By Female Science Professor

One of the interesting aspects of having a blog is that you can ask a question about any topic that happens to interest you at the moment, and within 24 hours or so, you have data from the various realms of academe and beyond. If nothing else, those quick polls at least answer questions such as: "Am I the only one who [insert something about being a professor]?" or "Am I the only one who worries about [ditto]?"

My quick polls are, of course, extremely unscientific and statistically invalid and so on. I have no control over who answers the polls. They're intended for professors but my cats could be voting, and who would be the wiser? It is also important to note that my polls typically get only 300 to 800 responses, and earlier ones had even fewer. Furthermore, as far as I can tell, the readership of the Female Science Professor blog is mostly young (under 40 years old), and scientists are rather well represented. I also think it likely that my readership comprises more female readers than male ones.

Blog polls have generated some debate as to whether they constitute research that involves humans and thus require some sort of review and control. As a physical scientist whose research does not involve human subjects, I have no experience with Institutional Review Boards and know nothing of the most appropriate way to involve humans in research. But my little blog polls put no one at risk and, by definition, involve informed consent by the people who choose to vote in them. Therefore, I have not hesitated to scatter them about my blog whenever a pressing (or random) question arises and seems to lend itself to a poll.

In some cases, I conduct a blog poll when I am wondering about something and, in other cases, when I get a question e-mailed to me from a reader. For example, a common question I'm asked is whether it is appropriate for a student to give a gift to an adviser. I personally don't want tangible gifts from my students, but I wondered what others thought about that. Hence, a survey was born.

With that explanation, including the caveats, here is what I have learned from my last three years of blog polling.

Gifts. How do professors feel about gifts from students? Most do not want gifts from their graduating students, but are pleased and moved to get a sincere thank-you note or e-mail message. Some, however, don't mind getting liquor and/or chocolate.

Open or closed? A reader wondered if professors had policies about leaving their office doors open or closed during meetings with students, and whether the policy varied depending on the gender of the student (and/or the professor). My survey says: Most professors keep their office doors open when meeting with students, either because the door is typically open anyway, the institution has a policy about open doors, or because the professor and/or the student feel more comfortable with it open.

Starting fresh. At the end of last summer, I was feeling my usual twinge of excitement at the start of a new academic year. So I used my blog to ask, How do other professors feel at the start of the academic year? A majority of my readers either feel excited and happy, or equal parts thrilled and gloomy. A significant number feel a sense of dread and exhaustion, and a distinct minority think the start of a new school year is nothing special.

Print, electronic, or both? Many of us read journal articles online, but does a preference for PDF files extend to dissertations and theses? Survey says: Most advisers still want a bound copy of student dissertations and theses to put on a shelf. We are proud of our doctoral and master's students, and a growing line of theses on a shelf is highly satisfying. Some professors don't care whether they get an electronic or paper version, and a minority want only an electronic copy.

Reading for fun. I like reading academic novels from time to time, even on vacations. Is that strange? That is, when selecting a book to read that is unrelated to research or teaching, do academics like to read novels about academe, or is this the last thing they want to read during leisure time? It seems a lot of us like to read novels about ourselves for fun, especially if they are as good as Richard Russo's Straight Man or Jane Smiley's Moo—two novels that readers listed as particular favorites in an earlier poll.

Lunch. One day, after eating lunch at my desk (not by choice) and being interrupted by a student who wondered if I was busy (I was), I asked my readers how often they eat lunch at their desks. Turns out more than 80 percent of respondents eat at their desks either every day or once or twice a week.

Real doctors. A controversy that developed among my readers impelled me to ask: Are people with Ph.D.'s "real" doctors, or should that title and term be reserved for medical doctors? That is, should professors avoid using "Dr." before their names? There was no consensus on this topic. Slightly more than half of my readers say yes, we are real doctors; slightly less than half say no, doctors of philosophy are not "real" doctors. Some of the latter fear being asked to assist during a medical emergency on an airplane.

Travel time. I travel a lot. How much do other professors travel? Do full professors travel more than assistant professors, or is it the other way around? Keeping in mind that many more assistant professors read my blog than senior ones, my quick poll shows no significant difference in the amount that professors travel before and after tenure. Furthermore, most academics don't take their carbon footprint into account when making professional travel decisions.

E-mail obligations. How long does it take a professor to answer a nonemergency e-mail message from a student? What if the message is strange and/or obnoxious? Most professors in my poll answer every e-mail message from students (even the ones that are poorly written and annoying). A significant minority only reply to questions that are not trivial or obnoxious. Very few professors, by their own (anonymous) admission, seldom reply to student e-mails.

Seminar preferences. Many academic departments or research units have weekly seminars at which visiting speakers give talks. Is there a best day on which to have a department seminar? Perhaps not, but my readers say most departments have their seminars on a Thursday, followed closely by Friday, trailed a bit by Wednesday, and with a significant minority on Tuesday or Monday. When is the best time to have a departmental seminar? Readers prefer mid-to-late afternoon. Only a very few prefer evening seminars. Academics are apparently further divided on the topic of food at seminars. Some consider it an essential enticement or reward; others are disgusted by the presence of certain unhealthy foods, particularly before a seminar.

How soon is too soon? In my experience, students e-mail me about the next semester's courses earlier and earlier every year. My record is about three months before the start of a term. A lot of information about courses is available on campus Web sites, presumably decreasing the need for such e-mail messages. But they continue to arrive, first in a trickle, then in a deluge as the term approaches. How do professors feel about this? Is there a reasonable time before a semester starts in which students can/should e-mail us? Most professors in my poll think two to three weeks is the most reasonable amount of time, but quite a few say it doesn't matter: Anytime is fine. Only a few say never.

Personal vs. professional. A couple of years ago I had to decide whether to travel to fulfill an important professional obligation or stay home for the whole day on my daughter's birthday. How many of my readers would be willing to miss all or part of a young child's birthday because of a job-related conflict? We seem to take our jobs seriously: Most respondents to my quick poll would miss the birthday if they felt they had to; many fewer would not miss the birthday for any reason.

Only an assistant? The academic titles of assistant professor and associate professor are not so great. Those of us from nonacademic families may spend years unsuccessfully explaining to our parents, siblings, and others that assistant doesn't really mean we assist some other professor. Are there better titles? Apparently not. The existing titles are better than some alternatives suggested: junior, intermediate, senior; tertiary, secondary, primary; full, fuller, fullest. How about silver, gold, platinum?

What have I learned from all of the polls? I have found that, on most issues, it is rare that I am an outlier. I have also learned that I am not the only one wondering about some of these issues, however trivial and strange.

Female Science Professor is the pseudonym of a professor in the physical sciences at a large research university who blogs under that moniker and writes monthly for our Catalyst column. Her blog is http://science-professor.blogspot.com.