Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2012 was Barack Obama, the dullest
choice they could possibly have made. I would have cast my vote for Malala Yousafzai
who made it on the list of runners-up. Among the runners-up one could
also find particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti ("The Discoverer") who had
the eyes of the world on her when she announced the discovery of the
Higgs last year. That, I thought, was pretty cool to find a particle
physicist on that list.
Alas, the article, if you read it,
is somewhat funny. To begin with you might get the impression she was
selected for heroically fighting a toothache. And then there is this
remark:
“Physics is a male-dominated field, and the assumption is that a woman
has to overcome hurdles and face down biases that men don’t. But that
just isn’t so. Women in physics are familiar with this misconception and
acknowledge it mostly with jokes.”
This pissed me off enough to write a letter to the editor. I only
learned coincidentally the other day that it appeared in the Jan 21
issue of the US edition. (Needless to say, we get the European edition.)
Below is the full comment I wrote and the shortened version that
appeared. There are many other things one could have mentioned, but I
wanted to keep it brief.
“As a particle physicist, it was exhilarating for me to see Fabiola Gianotti on
your list of runners-up, but I was very dismayed by Kluger's statement
it is a "misconception" that women in physics face hurdles
men don't.
Yes, instances in which I have been mistaken by my male colleagues for
the secretary or catering personnel can be "acknowledge[d]
mostly with jokes", though these incidences arguably reveal biases and
not everybody finds them amusing. But the assertion that women in
physics do not "have to overcome hurdles... that men don't" speaks
past the reality of academia and is no laughing matter.
In this field the competition for tenure usually plays out in the mid to late
thirties, and is not only accompanied by hard work but also frequently by
international moves. Men can postpone their family planing until after they have
secured positions. Women can't. I am very lucky to live in a country with
generous parental leave and family benefits. But I do have female colleagues
in other countries who faced severe problems because of unrealistic
expectations on their work-performance and lack of governmental
support while raising small children.
Both genders face the tension between having a family and securing tenure,
but the timing is markedly more difficult for women. You have done a great
disservice to female physicists by denying this "hurdle" exists.”
