NOAO > Astronomy FAQ > Caty Pilachowski Interview
NOAO > Astronomy FAQ > Caty Pilachowski Interview |
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What is your current job title?
My current job title is "Astronomer".
How many jobs have you had in your life? What were they?
Counting baby-sitting when I was a teenager? Lots! But counting just jobs since I graduated with my Ph. D. in Astronomy, two. The first was a post-doctoral fellowship, which I held for 4 years after the Ph. D., and the second was a "permanent" job on the staff of the National Observatory.
How long have you been working in your present job?
I've been working at the National Observatory for 20 years. I started as a "support scientist," assisting observers who came to observe on our telescopes, and am now a senior member of the Scientific Staff, with tenure.
Have any of the following factors affected your work life, and if so, how?
Changing technology
In any job, and especially in scientific fields, it is essential to continue to learn to use new tools. In science I must compete with my own age cohort, with more senior colleagues, and with newly-minted Ph.D.'s and even graduate students for access to telescope time and data. If I don't make skilled use of the latest tools and techniques, I can't compete successfully.
Layoffs or cutbacks
I have never been laid off or cut back, but non-tenured colleagues have. In astronomy, jobs are hard to get, so this is always a concern. Many astronomers' salaries are paid by research grants. If a grant proposal isn't successful, the astronomy doesn't get paid. Astronomers write lots of proposals for research grants and for telescope time.
Economic Recession
An economic recession reduces both government revenues and charitable donations, both of which reduce the amount of money available from grants. Since most astronomy research is funded by grants, this reduces the amount of research that is done, and some astronomers are unable to raise salary money from grants, as well.
More women working
The number of women entering astronomy graduate programs has more than tripled since I started graduate school in the early '70's. But the number of senior women professors has increased by a much smaller percentage. Still, the number of women at scientific conferences is much increased, as have the number of women in technical positions on observatory staffs. It is now much less common that I am the only woman at a working meeting. This is a BIG improvement!
Job sharing or contact work
This isn't done as much in scientific research as in other fields, since scientists need to work more than full-time to be competitive.
Working from a home based office
Many astronomers do a lot of work from home, as well as from an office. Astronomy (and science in general) is usually both vocation and avocation!
Can you think of any other ways the world of work has changed since you first started working? Have you ever had to retrain? If so, in what field? Why?
I constantly retrain, both to learn new technology and to keep up with what is known in my scientific field. And every few years, I switch to a new area of observatory support work, so that I'm always learning new things. It would be pretty boring to do the same thing, in the same way, over and over again.
When it comes to finding and keeping a job, do you think education is more or less important than it used to be?
No question here. Education is much more important!
What advice would you give to help young people prepare to enter the workforce?
Find a field and a job that you love. Going to work every day for forty years to a job that isn't fun is a waste of a life.
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NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Last updated 29 November, 2000. |
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NOAO > Astronomy FAQ > Caty Pilachowski Interview |
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