I think I didn’t do enough to emphasize this point last time, so I wanted to add that, besides, and intimately related, to giving birth/having a family, the two-body problem is the other reason that so many women drop out before reaching the highest positions in science.
The two-body problem, for those unfamiliar, refers to the difficulty of finding satisfactory jobs for both members of a couple in the same location at the same time. This problem is difficult for any couple to deal with, but when one or both members of a couple are looking for a faculty position, it can be an extremely difficult one to solve.
I’ve seen a few solutions to this problem. The two individuals can indeed find jobs in the same geographical vicinity. Also, the two individuals can find positions in two different places; I’ve seen a number of couples who live in cities up to thousands of miles apart, and hope to be able to find jobs in the same place at some point in the future (note: I’ve never seen this solution be employed if the couple has children). But again, most often, the solution is that one member of the couple eventually leaves academia or abandons the hope of getting a tenure-track position, because it’s too difficult to find a faculty position near their partner, and that member is most frequently the woman. And the woman goes on to raise a family, or work as a scientist in her husband’s lab, or gets another job entirely, but she forgets about having a faculty position herself.
Ultimately, we have to conclude that there are no easy solutions to the two-body problem, or the problem of women dropping out of science before reaching the top of their fields. The most workable and most palatable solutions all require a willingness to compromise, and people very motivated to balance work and family (and friends, and their own personal interests), and as the old saying goes, if you’re a jack of all trades, you’re probably a master of none.
But then again, as my mother would say, tough cookies. Life is difficult, and even if all external factors were removed, many women wouldn’t reach the upper echelons of science anyway, just as many men don’t. You do what you enjoy the most, and what you get the most satisfaction out of, and life requires, if not compromise, then a really well thought-out “To Do” list. The sad thing is not that we have to prioritize, but that we have a limited time on this earth to do it, and a limited amount of time within our time on earth in which to do some of the most important things.
Two body problems operate everywhere, not just in science of course. In my experience, when you find a couple of working adults who have children, it is quite common to find that one of the adults has made a serious career compromise somewhere along the journey. Usually, in my experience, the woman. (But not always.)
If I remember correctly, Richard Grant wrote about this very phenomenon a while ago. [Sounds of searching around…]
Yes, here it is
Well, I’m a two body problem. I live in Canada and my husband lives in Germany. As things are however, he is the one who left academia. He now has a permanent position (at Springer, a German scientific publisher) while I am the one who is still job hunting. I’m presently on the market again…
So Sabine, are you thinking about moving back to Germany?
(We did the two-continent-relationship for almost three years – it sucks. Hope you can get a way to change that soon!)
Hi Steffi,
Well, yes, of course. We’ve been living in a very-long distance relation ship since 5 years now. I consider it progress that meanwhile I’m on the Eastcoast (previously I was in California and before that in Arizona). The problem is however that there are very few positions in the field I work in, so no room for being picky. It adds to this that the longer I’m living in North America, the weaker my connections to Germany. And it’s not exactly a big secret that nothing works without connections. However I am honestly tired of that whole game. Given that I was never overly enthusiastic about making a postdoc to begin with I think it’s been enough. Best,
B.
Good luck Sabine.
Good luck from me too!!!