________________________________________________________________
January Meeting Focus: Balancing Career and Personal
Life
Iris Schrijver
Co-Chair, Programs Committee
The January meeting of the Palo Alto AWIS chapter was attended by
approximately 75 people and started with a membership appreciation gift give away. There
were gifts for many members, and delicious chocolates for those who did not win. Very
special thanks to Susan Bernhard and P.A. Moore, who bought and wrapped all these
presents!
Our featured speaker was Dr. Celia Moreno, staff psychiatrist at the
Stanford Counseling and Psychological Services. As counselor to Stanford students and
couples, she hears about the struggle of juggling a career with a personal life. In her
talk she used both her professional experience and her personal life as a single mother
with a demanding career, as a perspective. Issues many women are facing in today's
fast-paced society can include lack of mentorship in the workfield, encountering the
"glass ceiling," and sexual harassment. In families with children, scheduling is
often very difficult, especially since egalitarian childcare is often not yet a reality.
Women without children, however, may also feel that reality often does not meet their
expectations of personal lifestyles and devotion to their careers. Faced with the
impossible task of giving 100% in all areas, women are often left with a feeling of guilt,
resulting in lack of self-esteem, chronic stress, and stress-related disorders such as
depression and anxiety disorders.
Celia offered strategies for breaking away from this circle of events
by taming perfectionism and setting flexible priorities according to one's needs. Hobbies
left behind can be picked up again as they are essential, life-sustaining enjoyment.
Stress-reduction techniques (e.g., getting enough sleep, taking the time for balanced
meals, and exercise that you enjoy, as well as mentorship) can make a big difference. She
suggested strategies for reducing stress at work (e.g., staying on one performance plateau
for a while, planning ahead for busy times), in relationships (e.g., scheduling
couple-time and dividing chores by project, not function), and childcare (e.g. finding a
mentor, and having some overlap in care when you come home). Finally, she noted that we can
have it all, just not all at once!
________________________________________________________________
Wanted: Chapter Volunteers
After selflessly dedicating herself to the chapter for
more than six years as Membership Committee Co-Chair, Mary Alice Yund is planning to leave
this position. Many thanks, Mary Alice, for all your efforts in keeping our chapter
membership healthy and organized! We are looking for a new Membership Co-chair and other
volunteers to help Co-chair Audrey Ringer with the directory mailing, which will take
place in April. To volunteer, please contact Audrey or Susan B. (phone numbers, e-mail on
the back page).
Would you like to
participate in producing this newsletter? We need you! If you have editing skills, or are
interested in learning how this newsletter is put together, come join the Newsletter
committee. For more information, contact newsletter editor Bless Castro at
bacastro@worldnet.att.net or (510) 548-8440.
Laura Smoliar has a new job at 3-D
Technologies and has stepped down as Programs Committee Co-Chair. Many thanks to Laura for
a job well done, and welcome and thanks to Adrienne Yang who has volunteered to take her
place!
________________________________________________________________
Book Reviews
A DEVOTION TO THEIR SCIENCE: Pioneer Women of Radioactivity - by M.
Rayner-Canham and G. Rayner-Canham (eds.) Chemical Heritage
Foundation (co-published with McGill-Queens University Press), 1997; 307 pp; US$55, paper
US$19.95.
A collection of biographical essays concerning 23 women physicists and
chemists in the field of radioactivity in the first part of the 20th century. The book is
noteworthy for including nearly forgotten women scientists who worked at a time when
established science did its best to discriminate against them. Physicist and Nobel
Laureate (1935) James Chadwick, noting that radioactivity counting in Vienna was done
exclusively by women, said women "can concentrate more intensely than men, having
little on their minds anyway." - Publisher's review (Thanks to P.A. Moore)
DILEMMAS OF A DOUBLE LIFE: Women Balancing Careers and Relationships
- by Nancy Kaltreider, M.D. (ed.)
Jason Aronson Inc., 1997; 296
pp; hardback US$29.95.
