It has taken me a long time to decide to have a blog, but now seems like the time to start, and not coincidentally I have some time.
Why now? I am influenced by recent observations about the relative lack of representation of academic women in many of the "extra" activities of our profession, such as blogging or teaching MOOCs or starting companies. One reason for this is obvious: busy people don't have time for extras, and female professors with children are busy. They aren't the only ones who are busy, of course, but they are busy, especially when their children are young. I know from experience --- my two daughters are now 11 and 14 years old. The decision not to take on extras is personal and makes complete sense as a personal decision. But it does leave an unfortunate void that means the wisdom, experiences, hard and soft knocks are not well communicated to those entering and in the field facing similar challenges and opportunities.
Why do I have time? I am spending the 2012-2013 year on sabbatical leave, the first in my 20 years as a professor. A few years ago I told an Italian professor that I had never taken a leave and he said "shame on you." I had many of the usual reasons -- two career couple and spouse can't leave town, children are happy in their schools and can't leave town, too involved in the university and can't leave my responsibilities to others. But last summer I stepped down after seven years as founding chair of the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, and I decided that leaving town wasn't necessary for me to get value from a sabbatical. And that turned out to be right. Working from my deck may not be quite as good as working from a town in Italy, but it is still sufficiently different from my office as to let me think differently and spend my time differently. More on that in a later post.
So I will give blogging a try. Let's see how it fits.
Why now? I am influenced by recent observations about the relative lack of representation of academic women in many of the "extra" activities of our profession, such as blogging or teaching MOOCs or starting companies. One reason for this is obvious: busy people don't have time for extras, and female professors with children are busy. They aren't the only ones who are busy, of course, but they are busy, especially when their children are young. I know from experience --- my two daughters are now 11 and 14 years old. The decision not to take on extras is personal and makes complete sense as a personal decision. But it does leave an unfortunate void that means the wisdom, experiences, hard and soft knocks are not well communicated to those entering and in the field facing similar challenges and opportunities.
Why do I have time? I am spending the 2012-2013 year on sabbatical leave, the first in my 20 years as a professor. A few years ago I told an Italian professor that I had never taken a leave and he said "shame on you." I had many of the usual reasons -- two career couple and spouse can't leave town, children are happy in their schools and can't leave town, too involved in the university and can't leave my responsibilities to others. But last summer I stepped down after seven years as founding chair of the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, and I decided that leaving town wasn't necessary for me to get value from a sabbatical. And that turned out to be right. Working from my deck may not be quite as good as working from a town in Italy, but it is still sufficiently different from my office as to let me think differently and spend my time differently. More on that in a later post.
So I will give blogging a try. Let's see how it fits.
Atta Girl Ellen! Can't wait to read more! :-))) Might inspire me to make the time to get back to my own blog.......
ReplyDeleteCan I still read your blog even if I'm not an academic woman? ;-) I only read a couple of blogs, but will definitely add yours. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteJust added it to my favorites!!
ReplyDeleteBut now you need to get on Twitter so more folks will see this. You don't need to read tweets, just post and let people retweet it. :)
ReplyDeleteSharing wisdom, experience, insight...great. Looking forward to future posts!
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