Luna rambles: how long does a meeting last?*

[[* I have received unhappy feedback on this article, saying that this is a gross generalization that doesn't tackle the real problems of Spanish University. I agree with that judgement: this is not an academic article but a blog entry in which I talk about my personal experience. The target of this criticism is not the figure of "the" Professor, but a specific kind of Prof that I met at the UCM; there are many good profs in Spain who deserve recognition. If you are reading this, it's because you're not one of the bad guys!!]]

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For the sake of entertainment and enlightenment, these days I have been thinking of some differences between the way people do things "here" and "there" -- meaning, in Spain and Canada. And of course there are many: the way one makes friends and relate to others of the same and different sex, younger and older; food issues (will I survive as a vegetarian in this country?), etc. But I'm particularly fascinated by what it means to be a young, female, skilled researcher in Spain. It makes me happy to know I'll return to Canada next year.

In my experience, doing research "here" is much harder, often an excruciating experience. There is some kind of ... fetishism of (male) authority, maybe? Obsession with professional rankings? A socially-established need to step on the necks of others who are perceived to be below oneself? Whatever the case, the result is that I never seem to be placed in a position of equality regarding the people that I work with, and who most of the time happen to be white-headed males in positions of authority within the university, who think that just because they got a permanent position when the first democratic government decided to pump money into public education in the 1980s, and thus have been "there" for several decades, have the right to do what they want, whenever they want, with no regard to the army of "us" that they perceive to be at their orders. Hell, no. If you ask me, this country's university would be much better off were these guys [note: a specific kind of prof] working elsewhere, or made responsible for what they (don't) do.

[section cut due to several complaints]

Once I was at a meeting to plan a research project for which we had gotten government money. The meeting was planned to last from 10 am to 8 pm (!!!). The director of the project didn't show up. The co-director showed up 6 hours late (I should say that he called to say he'd be 15 minutes late). The rest of us worked at neck-breaking pace, sitting down next door to the office of a prof who years before had given me a bad grade because I refused to have sex with him -- he's still there making big money and doing the same thing to other students, despite the fact that I talked to every single person in charge at school. And by the time the co-director came, the work was almost ready for the plucking.

So the other day, when another prof at another university asked me if I didn't have a sense of responsibility towards a country, a state, that had granted me the privilege of a public education, I said yes, I do. I certainly do. But do you know what it is to be a young, female researcher and being treated with respect? Do you know what it means to be independent, not having to obey, or submit to other person's whims, while you do your work? Do you know how long a meeting lasts when I meet with my boss in Canada, and that he's always there?

When you can give me the possibility to come back as what I am to do what I wanna do and live off it, give me a call. In the meanwhile, clean your kitchen before telling me mine's dirty. I'll be singing Oh, Canada.