mentors

I've been reading up on reasons why women leave science. This is because I'm going to be partnering with Columbia's Vice-Provost for Diversity Initiatives to find out why. So that's big news - getting the green light there. The plan is for me to apply to this postdoc fellowship at Teachers College, Columbia. The Diversity Office will write a letter of support and also add some funds on top of the fellowship. They even want me to start working on it next semester possibly!

It was interesting to read in one of the books I've borrowed, that one of the oft-cited reasons for women leaving the field of science is lack of mentorship and guidance. For men the most cited (women's reasons were more spread out) reason for leaving was for better income and opportunity. From personal experience I would agree that lack of mentorship/guidance makes a huge difference. I feel that it contributes to performance, motivation, self-esteem and in turn, future opportunity.

Sometimes I envy my youngest sister, who is applying to PhD programs this year in social psychology, she reaps the benefits of my experience.

On Thursday we went to a benefit for one of Ezer's friend's organizations. As is not uncommon, there were refreshments, a silent auction, and an awards ceremony. The best item at the auction was a signed baseball by Hideki Matsui which I didn't dare bid on because one die-hard fan would have been crushed if he didn't get it. One honoree Ezer and I went up to meet afterwards because we were in awe to be in the presence of such history. Robert L. Carter was General Counsel for the NAACP from 1944 to 1968 and was part of the case Brown v. Board of Education. He was very gracious.

In the social support workshop we run, giving advice when it's not wanted can be a particularly obnoxious way to try to help. Giving information is usually a better way to go. I had a nice informative lunch with a friend this week. She has a 3-month-old and she and her husband work for the hospital system as Ezer...and have the same insurance (we just added me to Ezer's plan). Her husband's a resident so it was great to utilize their inside knowledge to get doctor recommendations. I'm sure it's bound to be an improvement on our shoot-a-dart at a name method.

I'm writing this at 6am because I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep....