WOMEN IN THE ACADEMIA

Daniela Frumusani, a university professor and a prominent member of civil society, says that women have to play three roles every day: that of super-worker (who needs to demonstrate daily that she is very good at her job), of super-mother (who looks after the entire family - old parents, sick husband and children alike) and super-woman (who embraces the fashion industry and aesthetic surgery because consumer’s society tells her to do so). According to professor Daniela Frumusani there is quite a dramatic difference between men and women, stemming from the way people are labelled according to what they are and how they are, while constantly disregarding the expertise of women who have past the age of being able to be top models.

Coralia Cartis is one of the few women in the department of Applied Mathematics at Oxford University in Great Britain. When she left the Babes Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, central western Romania, she knew she would have to face a double challenge: that of being an immigrant and a woman at one of the most prestigious schools of mathematics in the world. “When you come from outside and notice that you’re about to enter such a competitive, male-dominated environment, you are bound to be a little apprehensive. In the field of science there is a large discrepancy between the number of men and that of women – the latter are greatly outnumbered, not only at the level of PhD applicants or lecturers but also at the level of undergraduate students. Compared to Romania, the proportion of students majoring in mathematics at Cambridge or Oxford is significantly lower. In my department for instance, out of 40 lecturers and professors, only one is a woman.”

It was only two years ago that the first woman professor in applied mathematics at Cambridge received tenure, says Coralia Cartis. “Many people say that there aren’t any women to apply for those jobs…There is an imbalance and everybody can see it. That is why, when the choice is between a man and a woman, the tendency is to favour the woman because of this very imbalance.”

Although discrimination, positive or otherwise, is forbidden in Great Britain, the principle is that of equal opportunities. However, they say women develop slower in the academic environment, because many of them find it difficult to give up a family life, and try to combine career with private life.

I asked Lia Stanciu how is it for a Romanian woman to be an assistant lecturer at the University of Indiana in the US. “Traditionally, the American academic environment is a men’s world, and it is very difficult for them to accept women as teachers, especially in engineering. Maybe it’s understandable, considering that there is always this fear that a woman might want children and, therefore, she is unlikely to devote herself to research and teaching; consequently, she becomes less competent or desirable. However, there is this national policy that encourages the family and women in general, and this will help prejudiced people to accept women, so they can have a real chance to succeed in the academic environment. It is very difficult for a woman, because she has to carry out several jobs at the same time, to work 60-80 hours per week. Besides teaching, you have to publish articles in international magazines and to find money for the researchers that work for you. Moreover, you have to have your own PhD students and pay them too. So it’s not only research or science you’re involved in. You have to also teach and find money, and that takes a lot of time and effort.”

Despite all this, it was neither the PhD examination nor the professional competition itself that presented the most difficult challenge for Lia. When asked about the biggest challenge in her career she answered – my child: “I decided to have a child when I was a PhD student, because I thought it would be much more difficult later, when I became a professor. I worked up to the day before I delivered. My pregnancy wasn’t difficult, so I was lucky. I also had a friend who helped me a lot and I will always be grateful to her. A Romanian lady, a former medical nurse, started taking care of my baby 2 weeks after I gave birth. I also wanted to breast feed, and I was lucky that my house was not far from school and I had time to ride my bicycle home, breast feed my child and then run back to school. It wasn’t easy, but I’m lucky, I have a good child.”

Although they appear to have found a middle way, the Stanciu family members are spread across all the corners of the world: “Because of our jobs and visa problems (I couldn’t find a job where I wanted so I had to go to California for that purpose) we had to take the child to Romania until 2006 when our family was reunited. That was the most difficult period we experienced: my husband was in California, I was in Texas and our child was in Romania. It was a huge effort but it was worth it, especially for the child. We hope he’ll have an easier life. We have to see if we manage to strike a balance in our lives and have stable careers. This is an intellectually challenging job...Deadlines mean additional work for a specialist journal or a conference. To hone down an idea you need time, and peace and quiet, because form without substance is not acceptable. Financially it’s a reasonable job, the wage is average. PhD positions are very badly paid because you are still considered a student in many countries”.

What does motivate these extraordinary women to be Wonder-Women day in, day out?Andreea Calin, a university lecturer in France, has recently written about careers in the academic environment. “What makes a PhD position so desirable is that besides the joy of teaching, you are paid to let your mind ‘create’... In a world in which almost everybody does what others choose, this could be considered a ‘luxury freedom’. But before being free, you must prove that you deserve this position, since no one is automatically favoured.”

After 4 years of sustained effort and at the beginning of her academic career, Lia Stanciu believes women can break their colleagues’ prejudices: “I think mentalities will gradually change, especially with the wave of women entering the academic world and obtaining success....We have to prove that such preconceived ideas are not grounded”.