Introducing....a new blogger

It is my great pleasure to announce that "On Being a Scientist and a Woman" has a co-blogger debuting today. Alice Pawley is a first-year faculty member in engineering education at Purdue University, and she'll bring a wonderful new dimension to the stories on the blog. Alice and I "met" on the 'net and she has a great writing voice and both a scholarly and personal perspective on women in STEM fields.

It probably surprises some of you that such a personal blog would decide to have a co-blogger. But my purpose in sharing my personal stories has always been foremost to start a conversation about the issues that scientific women face at work and home. The personal benefit I've gotten from being able to release my feelings and get support and feedback has of course been very important, but I've always viewed my blog as being about more than me.

Adding another voice to the story-tellers will expand the range of experiences that are shared. Alice is an engineer, where the culture of maleness is even more entrenched than it is in -ology. She has a long-distance marriage with another academic. She can speak to issues and ideas that I've never confronted. As an added bonus, Alice's research and professional interests center on gender perspectives and theories in engineering. Whereas, I am the queen of the anecdote, Alice can actually put things in a bigger context. And that's something that I've felt was sometimes lacking from our conversations on this blog.

I'm sure that you'll be seeing some changes around here over the next few weeks and months. We may decide to change the name of the blog (although the URL is here to stay). We have a few projects we want to unfurl as soon as our busy schedules allow. But those changes are mostly cosmetic, and this blog will remain a place where we can share stories, gather support, and have great conversations. And there will always be Minnow posts on Mommy Mondays.

For now, let's welcome Alice!