An-Old-Male-Economists-Advice-to-Young-Female-Econ

May2004ANOLDMALEECONOMIST’SADVICETOYOUNGFEMALEECONOMISTSDANIELS.HAMERMESH**CentennialProfessorofEconomics,UniversityofTexasatAustin;NBERandIZA.IthankValerieBencivenga,LisaDickson,CaitlinMyers,LindaTesar,SarannaThorntonandJessicaWoolpawReyesforhelpfulsuggestions.AversionofthisessaywillbeappearingintheCSWEPNewsletter.MuchoftheadvicethatjuniorfemaleeconomicsPh.D.sshouldheedisthesameasonewouldoffertomaleeconomists:Work60hoursaweek,withtheresearch/teachingmixdependingontheteachingloadatyourschool;keepexposingyourideastoseminaraudiencesathome,atconferencesandatnationalandinternationalmeetings;aimyoursubmittedpublicationshigh,anddon’tbediscouragedbyjournalrejections.Withinthisbroadadvice,though,thereisawiderangeofissuesthatmyobservationofcontemporariesandyoungfemalecolleaguessuggestsarespecifictowomen.Thesepotentialfemale-specificproblemsarisethefirstdayofgradschool;butIdealwiththem“only”fromthetimetheyoungwomanbecomesaneconomist—whenshehaspassedherprelimsandstartsdissertationwork.Thechoiceofdissertationtopicandspecificsubjectisimportant(althoughnotsoimportantthatanyoneshouldditheroveritforyears!).Inthe1960sand1970salargefractionof(therelativelysmallrepresentationof)femaleeconomistschose“women’stopics”—femalelaborforcebehavior,genderdiscrimination,economicsofthefamily,etc.Thefractionissmallertoday,butsuchtopicsarestilldisproportionateamongnewfemalePh.D.s.Ofcourseyoushouldworkonwhatinterestsyou—otherwiseyouareunlikelytocompleteathesis;butthescarcityvalueofworkinginanareawherewomenareunder-represented—theory,econometrics,internationaleconomics—shouldnotbeunderestimated.Atthemarginthepotentialbenefitsofthisscarcitymakeitworthchoosingsuchareasandavoidingthosethatarecrowdedwithwomen.Don’thidefromyourthesisadvisor;aguaranteedwaytoslowprogressonadissertation,orevenderailit,istoavoidfrequentmeetingswithyouradvisor.Myexperiencessuggestthatthisismoreofaproblemforfemalegradstudents,perhapsbecauseoftheirmistakenviewthattheirideasmustbeverywellformulatedbeforepresentingthem.2Youradvisorexpects/wantstospendtimewithyou;andtryingoutideasisessentialtotheirdevelopmentandimprovement.Inrarecasesadvisorsandotherfacultymaybesexualpredators—theirinterestindealingwithyougoesbeyondtheprofessional.Suchactivityshouldleadtorevocationoftenure,asitpotentiallycloudstheadvisor-adviseerelationshipforallstudents.Itbehoovesyou,ifyoureasonablybelievethatyouhaveconfrontedsuchbehavior,tohaveaconfidentialtalkwithatrustedseniorfacultymember.Foryoursakeandthatofyourfellowandfuturestudents,don’tputupwithunprofessionalbehavior.Morecommonly,advisorsorotherfacultymaytakefemalestudentslessseriouslythanmales.Thisisalesserproblem,butitisalsohardertohandle.Thebestsolutionistobepersistentandadoptatoneandconversationalstrategythathelpmakesureyourideasareheard.Asayoungfacultymemberyouarelikelytobetheonlywomaninyourdepartmentoroneofveryfew.Youaretheretobeanacademiceconomist—toteachanddoresearch,nottorepresenta“woman’sview”toyourcolleaguesortoyourstudents.Nonetheless,yourneargenderuniquenessalwaysputsyouinthespotlightandcreatespressuresonyouthatshouldberesisted.Occasionalcounselfromwomeninrelateddepartmentsonyourcampuscanbehelpful.Universityadministratorslovecommitteesthatarebalancedbygender;buttherelativesupplyofwomen,especiallyfromeconomicsdepartments,issmall.Evenasajuniorprofessoryoumaybeaskedtoserveonuniversity-orcollege-widecommittees,arequestthatisflattering.Don’tbeflattered—avoidtheseliketheplagueunlesstheexposure/effortratioishuge.Thetimespentonthemeatsupresearchtimeandusuallygeneratesminimalcreditinyourtenuredecision.Requestslikethisareanotherformofsexualexploitation.23Evenwithinadepartmentjuniorfemalefacultyaredisproportionatelyaskedtodoadministrative/committeework.SomeofthisisprobablyOK,andsomecreditisgivenattenuretime.Heretoo,though,theexcessdemandisnotsomethingyoushouldgiveinto.Anddoingstereotypicalcommitteework—nurturingundergraduatesorgradstudents,beingthesecretaryofacommittee—isaparticularlybadidea.Untilrecentlyyoungfemalefacultymembersoccupiedthetwoofficesnexttomine.Theconstantstreamofstudentsduringtheirofficehourswasstriking,aswastheirwillingnesstotalkwithstudentsforlongperiodsoutsideregularofficehours.Studentsdon’tviewoldguysasmotherfigures—eventeachinghugeclassesmyofficehoursareonlycrowdedbeforeexams.Manystudentsapparentlybelievethatyouaretheretonurturethem,butyouarenottheirmother.Seeingthemoutsideofarestrictedsetofofficehours;devotingexcessiveamountsoftimetosubstantivequestionsbyoneorafewstudents,anddealingwiththeirpersonalproblems(ajobbestlefttoyourinstitution’scounselingservice)alldoadisservicetootherstudentsandtoyourself.I’veseenmalestudentsattempttobullyyoungprofessors,especiallywomen,intoallowingmorepointsonexams,providingextraexamtime,postponingexams,andothergrade-badgering.Thissubtle,andoftenlesssubtlecoerciondoesn’tbelonginauniversity.Givingintosuchrequestsoftenmeansmoreworkforyouandgivesthestudenttheideathathe(onceinawhileshe)canplaythesystem.Youaretheauthority,anderringonthesideoftoughnesswithsuchstudentswillsaveyoufurthertroubles.WhenI