Interesting Links for 17-12-2011

[andrewducker]

• How not to interview people for academic positions
  (tags: academia interview sexism epicfail )
• An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the U.S. Congress
  (tags: politics technology internet law usa )
• Publishers acting as a cartel to control ebook prices.
  (tags: publishing ebooks business )
• In which the question is answered "Would Jedi Ninjas be Awesome" (in video format)
  (tags: video jedi ninja awesome )
• Doctor Gets Court Order to Confine Pregnant Woman Against Her Will
  (tags: usa healthcare law epicfail )
• Game of Thrones is 'fantasy gateway drug'
  (tags: gameofthrones books fantasy funny )
• Pencil Vs Camera - beautiful, dreamlike images
  (tags: art photography drawing viaSkreidle )

Comments

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Jedi versus ninja is what episodes 1-3 should have been like :D

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

You don't have to a rich white man to get ahead in academia; my boss is a hairy socialist who goes to international conferences in tatty jeans and rugby tops*, but it is totally an old boys network, and not participating in the drinking culture makes you an instant outsider. That interview is the most epic fail sexism in academia I've come across though.


*Having said which, we're environmental scientists not classicists.

[erratio.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's completely dependent on the field. When I was in computer science there were basically no female faculty and it was common for me to be the only girl or the only white person at any given outing. Most of us got along by being 'one of the guys' and cultivating a high tolerance to dick jokes. I imagine a girl being interviewed for a compsci scholarship would have to prove a much more rigorous understanding of the material because of the perception that guys are just naturally better at it.

And then I went into linguistics via philosophy and psychology and found completely different ratios. Philosophy had that 'old boys' reek about it in a way that computer science didn't, despite similar gender ratios. Psych seemed to be tilted towards male, but more balanced than any other department I saw. And in linguistics it totally depends on subfield but as a whole the departments I've seen have the men outnumbered 3:1 or 4:1.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I bow to your more varied experience, I should probably have put the footnote referring to the old boys network remark as well.

[andrewducker]

Julie's experience of psychology undergrads is about 90% female. But the higher you get the further it swings - lecturers are around 50:50.

[erratio.livejournal.com]

Yeah. My impression was that most of the females end up doing clinical psych while the males tend to go into pure research. But you probably have a more accurate view on this than me :)

[camies.livejournal.com]

At least in the UK there are a lot of Asian and quite a few Black people in IT/Computer-based areas of work, which I think is probably due to the lack of an 'old boys' network' in precisely the same way. And as you say linguistics (my academic field though I've only recently returned to study) is female dominated.

[steer.livejournal.com]

I've got to say though that she gave an utterly crap answer to the interview question though. I mean it's damned clear what's expected -- so even if she thought that she should on no account advise Karl Rove she could have given "here's five points of comparison between"... or failing that "here's five reasons why the superficial similarities are misleading". Simply saying they're not connected and giving a single reason (which is not particularly convincing) is automatically an interview fail for me as superficially they seem very connected. If you don't agree with the outline of a question then make a convincing clear and well reasoned argument why not - "computer says no" shows you can't think on your feet.

What I really can't believe is that having had time to consider the question carefully in retrospect she still thinks that she got the right answer. Doh! Talk about failing to learn the correct lesson.

My particular corner of academia (maths department 16 years, engineering department 4) is pretty heavy drinking. That said, the most successful person at working our particular social network is a strict muslim who is teetotal. The thing is, that is is (to some extent) about staying late, chatting to the gang, having those late night conversations wthat make you want to work with someone on a problem.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I was referring to the meal in the totally inappropriate restaurant rather than the interview per se, I should have been clearer. I agree that she didn't handle that question particularly well.

[steer.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Sorry yes, my comment was mainly addressed at your comment about drinking culture... Seems prevalent round most corners of academia. That said, the times I've worked with industry it's been a lot worse... the high points being one consultant saying "backs against the wall lads" as we walked near a conference on gay rights and another saying "Well, that's the meal over... now, anyone fancy a strip club?" follwed with "Don't worry it's on expenses." when we looked aghast.

Indeed the industry funded boozing sessions make the academic ones look very amateur.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

Sounds delightful! Yet another reason to go freelance if my academic career dies a death!

[steer.livejournal.com]

One of those comments was from a freelance consultant (agency of one person -- can't really complain to his boss).

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

To which we can only conclude that some people are morons regardless of what they do for a living!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

FWIW I wondered the same thing, but I got the impression she thought the interviewer was deliberately looking for suggestions that Islam should be suppressed and that he deliberately picked an unreasonable question which he was sure he'd be able to criticise any answer she gave, although obviously without knowing the field and based on what she said, I can't judge whether she was right or not.

[steer.livejournal.com]

Sure -- but you can then go for the answer: "I would argue with him that they are very different things because..." (and show off knowledge about said subjects in an unusual context space which is most clearly the point of the question). She gave one reason they were different which demonstrated only superficial knowledge. Seriously, it's an interview, you're supposed to be able to deal with difficult questions from the person who puts you in the awkward spot. If you clam up and give the terse uninformative answer, it does not reflect well.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

Samantha Burton, the confined pregnant woman who later miscarried, won her appeal against the State. http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/florida-court-upholds-right-pregnant-woman-determine-medical-care

[andrewducker]

Excellent news. Thank you!

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Ha, I just noticed my tag. :D

[andrewducker]

:->

I decided to start doing that. Only had to do it once so far though!

(And I'll undoubtedly make mistakes)

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

It's harder for me to keep track of the source for links that come from FB or G+, but with LJ I can just open that person's entry, pull the links from it and cite as I go. :)