-school=94
> professor, actively discouraged the undergraduate women in my fisheries
> cohort from applying to graduate school. I had stellar grades and =
> GRE=92s and
> when I applied to grad school well-known ecologists were eager to take =
> me
> on, only to, suddenly in the application process, drop me like a hot =
> potato.
> It took me a year to figure out something funny was going on. A visiting
> potential advisor, after breakfasting with my undergraduate advisor, =
> told me
> he thought I would =93really do better at a larger university=94 than =
> his own. I
> realized something was awry, and, confronting my undergraduate advisor,
> discovered that, behind my back, he had been secretly blackballing me =
> from
> graduate school. He told potential advisors (and me) =93she does not =
> have what
> it takes to make it through graduate school, she is unreliable and
> irresponsible, she has alienated the entire fisheries and wildlife
> department and I wouldn=92t let her into my lab=94. I requested that he =
> =93cease
> and desist=94 and he did. But, he also sent two other young women in my =
> cohort
> away in tears saying =93we don=92t accept people like you into graduate =
> school=94
> and there were only four women total in fisheries, so he got to 3 out of =
> 4
> of us. Maybe he was reacting to my singularly crappy unreliable
> irresponsible personality, and maybe Zefra=92s =93C=94 in history really =
> did
> disqualify her from grad school, but then why did he choose to =
> discourage
> three out of the four women in my cohort from grad school but no men =
> that I
> know of? The pictures of his research group consist of seven or so men, =
> and
> no women. Is this because women lack the Y-chromosome necessary to deal =
> with
> the heavy and cumbersome equipment of fisheries ecology? I realize now, =
> that
> not only did the advisor delay my entrance to grad school by a year =
> (costing
> me financially), but I lost undergraduate research opportunities. Had I =
> had
> a supportive undergraduate advisor, he/she would have directed me =
> towards
> undergraduate research and the NSF graduate research fellowship that I =
> was
> well-qualified for. This was 2002. The guys label him as =
> =93old-school=94. His
> attitude was limited to a particular department. At the same school, =
> other
> departments actively supported women in research. My goal is not to =
> indict a
> particular individual, but simply to give a real-life example of =
> gender-bias
> in action.
>
> =20
>
> Fisheries biology is still an =93ole boys club=94. In three fisheries
> departments that I know of (including both my undergraduate and graduate
> departments), I have seen men get slipped in =93through the back door=94 =
> into
> graduate fisheries positions, meaning lacking the necessary credentials =
> (GRE
> scores, field experience, research experience) required to enter =
> graduate
> school. Their only credentials were charming, young, male and =93like to
> fish=94. One of my own technicians got accepted into MSU =93through the =
> back
> door=94 and more power to him, but heck, if I could have =93slipped =
> through a
> back door=94, I could have saved four years of expenses. In my interview
> process, again and again I was told my application was weak because I =
> lacked
> undergraduate research experience. These double standards make me angry. =
> A
> woman is discouraged from grad school because of a =93C=94 in history or =
> lack of
> research experience while a man doesn=92t have to take the GRE=92s or =
> have any
> field experience?
>
> =20
>
> Our department recently hired for a wildlife biologist and a fisheries
> biologist position. We most likely bemoaned the lack of qualified female
> fisheries applicants (about 1 out of 30 was female), but clearly the =
> weeding
> out of women is happening before the postdoc level. It=92s occuring at =
> the
> undergraduate level.=20
>
> =20
>
> If women say they are being discriminated against, then most likely they
> are. To deny that there is gender bias, even in the hallowed halls of
> biology or ecology, is simply na=EFve.
>
> =20
>
> Anita Lahey
>
> Graduate Research Assistant
>
> Virginia Tech Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> http://filebox.vt.edu/users/alahey/
>
> =20
>
> =20
>
> =20
>
> =20
>
