Synchronicity
Jun. 19th, 2007 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astra_nomerLast night's Marketplace show on NPR included this item about dual career couples and the problems they face -- the two-body problem, as it is referred to among physical scientists, because we're geeky that way. Some quotes that resonated with me:
The article also says that universities are actually responding, and trying to find solutions to the two-body problem with HERCs: Higher Education Recruitment Consortiums.
This morning, I see this on PhD comics:
Personally, I've been lucky enough to not have a significant two-body problem. My husband does not face the same hurdles finding employment that I do. When it came time to move for my postdoc, knowing that my husband would be able to keep his job saved me a lot of angst. But so many of my friends do face the heartache of having to decide between their career and their relationships. This includes many readers of this here little blog -- you know who you are. I earnestly hope that things change for the better, for all of us.
"We have a number of friends who were academics, who cheerfully, one half — but wistfully — would say OK, you know, we want to be together, and so one of us will actually stop being an academic. And I think for us, that would really breed a resentment. You know, how can you ask somebody to give up what they do when that's such an integral part of who they are?"
Almost a third of all faculty and staff in higher education are partnered with other academics. They face huge hurdles when it comes to getting jobs in the same place.
The article also says that universities are actually responding, and trying to find solutions to the two-body problem with HERCs: Higher Education Recruitment Consortiums.
HERC members hope that by collaborating, they'll be able to hire their top-tier candidates by luring them to the region, rather than placing the burden on only one institution.
This morning, I see this on PhD comics:
Personally, I've been lucky enough to not have a significant two-body problem. My husband does not face the same hurdles finding employment that I do. When it came time to move for my postdoc, knowing that my husband would be able to keep his job saved me a lot of angst. But so many of my friends do face the heartache of having to decide between their career and their relationships. This includes many readers of this here little blog -- you know who you are. I earnestly hope that things change for the better, for all of us.
