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From: jpj@mss.UUCP (J. P. Jenal)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.politics,net.social
Subject: Re: Discrimination against women (and teaching's rewards)
Message-ID: <278@mss.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Jun-85 15:56:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: mss.278
Posted: Fri Jun 21 15:56:50 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Jun-85 08:13:52 EDT
References: <482@ttidcc.UUCP> <8203@ucbvax.ARPA>  <457@unc.UUCP>
Reply-To: jpj@mss.UUCP (J. P. Jenal)
Organization: Mayfield Senior School, Pasadena, Ca
Lines: 88
Xref: watmath net.women:6055 net.politics:9559 net.social:730
Summary: Society takes advantage of teachers' dedication

In article <457@unc.UUCP> fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) writes:
>One other factor is that women tend to choose occupations with greater
>NONMONETARY benefits which may compensate for the lower pay scales.  That is,
>women more often choose occupations which center around helping other people
>and cooperating with them (TEACHER, nurse, secretary, social worker).
>The direct gratitude from the helpee satisfies some of the woman's social
>needs.
>
>Men more often find themselves in occupations which either isolate them
>from other people, or pits them in anxiety-provoking competition.
>Some of these higher paying "men's jobs" are dirty and dangerous as well.
>
>The fallacy of the equal-pay-for-equal-work idea is that it compares
>only the paychecks and level of skill and training required.  If we do not
>also factor in the safety, pleasantness, and emotional effects of the job,
>then this plan is likely to create more unfairness than it rectifies.
>
>	Frank Silbermann


As a former MTS at Bell Labs and now a veteran of 3 years of teaching at
the high school level I would have to disagree with the above statements.
While it may be true that some women do choose occupations such as teaching
out of a desire to help others, it is wishful thinking on the part of society
to think that such desires are compensation for the extremely hard work
involved in such careers.

Please note that I am not comparing teaching to dangerous, high risk
occupations but rather let me simply compare it with my earlier work at
BTL.  While an MTS I worked shorter hours, had infinitely more free time,
felt free to take long lunches, if I worked until late one night I balanced
that out by coming in later the next day. If something intrigued me I could
simply pursue that for awhile - as long as my other work didn't suffer.
For this freedom and access to outstanding facilities, I was paid extremely
well, received stock offerings, had a part in a savings plan, etc.

As a teacher, my free time is greatly limited.  I arrive at school before
7:45 every morning and rarely leave before 6:00.  (Even though my contract
only requires me to be on campus from 8:15 to 3:30.)  During my day at
school I am expected to have classes prepared and papers graded.  I am also
in charge of our computer facilities - mss, the system from which this
article originated as well as a fairly large collection of micros - and
must therefore deal with all of the system administration chores that in
some environments would be considered a full time job.  Here, it is just
one of many hats that I wear.

I teach a wide variety of classes - from Algebra I to A.P. Computer
Science.  All of those classes require my time outside of class for
everything from computer lab time to tutoring slower students.

Inevitably some students don't do too well.  Some deal with that by working
harder but others simply choose to blame the teacher.  Thus, rather than
being thanked by those you are trying to help, you are, at times,
despised and vilified.  Part of my job involves dealing with the parents of
such students.  Again, this is not always a very satisfying experience.

When I go home, I work.  Either grading papers, preparing classes, working
on our system or talking to students.  On weekends I often work a similar
schedule - trying to get ahead or possibly to try something innovative to
do in class the following week.

What about summer vacations?  Well, I don't have to teach classes but I do
spend my time working on the lab here trying to develop new facilities for
use in the Fall.  I also spend time working on interests of my own, such as
graphics.  Inevitably these efforts find their way back into my classes.
Many of my students have also gotten very interested in graphics, computer
music and so on.

For my time I get paid at a rate that is markedly below what I would earn
were I still at BTL.  To be precise, in my first year at the Labs,
fresh out of graduate school in 1978, I was offered $19,100.  Next year, my
fourth year in teaching, will be the first year that I will exceed that
salary.  (Anyone care to factor inflation into those figures?)

Of course the bottom line for me is that I love teaching and I do derive
much greater satisfaction from what I am doing now.  But I believe that
what I am doing now is also of much greater value to society as a whole and
I think that it is wrong for society to take advantage of the dedication of
its teachers.  The imbalance between the work required and the compensation
provided is one reason why so many teachers feel taken for granted, burnout,
and quit - a situation that society really cannot afford.

Thank you for your consideration - sorry this is so long.

Cheers...

	Jim Jenal		(aka ...!scgvaxd!mss!jpj)
	Mayfield Senior School	( "  ...!ihnp4!mss!jpj)