> > Don't know many guys on the loose over forty who date women their own
> >age, though. Went to an academic party last year that consisted almost
> >entirely of middle=aged male profs and their young sweeties. It was like
> >a father-daughter convention.
>
> >Katha
>
> Hmmm, I think that this may be an academic thing, in that the age of a prof
> increases at a rate of one year per year, while the modal age of the pool
> of graduate students tends to be a stationary process. Add that to a
> relationship half-life of, say five years, and you can pretty much explain
> the whole phenomenon. A random poll of financial professionals at the
> Flemings Global Banks Conference dinner didn't really produce any such
> May/December effect.
>
> dd
>
> Daniel, you aren't asking the important question: why do male profs prefer grad students as their dating pool? there are lots of unattached women their own age on campus --they could date each other's ex wives.
I agree academia is egregious for the youth preference of its men. don;t know why that is? sheer abundance of youthful possibilities? childishness of academic men? lack of other status symbols? I think a lot of academic men are depressed and feel sidelined by life--they don't make a lot of money, they often have to live in isolated places where there's nothing to do but get in trouble. Maybe financial professionals are a happier bunch. Zipping around the world making tons of money. they probably have plenty of affairs, just stay married.
Katha