"Dilemmas of a Double Life" is about the exhilarating and
exhausting balance of career and relationship in women's lives today, a challenge with few
generational role models for guidance. What are the solutions? Some women are able to
resolve the tension by superhuman efforts or by mirroring the lives of their
male colleagues. Other strikingly pragmatic women assess the role
overload and jettison part of it, choosing to work part-time or not to include children in
the package. Yet there remains a group of women who really do want it all and the book
especially speaks to them. Here, the best solution is often to sequence the most
prioritized roles, using an understanding of women's development to gradually incorporate
them into the rich tapestry of life. - Preprint flyer advertisement
Editor Nancy Kaltreider, a woman of many roles, is Professor of
Clinical Psychiatry, Director of Medical Student Education, and Director, Program for
Women, in the Psychiatry Department at the University of California, San Francisco. She
has assembled a group of sixteen professional women who contributed to chapters that
discuss issues such as: the two-body problem, pregnancy and delayed childbearing, careers
without children, balancing career and parenting responsibilities, strategies for dealing
with gender discrimination and harassment, women in leadership, developing entrepreneurial
skills, and transitioning into senior managment. This book deals with the many life
transitions that confront individuals starting from early career issues leading up to late
stage career opportunities, and presents these issues in a pragmatic, problem-solving
manner. (Thanks to Lisa Wang)
________________________________________________________________
Mentoring Through Cyberspace
Ann Reisenauer
Vice President
If you're interested in encouraging more women to pursue their
interests in scientific and technical study and careers, please consider serving as an
on-line mentor to an undergraduate or graduate student through MentorNet. We need at least
250 mentors to be matched this winter for the first year of a national pilot program.
Sign-ups are now open! MentorNet, the national electronic industrial
mentoring network for women in engineering and science, seeks "e-mentors." Male
and female professionals with scientific and technical backgrounds who are
working in industry will be paired with undergraduate and graduate
women studying science, math, and engineering in college and at the graduate level via
e-mail. Mentoring is a proven strategy in encouraging the retention of women in these
fields where they are currently under-represented. E-mail allows mentoring relationships
to occur where geography, time, or financial constraints would otherwise prevent them.
Basic requirements include a commitment to mentor at least through the end of the academic
year (~May 1998), and 2-4 e-mail exchanges per month with the student. Introductory and
training information and on-going program communications are provided to assist mentors
and students in creating an effective mentoring relationship.
MentorNet is a national program, based on a successful two-year pilot
program at Dartmouth College. In its first year, students from 15 different universities
across the country are participating. This number will grow as the program develops.
MentorNet is a program of WEPAN, the Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates
Network, and is supported in its start-up year by grants from the AT&T Foundation and
Intel Foundation.
________________________________________________________________
Career Inquiry Calling
for Participants
Ann Reisenauer
Vice President
We are recruiting women who use math, science, engineering and related
technologies in their careers to participate in a Career Inquiry at the Tri-Valley
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Conference. This conference will take place at the Pac Bell
Facility in San Ramon, CA on Saturday, March 7th. The career activities will be at 11:00am
-12:30pm and 12:30-2:00pm. We invite you to participate in one or both of the sessions
(arriving 1/2 hour early) and we encourage you to stay for refreshments at 2:00pm.
At the Tri-Valley EYH Conference, sponsored by the Math/Science
Network, we register 400 girls in grades 6-8 and 200 girls in grades 9-12. Girls attend a
keynote speech by Carlene Ellis (Corporate VP of Intel), two workshops, and a special
activities session. This year the Career Inquiry is part of the special activities. We
will focus on personal contact between the students and women representing all fields
where math/science is used. In order to handle the large number of students, we need many
women who are willing to spend 2-4 hours just answering questions about themselves –
what do you do in your job, how did you get there, what is your education or training, who
are your role models, etc. – that students will ask within an investigative reporting
scenario. You may be asked to sit on a career panel for senior girls. We are looking for
scientists, engineers, mechanics, forest rangers, mathematicians, women in medicine,
pilots, technicians, computer specialists, electricians, welders, plus EVERY other
math/science career we haven't listed! We also encourage women in career transitions, and
students in college, graduate, and technical schools to volunteer.
