Several of my friends are fans of the Female Science Professor blog and I finally have started reading it regularly too. I found a recent post to be particularly interesting. She said that she had recently gone to a campus service facility and was asked for her student ID. This is interesting because she is now in her 40s, so the student asking for her ID thought it was more likely that a 40-something woman would be a non-traditional student than a professor.
When I went to get my ID here I walked in and asked for a new faculty ID. They did some prep stuff then said, "A student ID, right?" "No, a faculty ID." "Oh, a TA ID." "No, a faculty ID." "Right, a TA ID." "No, a faculty ID." Very confused look. I sort of accepted this as standard since I am indeed a very young professor. But it is interesting to hear that the same thing goes on even for women in their 40s! I wonder if male professors are also mistaken for students.
The same thing happened to me at one of the universities where I taught-- they did a double-take when I said I needed a new faculty ID and thought I was a student. It didn't happen at the other university where I taught, although that may have been because I started to be really specific the moment I reached the front of the line. "Hi, I am a new faculty member and I need..."
ReplyDelete