WISENET Journal No. 33, December 1993, pp. 12-13
An article in the last WISENET Journal prompted me to write this. It was a report from Joan Freeman, a physicist, about her satisfying career. She had never felt any need for the assistance of Women's Lib during her career, she said, but was sure that she had managed very well on her own and had enjoyed every moment of her work.
I used to feel the same, and it is only in the last fifteen or so years that I have come to understand that my career has been far from satisfactory, although I love my chosen profession, geology. Really the profession chose me. I had endless battles with parents, university staff and schoolteachers when I decided to change from a chemistry major to geology.
I have made the cardinal mistake of going for jobs that I really wanted to do because of the scientific content of the work. Employers, being aware of my enthusiasm, made me feel that they were doing me a big favour by employing me. In each of my three jobs in 34 years, I was taken on several grades below that which I was worth, but my gratitude and lack of self-confidence always restrained me from insisting on the right grade and salary. If I did, feebly, complain, I was told that I was being ridiculous, because as I obviously got so much personal satisfaction from my work, surely I didn't need money and status too!
My first job was in a university, and I accepted a position below Assistant Lecturer (AL) grade, although I had two post-graduate degrees and better first degrees than the three young men who were taken on at the same time. It took three years to fight my way on to the AL salary scale, when my male contemporaries all joined the Lecturer's scales, despite the fact that I had published twice as many papers as the best of the men. I worked at the university for 15 years, and never even reached the 'efficiency bar' in the Lecturer"s scale, though I had 109 papers and four edited books to my name and had organised a number of successful conferences and seminars. (My male contemporaries were all Senior Lecturers.)
During my academic career, I brought in research grants more than three times my total salary, and attracted many academic visitors, post-doctoral students, and added to the reputation of the department. However, my total joy in my work (research, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and postgraduate supervision) prevented me from seeing that I was being decidedly hard done by in career terms.
My professor praised me constantly for my work, but never tried to promote me to the appropriate level. In contrast to him, I spent much of my time looking after the career interests of the fourteen people who worked directly for me. At that time, in the early sixties to mid seventies, I was young and married. Most older men in positions of authority such as the professor, thought that I was working to earn pin money until I had my family. In fact, my husband was a wretched philanderer, who never contributed to household expenses, and I needed the money to keep myself.
I can only blame myself for my ignorance of my rights, and for the feebleness of my attempts to do something about it. I put it down to my total absorption in my work. In a university environment, quite young people had the freedom to make big decisions for themselves, and were expected to run and fund their own research programs.
My second job, with a geological survey, again began by my accepting a position much below my qualifications, with promises of the first available promotion to an appropriate level. After two-and-a-half yesrs of seeing new graduates being promoted over me, I left. I also got fed up being told by people nominally my superiors, none of whom had published in international journals, that I had to write things this way or that. The pettiness of those in positions of power in trying to suppress some of my work was unbelievable. It was probably that they felt insecure having me work in a subordinate position to them.
My last job in a commercial company was generally much better, but there was a rigid management structure. Those who couldn't do the productive work of finding new mines or oil fields became managers and achieved positions of great power, the abuse of which was appalling. It was clear that, as a woman in a man's field, I could not hope for promotion beyond middle management. I was obstructed by the famous 'glass ceiling'.
I have always loved my scientific work, and although I have had to take early retirement because of ill health, I still continue to work on geological problems. I believe that some of my ill health can be attributed to frustration: seeing men much less capable than I was achieving high positions, with more perks and much more money than I had, having to accept that these incompetents were my superiors, and having to do as they said.
I hope that younger women will learn from my experiences, and, however much they may love their science, will not be conned into taking a poorly paid positlon with no career prospects, in a field in which they are most interested. I hope that they will never feel grateful just for having a job, nor accept that they are only entitled to personal satisfaction, not to proper reward or recognition in terms of status. This is essential in the present economic situation. If you are good enough to be employed for a particular job, then you are good enough to be paid properly and to start the job at a level appropriate to your qualifications and experience! I most particularly hope that younger women will be much more assertive than I ever was. If necessary, they should take courses in assertiveness training and in buildihg up their self-esteem.
I also hope that young women, unlike me, will plan their careers. If at university you plan where you would like to be in five and then ten years' time, you may find that there are several ways to get the experience you need. Every five years or so, you should update your plans, taking some time to do this properly. It is never too late to begin this longer term planning. It is a valuable exercise to sit back and review your career and plan where you want to go. You also need to keep your Curriculum Vitae up-to-date. After a particularly bad day at work, it is good therapy to read your CV and allow yourself some self-praise for your achievements.
You must integrate your scientific plans with your personal ones, including marrying and having a family. By doing this, you may find that there are several ways to get where you want to be, some of which may be less direct than you would expect. For instance, you might arrange to work freelance at home for a while, although this may not be suitable for all sciences. Sometimes indirect career paths may be more effective than trying to trudge up a more obvious career ladder. Don't ever worry if you are called aggressive when you are looking after your own interests. Even today, many men will think that you are, if they perceive you as a challenge to themselves! Don't rely on other people, however devoted, to look out for your interests, because in the end, you are the one person who knows what you truly need, and the only person who can set about getting it for yourself. Above all, be true to yourself, your origins, and your ideals.