To participate, please send your name, address, phone, email and occupation to
eyh-careers@llnl. gov, or call Celeste Matarazzo, 510-423-9838, or Rosemary Wal-ing,
510-422-4104. We will get back to you with more information!
________________________________________________________________
AWIS Volunteers
Get Kids Excited About Science
Ann Reisenauer
Outreach Committee Chair
The AWIS Outreach program now has over 20 women - in disciplines
ranging from biology and chemistry to engineering and physics - involved in the effort to
show school kids that science is not just a man's game. Women scientists from both
academia and industry give hands-on presentations in the classroom, tell kids about their
careers, serve as science fair judges, and help teachers design experiments that can be
used in the classroom. The women involved in the outreach program are concerned about
promoting science and want to show students that science is fun. And their very presence
in the classroom makes them role models, so girls realize that they, too, can be
scientists.
We need your help publicizing this program. Just copy the flyer on page
5 of this newsletter and distribute it to your kids' teachers or to friends and colleagues
who have school-age children. The flyer lists hands-on activities that our scientist
volunteers can bring to the classroom.
A very popular activity is called "strange liquids". Anne
Grillet and Elizabeth Wheeler, graduate students in Chemical Engineering at Stanford,
first talk about the differences between solids and liquids. Then they have the kids make
silly putty Ð and watch their surprise when a milky solution of white glue and water
coagulates and forms strands after they mix in another liquid, a borax solution. The kids
get messy, have fun, and learn about polymers. Most importantly, they learn that they can
do science, too.
If you would like to share your enthusiasm for science with school
kids, join the AWIS Outreach team! Contact Ann Reisenauer at 650-494-9272 (evenings) or by
email at reisen@cmgm. stanford. edu].
________________________________________________________________
Notes from the Prez
Susan Bernhard
President
Three particularly exciting annual AWIS events take place each spring.
I am thinking of the NCC workshop in February, the NCC Recognition Awards Banquet in
April, and the publication of the new Chapter Directory.
On February 21, about 70 AWIS members met at Bayer Corporation in
Berkeley for the 6th annual NCC workshop on Career Development. We had two great speakers,
Mary Ellen Mort and our own Debbie Farag, who gave us a list of useful URLs for
job-seekers, and a wealth of tips on informational interviews.
This year the NCC Recognition Awards Banquet will be on April 23 at
Genentech (see pages 7-8). We will present the Judith Poole and Ellen Weaver awards, and
announce the winners of the 1998 Scholarships.
The Chapter Directory is a great reference for getting in touch with
AWIS friends and colleagues. But its usefulness is directly proportional to its
completeness and accuracy, so please check your Directory information and update your
current position or any info which may have changed since the last printing. Use the form
on page 6.
Come bloom with us in 1998. See you at the next chapter meeting (24th
of March)!
________________________________________________________________
Call for Directory Update
Mary Alice Yund
Co-Chair, Membership
We will be printing the next version of the chapter directory in late
spring. If you have moved, changed jobs, or added an email address, please fill up the
form below, include the new information, and send it to AWIS-Palo Alto,
c/o Mary
Alice Yund, 723 Woodhaven Rd., Berkeley, CA 94708-1540 or call (510)525-1715 to update the
new directory. Thank you.
________________________________________________________________
Mentoring
Committee Events for Mentors & Students
Meredith Williams
Member. Mentoring Committee
The AWIS Mentoring program held its February event on February 10th.
The topic was "Effective Communication and Discussion". Coaching was led by
Doree Allen of Stanford's Center for Teaching and Learning. The workshop emphasized
conceptual approaches to using content, voice and non-verbal communication in a manner
well-suited to the individual. Many of the attendees shared their experiences and the
result was an appreciation for the many ways to make a presentation which accounts for
one's individual preferences and strengths.
The next event of the Mentoring Program will be a campus lunch and
networking session for graduate students on Wednesday, March 4 at 12:00. Meet in Gilbert
117 (in Biological Sciences, Stanford; e-mail Aparna Desai (desai@leland.Stanford.EDU) if
you need directions). This is a chance for graduate students to relax a little while
taking advantage of the support system available through the mentoring program. This is
also a great way to get ideas on how to handle the many challenging aspects of getting a
graduate degree.
