Scientiae Carnival: Renewal

I really wanted to participate in this month's scientiae carnival because it is it's 1 year carniversary but I haven't been participating much of late because I'm out of science work and feel like I'm just holding on to my dreams and trying to chase my fears away; fears about my abilities, about long lasting lack of funding, about being stuck away from the job I love. It's already past the due date for this month's carnival (over at Rants of a Feminist Engineer by Skookumchick, it's founder) but it's got me thinking.

Professionally, more then anything, I want to see myself back in research and science in the very soon near future and not just on a volunteer basis but on a paid semi-steady basis. I want to be part of a research group that both challenges and supports me, a place where ideas can bounce and find their way, a place where the ropes I missed out on learning in the past are available for me to learn from, a place that encourages me to take the bull by the horns when I need to and to tack out of the wind when otherwise required. There are dreams here that I dare not vocalize although some of them would seem trivial because I hold such dreams very close to my chest.

Right now what I am trying to remember most of all is that when I feel paralyzed to act because the prospect of failure overcomes me is that the anguish or joy over something working out lasts a short time while the paralysis can go on and on and so therefore there is in actuality less to lose by acting on each and every possibility.

October 2007 Scientiae Carnival

A quick announcement before we get to this month’s carnival. CONGRATULATIONS to Jokerine for designing the winning logo for Scientiae (see below)! Please feel free to copy & paste it to your Scientiae post if you have submitted one for this month’s carnival. Thanks very much to FemaleCSGradStudent & to Skookumchick for contributing wonderful submissions! And thanks to all of you who voted!



On to the October Carnival whose theme is Mentoring/ Supervising/ Advising - the good, the bad, the inspiring, and the morale draining. I would like to thank all of the participants in this month’s Carnival – as many of the stories will attest, mentoring & supervising is something most have experienced from both sides of the coin. Great posts everyone!

I have been reflecting a lot on this topic lately because I have had some supervisor/ advisor/ mentor relationships that were particularly disastrous (i.e. resulted in people getting seriously hurt) and because I am beginning to supervise people myself. This has lead me both to think about the working atmosphere that I want to look for in the future as well as to reflect on what kind of supervisor/ mentor I want to be.

Here are things that I think are important in a good supervisor/ advisor:

- regular & clear communication-trusting others to do the job and knowing that they will make mistakes but that is how they will learn

- be sure to let the employee/ student know when they’re doing something write or something you appreciate as well as when they’re doing it wrong. It doesn’t take much and it will certainly make any employee go out of their way for you if they feel appreciated

- looking out for your people. This means their safety, this means their welfare, this means getting their backs. The project will only be as good as the effort your people are willing to put into it, if you have their backs, they are more likely to have your. The safety of your people should be more important than any data point. No data is worth a life. As a supervisor you are more then responsible for the data, you are responsible for people.

- creating a team of the lab; regular meetings, discussions on what everyone is doing, pre-presentations, fostering an atmosphere where people bounce ideas off each other, help each other, etc.

I think a mentor goes beyond all of this…and a mentor is not necessarily a supervisor. They’re someone who helps you keep perspective, who inspires you, who will listen and help you evaluate a situation even if they don’t have the answers, they are a sounding board. They’re someone who helps you find clarity with where ever you currently are with your career and your life. In an ideal world a supervisor/ advisor is also a mentor but it doesn’t always work out that way. Often they are the people you find on your own as you are seeking to grapple with the issues of life & career and how to go from here – where ever your here is.

Okay, enough of my thoughts, here’s the list of contributors to this carnival. Enjoy!

Patricia Campbell of Fairerscience with "We need a name for it" in which she discusses the powerful dynamic that can occur when mentor/mentee relationships become something bigger and our lack of appropriate vocabulary to use for it.

Cathy Davies of Lab Cat talks about "Growing up in a sorority" and how sororities, although much maligned, can be a powerful place for mentor/mentee relationships.

Science Woman at her blog On Being a Scientist and a Woman discusses how we go through different mentoring needs throughout our careers and about forming a network of relevant mentors in "Young Faculty ISO Mentoring".

Veo Claramente of The Ways & Means of the Immune System talks about the characteristics that defined her best mentors and how she hopes to follow their examples in "When the Levee Breaks" In particular she points out what she feels the most important piece of advice is she has gotten over the years.

