Mobile mums and deprived dads

I am surprised by Joanna Gray's claim (THES, letters, November 17) that women academics with partners and families are less mobile than their male counterparts.

When I moved across the country to my present post last year my husband and school-age son moved with me; when a female colleague moved across the country to a new post in September her partner went with her; while a new female colleague was accompanied by her husband when she moved here. On the other hand, three of our new male colleagues this year have not been joined by their wives or partners because of the latters' job commitments.

Of course some women will find their family commitments prevent them from moving on, as do some men. However, I believe that to claim that it is only women who suffer from this restriction and that all women with families suffer from it while men do not, will only serve to perpetuate the prejudices of which Joanna Gray complains.

Helen Nicholson, University of Wales College of Cardiff