Academic Careers and the “Two-Body Problem”

February 10th, 2010

In physics, the two-body problem, two objects moving under mutual gravitational attraction, is solved analytically and completely.   No uncertainties.   Simple.   Undergraduates in upper-level mechanics do it all the time.

In pursuing a career in academia, and going on my experiences in astronomy, the two-body problem that is much more challenging is having a relationship or marriage that can survive the experience despite strong mutual attraction.

Let’s imagine a young couple in love that meets in college.

First comes the challenge of graduate school.   Not every university has a good program in your field of interest, and it’s probably worse if your partner is in the same field.   Plenty of programs are too small to admit couples easily, even if they’re both strong candidates.   But let’s skip this part for now.   Plenty of college relationships don’t last long, and are already complicated by different graduation dates and other issues.

Much more common is for graduate students to meet and get married.   A large fraction of female astronomy grad students meet and marry other astronomy grad students.   This is where it gets tough.

Even if graduation dates are coordinated, there are usually 2-3 postdocs to go through before landing a permanent position (if that is even achieved).   The jobs are not easy to get, especially if you put any restrictions on location.   Apply for all 30-40 worldwide you might be qualified for.   Land one or two.   Is it in the same city as the job your spouse landed?

Didn’t think so.

Maybe you both keep on with your career aspirations and compromise on jobs within a long drive away from each other, and spend a few weekends a month together.   Skype and other technology makes it easier to spend semi-quality time together these days.

How about the second post-doc?

How about when one lands a faculty job, and the other doesn’t?

And what if that faculty job is in a small college town without many, or any, options in the spouses expertise?

Most people who can make careers in science can make a lot more money in industry or some sort of more commercial jobs, so sticking with science (or academia in general) is already a sacrifice.   Then there’s the social life issue.   And having kids?   Already hell on a woman’s career prospects to get and hold a permanent job and plenty of stress on a man’s.

There are solutions, but they all involve sacrifice, save for a lucky few.

There’s long-term commuting, which I think sucks.   No one likes that.   Then there are universities, like my own, that try very, very hard to hire spouses.   That’s ideal, as long as everyone is happy.   One partner not getting tenure is doom to that otherwise happy scenario.   Then there’s one partner giving up their primary career and making due somehow doing something else.   That happens a lot, and is the most common solution.   Of course the resentment of the sacrifice by one partner puts a stress on the marriage and can destroy it.

Still, there are a lot of academic couples.   Smart curious people like each other and are bored or uninterested in people who just like to watch tv, play sports, and not engage in intellectual discourse.

I’ve had several friends go through this in recent years, and it’s hard as hell.   I feel for them.   I hope they’re together this weekend for Valentine’s Day at least.

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