I had an interesting discussion the other day with another physicist. He worked with my partner and is now looking for a new job in physics. The conversation switched from catching up with each others lives quite quickly when he said "I want to ask a question, but I want you to remember that I'm not sexist". In his search for jobs, he has seen "women" and it turns out it's really one women, talked up and encouraged to apply for positions that he wants to apply for. When I asked him if he thought that they weren't qualified he said that they were, but didn't like that they were getting their "hand held" throughout the process and he didn't feel like he got any help. He also then went on to complain about how most if not all applications have the whole we are an equal opportunity employer and encourage women and minorities to apply. He felt that this was also un-need hand holding for women. I understand that he is frustrated with how hard it is at the moment to find jobs, but it felt very unfair that he put the blame on women. When I mentioned the APS study to him, he still felt that women were being given an unfair advantage, and that all this "hand holding" was detrimental to our cause, being accepted as equals in physics.

On a similar note, I'm just finishing up my PhD and looking at post docs. I do not think that I've been given any extra special attention or advice about how to get a job. I did however receive an e-mail today from one of my advisors suggesting I might want to look for jobs in two completely unrelated fields. He also once suggested that I become a museum curator and tour guide instead of a Post-doc. When I asked him if he was suggesting this because he didn't think that my work was either good enough, or that he didn't think that I was smart enough or qualified to work in the field of study I'm currently in, he responded with no I was, but he thought I might like working more with children instead of research. I am not sure where he got this idea from as I've always stated how I am not sure I have the patience to be a good prof., and would really prefer a job in industry. I've had many friends with similar stories, they are in the process of getting a PhD and they get asked if they are planning on teaching high school physics when they are done. They are asked if they would rather go into policy instead of research, or my favourite, are they really going to go through the tenure process, since really wouldn't they be more interested in starting a family?

On a plus side, in today's aps' Women In Physics e-mail there was a note about a new initiative from the NSF. It will allow researchers to delay or suspend their grants for upwards of a year to deal with family obligations including a newborn child. Things are changing, but perhaps slower than many would like.