Apologies for those on this list not really engage in this discussion -
but for many of us this is a persistent theme of neglect.
I think it's important to give credit where credit is due and to
differentiate between the different conference organisers; AAG, IGU and
RGS-IBG. The AAG have stood out as pioneers for *at least* citing
creche facilities and funding on conference web-pages for several years
now. (I've lost count of how many conferences I've attended on work/life
balance issues where childcare is nowhere to be found in the conference
details.) The IGU (under RGS influence but without them having any
control over the details) made childcare available for the *first* time
in Glasgow 2004. This was off-site and entirely unsatisfactory; I know,
I used it: 2 x trains for a one hour journey each way! After this
debacle the WGSG raised the issue of conference childcare for the 2005
RGS-IBG London conference. The result was excellent progress: an on-site
'mobile' creche run by Ofsted approved staff (i.e. police checked,
qualified, properly paid). Having my daughter and me on the same site
meant we could share the conference experience together (including
post-session ice-creams). Please let's recognise at least some progress
here (albeit a tiny first step in the 21st century!)
As a single parent I've employed postgrads in the past for ad hoc
childcare when I've had to step out of my 9-5 routine or go away to
deliver seminars - and the potential abuse of this 'reserve army of
labour' worries me too. Moreover, when my daughter was wee I
understandably worried about her safey. For the AAG, in a country of
supposedly bountiful opportunities for private enterprise, I'm sure a
mobile creche could be set up by properly qualified staff on site.
Perhaps GPOW and other specialty groups could petition the organisers
for this? For myself, I confess the prospect of stretched out (and
stressful) childcare arrangements in Chicago have persuaded me to take
the expensive route of flying my parents over to England from the USA to
look after my daughter, so that I can then fly to the USA solo. This
points to the irony that environmentally conscious geography communities
can clock up one enormous great ecological footprint in order to present
papers to each other!
Helen
Dr Helen Jarvis
Geography, Politics and Sociology
University of Newcastle
Daysh Building
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
+44 (0)191 222 6959
Admissions Tutor
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/geps/research/geography/UK-US/index.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sara MacKian
Sent: 14 October 2005 09:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Creche facilities at the AAG
After my experiences of having to Chair with babe-in-arms at the IBG a
couple of years ago, I am amazed that childcare is still an issue at
these conferences. Following that I was inundated with people saying
they had experienced childcare problems too and the IBG/RGS I understood
were meant to have sorted it out after that (sounds like they didn't
though, if there were problems at Glasgow).
If I was a mother facing the sort of childcare arrangements on offer at
the AAG I think I would seriously consider having to pull out.
Why can't the AAG be responsible for organising the hire of a group of
locally registered child-minders and providing an on-site room where a
creche facility could be set up with properly trained people? It can't
be that hard - these conference committees manage to provide so many
other little extras like on-tap coffee, pretty logo-embossed bags,
special dinners and excursions. What is so hard about catering for a few
babies?
Sara
Dr Sara MacKian
School of Environment and Development
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
[log in to unmask]
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/geography/staff/mackian_sara.htm
Tel 0161 275 3619
Fax 0161 275 7878
|