I am now working in a foreign country at a prestigious university, but I used to be an FWO postdoc at a Flemish institution, in a large faculty that is almost completely male (+90%). This institution does not grant FWO prolongations, but it does have a BOFZAP tenure track system. While a postdoc, faculty members […]
Tom
Finally Giving Up!
Many years ago I tried for a position at my current university (lectureship), just a few weeks after giving birth. I din’t get the job, and requested feedback. The response: “The panel is aware that you have just had a baby. Children are important! You should have a five year plan for coming back to […]
A Woman Of Color Must Be A Member Of The Cleaning Staff
Moving out of my office to integrate a new one after having been freshly appointed as a professor, I was asked by a new PhD student who had just arrived at my former department whether I could take care of the boxes standing outside in the corridor. I gave her a bewildred look and realized […]
Masters Student Pestered By Senior Lecturer
When I was a Masters student at a university in the UK last year I had the unfortunate experience of coming under the wing of a creepy senior lecturer (politics). Despite being married he made it clear that on engaging with me sexually I would receive ‘help’ with my dissertation and possibly as his PhD […]
Who Washes The Coffee Cups After Meetings?
This is the story of me, and all my women colleagues. In every meeting, of whatever kind, the male professors never wash the dishes, the coffee cups, they take their computers and bags and leave, often not even thinking what happens to the post-meeting mess. Sometimes they make sure one person is responsible for the […]