Jane from See Jane Compute writes about how being a mentor affected her confidence in her field and how it has shaped her approach to being a mentor in "Lessons from mentoring".


Kate & Cat from A K8, A Cat, A Mission writes about how to deal with the angry student and how this is really an opportunity to be a mentor and how sometimes it’s not all that pleasant but that it can still really make a difference in "Once upon a time – thinking about mentoring".

Jenny F Scientist from A Natural Scientist gives us an excellent three part discussion on mentoring covering 1) Funding in "Realistic Mentors Say ‘Chances of Funding Are Slim, Check Magic 8 Ball" and 2) Publishing and Grant Writing in "Realist Mentors Say ‘Play the Game (And if You Want to Innovate, Game the System)’" and 3) a little reality check on future prospects that she thinks your mentor should have told you in "Realism in “Realistic Mentors Say ‘I’m Telling You This For Your Own Good’"

Twice Tenured on her blog Twice gives us a post about a recent interaction with her PhD advisor in "Some things don’t change".


Saxifraga of Rising to the Occasion revisits her relationships with her PhD advisors after two years of space in "Advising – in hindsight".

Skookumchick on Rants of Female Engineer talks about how what could have been a useful tool for mentors in assisting their graduate students and post-docs turned out to be a farce in "Mentoring & Supervision: Official Faculty Knowledge".

Female Doc in Training from Kate’s Casebook thanks her first mentor on teaching her how to be a good mentor and making it a positive experience in "Mentoring: Learning from my Student".

Kathi from Kat on a Wire writes about the differences between what she is looking for in a mentor and what she gives as a mentor and what she thinks she should take from it in "What I’ve Meant by Mentoring".

Mad Hatter at A Mad Tea-Party writes a tribute to the people she has worked with who influenced her career choices by giving a list of things she learned about being a good mentor from them in "On Being Mentored and Being a Mentor".

Propter Doc at Post Doc Ergo Propter Doc discusses her dislike of the word mentor & it’s connotations especially when she feels it is part of the job description of a supervisor in "Thoughts on Mentoring".

Thanks for a great carnival! See you at the November 2007 Scientiae Carnival which will be hosted over at Yami's blog Green Grabbo. As usual you can find out about the whens & wheres of future carnivals over at the Scientiae Blog.

Hosting Oct Scientiae Carnival (& a blurb on Just Posts)

CALLING ALL SCIENTISTS, TECHNOCRATS, ENGINEERS, & MATHEMATICIANS!!!! I have volunteered to host the October 1, 2007 Scientiae Carnival (click here or on the button to the right), a blog carnival that compiles posts written about the broad topic of "women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Anyone may contribute as long as the topics are "relevant & respectful" (for more details check out the Scientiae Welcome Page). Please pass the word on to your fellow scientists, technocrats, engineers, and mathematicians! SEPTEMBER's Scientiae Carnival can be found over at Suzanne E Frank's @ Thus Spake Zuska.

THE OCTOBER THEME: Mentoring/ Supervising/ Advising - the good, the bad, the inspiring, and the morale draining. Details about relationships you've had on either side of the boss/employee, advisor/student relationship. What kind of people inspired you and kept you going? What were the qualities that you admire in such people? What kind of people made you want to throw the towel in, made you feel incompetent and feel like you would never make it in the field? What kind of qualities were these? And most of all, how do we as a community of women scientists, be good mentors for the others? Any memories of someone who just inspired you? What are our responsibilities as mentors? As good supervisors? As employees/ students? Do tell!

SUBMISSION: Please submit your posts (or posts by others that you think qualify) by the usual methods, and try to get them in by 8 am Alaskan Standard Time (that's 12 pm Eastern Standard Time) on September 31st. I will get it up on the 1st or 2nd of October.

IN OTHER NEWS: Jen @ One Plus Two, Mad @ Under the Mad Hat, Hel @ Truth Cycles, and Susanne @ Creative Mother Thinking have just posted the August lists of Just Posts or Posts for Justice (they sum up posts at the end of the month while Scientiae sums them up at the begining, in case you were wondering). Go check them out (click on the button to go there now)!