No longer a minority

One of our departments has moved into the 21st century and hired two women as professors, an engineer and a businesswoman. They both gave a talk on their research this evening, and invited the faculty to a glass of champagne afterwards.

Our faculty is not the most famous for showing up at things like this - there have been presentations at which the audience consisted of the dean only. But tonight there were two women from other faculties present, and a good number of members of their department. As I counted through I realized that we were 5 women in the room and 6 men - and I didn't feel like I was a member of a minority.

We had a great discussion after each talk, and some nice small talk around the champagne. This is how I think it should be at university - we don't just bicker about money or rooms or chairs with each other, but we also talk about what we are doing research on.

And my students today were on their best behavior after my eruption last week. They were prepared, quiet, and asked tons of questions. I would love to have days like this at least once a week - if that is not too much to ask.