Oil spills and Post-docs
By Elizabeth Coffman May 20, 2010 7:42 am
I’ve been focused on the tragic, on-going oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: first, because my current documentary is about the erosion of Louisiana’s coastline and the disappearance of bayou cultures. And second, the spill reminds me of my own dependence on oil for long distance commuting to see my kids in Florida.
The only place that I can constructively place my anger about this disaster is by thinking through my own dependence on oil. I fly twice a month to see my teenagers in Florida (while my job is in Chicago), spewing carbon into the atmosphere the entire way. (My school employs at least three full-time faculty who commute to other homes.) Since the job market for academics is national, and many couples are forced to use a lot of oil for commuting long distances, what steps have universities taken in the hiring process to create positions for partners or to better acknowledge the time-intensive demands of parenting?
Post-docs or contract positions have traditionally filled in the post-degree job gap, supplying variable means of employment around the childbirthing years. But these positions have time limits on them and are no guarantee for acquiring or resuming tenure-track positions once
