Women in the academy: an Introduction

​I hereby declare Wednesdays to be "Women in the Academy" post days.

Those who know me are aware of my obsession with this topic. It all started in early 2011 when I was in the field in Morocco. I can even identify my first conversation on the subject. Another researcher and I were in a bar frequented by the East European mafia and their prostitutes in Rabat. Over the first decent gin and tonic I'd had in a while, I turned to my friend and asked her "Can women even be academics?" The moment I said it I regretted it. It was such a politically incorrect question. And yet there were times when I really wondered if it was possible to be a woman in the academy. To my surprise, she looked me dead in the eyes and said "good question." I will always be grateful to her for not chiding me.

​Of course there are women in the academy, but how did they get there? And what did they sacrifice? Stats cited by Connelly and Ghodsee in the book Professor Mommy (to be reviewed in a future post), claim that fewer women in the academy have children than in any other high powered profession, including among doctors and lawyers. They argue this is partially due to the demands of the tenure system, which ask for your most productive time to be the first 5-7 years after completing the PhD, a time that, for many women, corresponds with their last years of fertility. Some women wait until they're tenured to have kids, and then discover they are no longer able to do so. Others have kids anyway, when they want to, but there are all sorts of consequences, professional and personal.

I don't really want to get into this issue now. I just want to mention it to underscore the importance and scope of the subject. I'm looking forward to collecting my thoughts on the matter and posting them here, on Wednesdays.

A teaching nightmare and the rights of students and professors

I’ll admit it. I had a teaching nightmare. This is odd because I have had very positive teaching experiences with my students and, as I say in the acknowledgements of my dissertation, “Writing all of their letters of recommendation is a small price to pay for all that I learn from them.”
 
Nevertheless, I had a teaching nightmare last night. I'm going to assume it was that iced Americano I had at about 3pm, but there's no way to know. It was the first day of classes in a large auditorium and I really blew it. Usually, on the first day, I have a draft syllabus that I introduce to the students but I don’t give them a copy. I edit it slightly based on our conversation during the first class to take into account students’ interests. In the nightmare, the students were disruptive, there was no meaningful conversation to help direct the syllabus, we kept changing classrooms for various reasons and I (obviously) did a poor job managing the chaos.
 
Even though the students at the University of Florida have been polite, engaging and proactive, the dream got me to start thinking about the rights of students and the professor. You may notice they are similar.
 
Students' Rights:

1. Students deserve to be treated with respect by the professor and all other students.
2. Students deserve a well-prepared, enthusiastic, informed professor.
3. Students deserve assignments that challenge their abilities and meaningfully evaluate course material.
4. Students deserve a professor who makes herself available to assist with issues within the course, career counseling and long-term assignments.
5. Students deserve grace when unexpected circumstances influence their ability to perform at the best of their ability.
6. Excellent students deserve on-time letters of recommendation.

Professors' Rights:

1. Professors deserve to be treated with respect by all students.
2. Professors deserve well-prepared and enthusiastic students. This includes arriving on time, having had enough sleep to participate, and keeping up with current events that may be relevant to course discussion.
3. Professors deserve to grade materials that students have attempted to the best of their ability.  This includes working slowly over time on large assignments rather than in bursts of activity the night before the deadline.
4. Professors deserve to be well informed of anything that may influence student performance.
5. Professors deserve all assignments on time unless there is a previous arrangement.
6. Professors deserve one month’s notice on all letters of recommendation.
   

Undergraduate issues: picking a major with a note on study abroad

I encourage undergraduate students to see their studies as both exploratory and vocational. A liberal arts education allows students to explore a number of subjects. I suggest they also develop a marketable skill that can be identified in a black and white sort of way on a resume or in a cover letter: I speak X language, I can use X computer program,  I can play X instrument, I am trained in X analysis.

​Some suggestions for the vocation include: economics, statistics, any language, GIS, STATA or survey methodology. Ideally, a student may be able to develop two of these competencies: both a language and a skill.

Political science majors are wise to realize that while courses in PS will develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills, it will be difficult for potential employers or future graduate programs to evaluate skills of this nature. A piece of published writing, participation in a research project, experience designing and maintaining a website or any number of experiences or skills may signify both your interests and your capabilities.​ I suggest PS majors to supplement their studies with a minor, a second major or a substantial marketable experience.

A note on study abroad: I think study abroad experiences are invaluable. I also think it is impossible for a potential employer or graduate program to differentiate between a program where one hung out with a lot of Americans and drank a lot, or a program where a student seriously engaged in another place and language. YOU must do the work to demonstrate the value of your study abroad. Write a piece for a magazine, newspaper or undergraduate journal, keep a blog, complete a service project that has real results for real people, take a test which confirms your language ability or create a piece of art that captures the experience.

Whatever you do, DO NOT expect your experiences to speak for themselves. You must market yourself and your experiences. You must tell people what to conclude from the data you provide on a resume or cover letter.​ A vocation helps to capture your experience and interests and demonstrates that you are pragmatic. You understand the demands of the real world and you are taking steps to become employable and effective.