Additional Resources
References of Interest for further study
Bacchi, C. (2016). Policies as gendering practices: Re-viewing categorical distinctions. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 1-22. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2016.1198207
ABSTRACT For some time feminist scholars have been concerned with rethinking the constraints imposed on feminists’ strategies by categorical distinctions, such as the distinction between “women” and “men.” This issue has become more pressing due to a political commitment to recognize diversity among women and among men (consider here discussions of masculinities and intersectionality). This article offers the conceptualization of policies as gendering practices as a way to rethink categorical distinctions and to direct attention to how inequality is “done.” In this approach the focus shifts from considering how policies impact on women and men to asking how they constitute or make them come to be. More broadly, this contribution recommends the need to examine policies for their interacting, constitutive effects, asking how they are potentially gendering, racializing, heteronorming, classing, disabling, third-worldizing, etc. Committee on Maximizing the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering (U.S.), Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (U.S.), National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), National Academy of Engineering,, & Institute of Medicine (U.S.). (2007). Beyond bias and barriers: Fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering.
Gatta, M.L. and Roos, P.A. (2004). Balancing without a net in academia: Integrating family and work lives. Equal Opportunities International. 23(3-5): 124-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02610150410787765
ABSTRACT: This paper presents qualitative data from a gender equity study at a Carnegie I research institution. In this paper we draw on interview data to explore the ways that our sample of senior women and men dealt with family‐work conflicts at different points in their careers. We offer stories of women (and a few men), who struggled with family‐work conflicts, and we provide these in their own voices. After first presenting our findings we demonstrate how they can be used to develop strategies to address family‐work conflicts and evaluate current programs. We first explore how women and men defined the problem of family‐work integration. We then review some of the main coping strategies they used at different points in their careers, and then explore the consequences that women experienced as a result of the university’s lack of support. We conclude by pointing to areas where institutionally supported programs and policies may be effective in addressing the balance between family and work.
Rosser, S.V. and Lane, E.O. (2002). Key barriers for academic institutions seeking to retain women scientists and engineers: Family-unfriendly policies, low numbers, stereotypes, and harassment. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. 8(2):161–190.
ABSTRACT: At the end of a special meeting held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in January 2001, a statement released on behalf of the most prestigious U. S. research universities suggested that institutional harriers have prevented women from having a level playing field in science and engineering. In 2001, the National Science Foundation initiated a new awards program, ADVANCE, focusing on institutional rather than individual solutions to empower women to participate fully in science and technology. In this study, the authors evaluate survey responses from almost 400 Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education awardees from fiscal years 1997 to 2000 to elucidate problems and opportunities identified by female scientists and engineers. Besides other issues, the respondents identified balancing a career and a family as the most significant challenge facing female scientists and engineers today. Institutions must seek to remove or at least lower these and other harriers to attract and retain female scientists and engineers. Grouping the survey responses into four categories forms the basis for four corresponding policy areas, which could be addressed at the institutional level to mitigate the difficulties and challenges currently experienced by female scientists and engineers.
Settles, I.H., Cortina, L.M., Malley, J., and Stewart, A.J. (2006). The climate for women in academic science: The good, the bad, and the changeable. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 30: 47-58.
ABSTRACT: Deficits theory posits that women scientists have not yet achieved parity with men scientists because of structural aspects of the scientific environment that provide them with fewer opportunities and more obstacles than men. The current study of 208 faculty women scientists tested this theory by examining the effect of personal negative experiences and perceptions of the workplace climate on job satisfaction, felt influence, and productivity. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that women scientists experiencing more sexual harassment and gender discrimination reported poorer job outcomes. Additionally, perceptions of a generally positive, nonsexist climate, as well as effective leadership, were related to positive job outcomes after controlling for harassment and discrimination. We discuss implications for the retention and career success of women in academic science.
The American Council on Education. (2005). Executive Summary. An agenda for excellence: creating flexibility in tenure-track faculty careers. Retrieved October 19, 2013 from http://www.acenet.edu/leadership/programs/Documents/2005-tenure-flex-summary.pdf. Van den Brink, M. & Benschop, Y. (2012), Slaying the Seven-Headed Dragon: The Quest for Gender Change in Academia. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(1), 71–92. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0432.2011.00566.x
ABSTRACT: In this article we propose a multi-level distinction between gender inequality practices and gender equality practices to come to better understanding of the slow pace of gender change in academia. Gender inequality resembles an unbeatable seven-headed dragon that has a multitude of faces in different social contexts. Based on an empirical study on the recruitment and selection of full professors in three academic fields in The Netherlands we discuss practices that should bring about gender equality and show how these interact with gender inequality practices. We argue that the multitude of gender inequality practices are ineffectively countered by gender equality practices because the latter lack teeth, especially in traditional masculine academic environments.
Ward, K.A. and Wolf-Wendel, L.E. (2004). Academic motherhood: Managing complex roles in research universities. The Review of Higher Education. 27(2): 233-257.
ABSTRACT: Given the prevalence of women faculty entering the profession, many of childbearing age, it is important to understand how women juggle the often-conflicting demands of children and tenure. Interviews with 29 faculty from research universities find them reporting joy in their professional and personal roles, the "greedy" nature of academic and family life, the need to watch the clock, and the perspective that having children imposes on life as a junior faculty member.
Yun, J. H., Baldi, B., & Sorcinelli, M. D. (2016). Mutual mentoring for early-career and underrepresented faculty: Model, research, and practice. Innovative Higher Education, 41(5), 441-451. doi:10.1007/s10755-016-9359-6
ABSTRACT: In the beginning, “Mutual Mentoring” was little more than an idea, a hopeful vision of the future in which a new model of mentoring could serve as a medium to better support early-career and underrepresented faculty. Over time, Mutual Mentoring evolved from an innovative idea to an ambitious pilot program to a fully operational, campus-wide initiative. This article describes the conceptualization, design, implementation, and evaluation of a Mutual Mentoring initiative from 2006 to 2014. Findings indicate that faculty members who participated in this initiative were more likely to regard mentoring as a career-enhancing activity as well as to develop mutually beneficial mentoring relationships than were their non-participating peers.