Couples, partners, incest and such.

(Source: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd012809s.gif)

This blog is turning out to be a commentary/reaction on phdcomics.com. What can I do, almost each comic strip strikes a chord.

I suppose "incestuous departments" occur not just in academia. But, having hardly worked (less than a year) outside academia I haven't enough data to support that claim hehe.

I met my husband in the university, and we both became instructors there. Some (if not most) of our colleagues in the department also met their spouses in the university or in the department. So I can say that our department is also incestuous.

I only know of one couple in my current university who work in the same department. Yep, they are also in Maths. Fancy that. Ah, there is also another couple in Biological Sciences, but they started out as a professor-student relationship. There are also a number of those from all over I'd imagine. I know I've seen a lot.

I've met some couples in a conference, who work in the same university. It's kinda tricky spotting them. I find out only after speaking with them that they are partners, coz they say so. I've met only one couple so far who share the same surname. It's not something I'm accustomed to, coz most couples in my country take their husband's surname.

It's interesting to note that some universities encourage couples to work "together", meaning that if they hire one of them, the university would try to hire the partner. Even not in the same department. It like a "hire one, get two" situation.