Op-Ed

Several weeks ago, a colleague of mine who does advocacy for the American Physical Society asked if I would write an op-ed for our local newspaper. I was surprised that he asked me; I'm not much in politics, especially compared to some people I work with. But the APS does not have many active policy-type people for the state of Washington, and one of our senators cares about women in the sciences, and they were hoping for a piece connecting women in physics to federal funding for the sciences. They said they would strongly assist me with writing the piece (they have staff for that). So I said yes, sure, I'll help, why not.

The way it worked is that an APS person interviewed me about my own history as a woman in physics. She then drafted an opinion piece that connected my story with what's going on politically, and framed a particular request for legislative action. Since I knew basically nothing about the political part (or about writing op-eds), her collaboration was essential. However, she said things I would never say (like "build a better America"), and the op-ed has only my name on it, not hers. When I read her first draft it really hit home to me that everyone would see this: my friends, my neighbors, my rabbis, you name it. I had to write something that I felt good about. So I put more work into it than I was initially expecting to, and felt okay about the result.

I submitted it to the Seattle Times (did you know that just anyone can do this?) and they picked it up within the hour. There was then an editing process with the newspaper, during which they changed the order of things and removed all uses of the word "we" (apparently readers will not know who it refers to). And then on Monday morning it was published! With a title I had never seen and don't actually think describes the piece well. But I am prepared to let it go.

The resulting piece is not 100% me. This is not even necessarily the issue I care most about in the world. (I'm not even sure what issue I care most about in the world; it depends on the day.) The piece is a meeting place, where my own heart and expertise are put in the service of a cause that is presenting itself. It's opportunistic, like my volunteering. Something shows up that needs doing, and maybe I can help do it.

It seems like the thing is getting a heck of a reception. I was so right about everyone seeing it: every day more people I know say something nice to me about it. I posted it to Facebook and got 60 likes and 4 shares, which for me is a lot. The Times asked permission to distribute it to its partner news outlets, and so far it has been picked up by the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, the Columbia Daily Herald, and the Virginian-Pilot. The STEM Education Coalition put it in their newsletter. LinkedIn has a group discussing it. SPU will republish it in its glossy magazine. The APS is contacting reporters about whether they want to interview me. My best guess is that this will die down shortly; but hopefully even if it does, I am helping tip some scale or other.

The comments on the online article are mostly pretty bad. The most common response is along the lines of "Girls are free to study whatever they want; if they're not interested in science, that's up to them." This, while it sounds all very progressive and American, denies any responsibility for how we shape and constrain girls' interests. (I'm not even counting the one who said, "If chicks do get interested in pursuing physics and STEM, the jobs they would have had can be filled by chickified dudes." WTH?) Other deniers of gender unfairness take a line more like "Guys have to deal with the occasional jerk, too; just man up." (Here's another op-ed those folks might read.) Then there's the commenter that assumed that I was a B student (because I said science has a place for B students), and the people who think I am an example of a woman who dropped out of physics to be in the social sciences (understandable, but incorrect). I have not joined the fray... I think it is better if I just stay out of it.

The emails, though, I will respond to individually. These are emails from strangers who took the trouble to look me up, and every one of them is thoughtful and substantive. One is from the parent of a thirteen-year-old girl with tremendous aptitude in math and science who is starting to experience gender crap that steers her away - for example, her school (on Bainbridge Island) offered her the chance to walk to algebra in sixth grade, but since the other students doing the walking were all boys who treated her poorly, she would rather not. This parent wanted my suggestions for how to support her. I didn't know what to recommend, and felt the burden of being in the role of an expert without any actual expertise, but I knew who to ask, and got some good leads. Another letter was from a woman who faced similar obstacles 50 years ago and just wanted to say good luck. Another letter was from a scholar of gender effects on academic performance who wanted me to review his work. Another was from a high school teacher who wanted my advice for supporting women and underrepresented minorities in his physics class. Each letter is fascinating, and a little scary, and very human.