The March evening event for both Mentors and Proteges will be on
Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00pm in the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building, Room 372. After
dinner we will show the film "Asking Different Questions: Women and Science" .
This one- hour film comes from the National Film Board of Canada. They write, "This
documentary explores the difficulties women scientists have faced, while revealing the
kinds of contributions women have brought to science. By asking different questions, the
five women scientists in the film -- working in the fields of physics, engineering,
environmental health, and forest genetics -- come up with startling ideas that challenge
the foundation of modern science and technology. Each in her own way has made a radical
departure from mainstream science by incorporating her feminism and social activism into
her work."
________________________________________________________________
C A L E N D A R o f E V E N T
S
AWIS-PALO ALTO MARCH SEMINAR
Tuesday, March 24
7:00 - 9:00 pm
SLAC Training Center
Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto
"Science Entrepreneurship as a Career Option"
Dr. Carmen Vigo-Pelfry
President, Neurocal, Inc.
*
Starting your own
biotech company
*
What you should know
BEFORE quitting your job
*
Pitfalls and how to
avoid them
Details on page 4
Contact Susan at bernhas@baxter.com, or Krista at kbowman@arris.com
OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP SKILLS WORKSHOP
Saturday, May 2
Coyote Point Museum
San Mateo
"Climbing Your Own Everest with Arlene Blum"
A one-day workshop sponsored by the Sierra Club
Cost: $100/person
Reserve your spot by April 1.
Make check payable to Arlene Blum Lectures and mail to
Debbie Benham, 1722 Villa St. #2, Mt. View, CA 94041.
For more info, contact Debbie at 650-964-0558 or dmbenham@aol.com
Web Page: www.sierraclub.org/ chapters/lomaprieta/sts/blum.html
NCC-AWIS AWARDS BANQUET
Thursday, April 23
Conference Center, Genentech Inc.
Forbes Blvd., South San Francisco
6:00 pm Social Hour
7:00 pm Dinner (by reservation)
8:00 pm Awards ceremony
Cost: $25 before April 15
$30 after April 15
Details, registration form , and maps on pages 7-8.
Contact Annette at annette@gene.com or 650-225-8274 (voicemail)
AWIS-PALO ALTO MENTORING LUNCH
Wednesday, March 4
12:00 noon
Meet in Gilbert 117
Biological Sciences
Stanford University
Lunch/Networking Session for Graduate Students
Sponsor: Mentoring Committee
E-mail Aparna Desai at desai@leland.Stanford.EDU
if you need directions.
TRI-VALLEY EYH MEET
Saturday, March 7
10:30 am - 2:00 pm
Pacific Bell Facility, San Ramon
Tri-Valley Expanding your Horizons Conference
Details on page 3 ("Career Inquiry")
Contact eyh-careers@llnl.gov or Celeste Matarazzo at 510-423-9838;
Rosemary Walling at 510-422-4104
AWIS-P.A. MENTORING DINNER & FILM SHOW
Tuesday, March 10
7:00 pm
Mitchell Earth Sciences Bldg.
Rm. 372
Stanford University
Dinner and Film Show: "Asking Different Questions: Women and
Science"
Sponsor: Mentoring Committee
Details on page 6
Contact Kathy Reynolds Lacey at kdreyn@leland.Stanford.EDU
EAST BAY AWIS MARCH MEETING
Wednesday, March 18
6:30-8:30 pm
Chiron Corporation
4560 Horton St., Emeryville
"Balancing Your Time: How Women Can Make It Work"
A panel of working women scientists will discuss how they manage their
time to manage work and family demands
Powell St. Exit off I-80, right on Hollis, right on 53rd St, left into
Chiron parking lot. Follow signs to the meeting.
Contact Chris Rozanas at
510-796-0384 or
rozanas@aol.com
[Also check out the new ebAWIS web site at www.ebawis.org
which should be open in early March.]