I am a woman in academic science. Do I need to say more than that?
I am a biologist… and I also went to professional school, and I have a faculty position in a major university. I come to work every day because there are certain biological questions that I find fascinating and I can’t stop thinking about. I hope that what I do in my job (and in my life) makes a difference for others. I’ve had a twisted career path that includes a Ph.D. in microbiology completed during a leave of absence from professional school, a post-doc in academic science, a little (and I mean a very little) time spent exploring industry, a non-tenure track academic appointment… and finally the tenure track position. While all this was going on, I got married and had two children. Oh, and yeah- I am part of a two-academic-science-career couple… as if things weren’t complicated enough already.
Although I now have tenure, I was junior faculty only a very short time ago. I spend a tremendous amount of time sharing my experiences (of education, and of climbing the academic ladder with a spouse and two kids in tow) with others around me with the hope that they can avoid some of the mistakes/heartache/frustration etc… that I have been through… and just cut straight to the science-is-fun part of the program.
And yes, I wear a blue lab coat. Or I used to.
p.s. (Thoughts expressed here are solely my own, not those of my employer…. and any resemblance to persons living or dead, is completely coincidental. )
p.p.s. Material on this site is my original work and thus I own the copyright. Reproduction of this material without my permission, in whole or in part, in your words or mine, is a a violation of my copyright.
Blue Lab Coats 
Wait, why do you wear a blue lab coat? Does your whole lab wear them, or just you? Please explain!
Thx-
Crystal
goingtohellforthis.blogspot.com
Crystal-
There is no significance to the blue lab coat- just happened like that. I used to have white ones that I wore in vet school- but they got really really dirty. I find the blue one more practical…. it doesn’t show coomassie or 10x loading dye… The lab members wear whatever lab coats they like, we have blue ones, and white ones… whatever they want.
thanks so much for your blog. It’s refreshing to hear from somewho is where I want to be, and most importantly (to me anyways), isn’t a train wreck.
faculty to be?
No thanks are necessary. It’s my pleasure- a distraction- and something I hope can help one or two people find their way. For me, the way things are going varies from day to day, but I always find joy in the science and my colleagues, even if there are other parts of the job that can be improved upon. The juggling act with family, well- you really have to be in it to believe it!
Wow! You have no idea how absolutely fabulous it is to come across your webpage. Although I am in a slightly different field (epidemiology) it is SO rare to find information about the post-post-doc period. I am about to start a postdoc at BIG_INSTITUTION and I am worrying about finding jobs (typical pd in my field = 2 yrs max if at all) in this awful climate. I know I will need to start strategizing early on but it’s nice to know that there are some resources out there. So thanks and thanks again for sharing this invaluable information.
DulcineadT-
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad that you find the blog helpful. Doesn’t really matter that we aren’t in the same field. Many of the regular commenters on this blog are not in my field- but I we find each other’s input helpful. And just FYI- read the comments- they contain a lot of valuable information from multiple perspectives.
Blue lab coats are the best! We used to wear blue lab coats. My advisor once told me that medical doctors wear white lab coats and PhDs wear blue lab coats. My favorite color is blue so I was extremely happy with that. But unfortunately I have not found anyone else in academia since then who had that system.
I have never worn one but I’ve always liked the blued lab coat’s professional look.
that’s hearing from you, and you have did good balance in personal and professional life. As being women things sometimes becomes much complicated, but i am inspired by reading you. Hats off to you.