academe

Just two quick hits about women as op-ed writers and women as sociologists (how’s that for a connection?!) before I really sign off:

1. San Francisco Gate: The Opinion Pages: Mostly A Man’s World

When it comes to the opinion pages of some of the most influential American newspapers, it’s far too often a man’s world. One reason for the disparity is obvious: Women are still breaking through glass ceilings in business, government and academia.

2. Inside Higher Ed: Women in Sociology – Satisfied, but Not Equal

Women in sociology, 10 years after earning their Ph.D.’s, are achieving substantial professional success and high levels of research productivity, but also differ from men in some ways in their career trajectories, according to a new study released by the American Sociological Association.

Among the key findings:

-Male sociologists in the cohort were more likely than female sociologists to be married or living with a partner (83 percent vs. 68 percent), or to have children living with them (62 percent to 50 percent).

-Among sociologists who are parents, women are much more likely to be divorced (21 percent vs. 1.4 percent). Roberta Spalter-Roth, director of research at the sociology association and one of the report’s authors, said one reason for this was that many more women than men come to graduate school as single parents, having already been married and divorced.

-Many sociologists who do have children do so before their tenure reviews, with the largest group having a first child 3-4 years after earning a doctorate.

-Parenthood does not appear to limit research productivity, at least as measured by the number of articles published in refereed journals — a key measure for the discipline. Mothers and fathers reported an average of 10.0 refereed journal articles since they earned their doctorates, while childless men and women reported an average of 9.5.

-Mothers appeared, on average, to earn less than others in the cohort. The income question was asked with categories, not exact amounts. The median income for sociologists who are fathers, and for sociologists who don’t have children, was between $70,000 and $99,000. The median income for sociologists who are mothers was between $50,000 and $59,000.

-On many issues, mothers and fathers both reported high levels of stress related to advancing their careers while also caring for their families. Child care, the tenure process, and teaching loads were key issues for parents.

(Go Katie O and The Op-Ed Project! And thanks to Rebekah Spicuglia of the Women’s Media Center Daily News Brief for the tips.)

Well here’s reason to feel depressed: In today’s Inside Higher Ed, Scott Jaschik reports that interviews with 80 female faculty members at a research university — the largest qualitative study of its kind — have found that many women in careers are deeply frustrated by a system that they believe undervalues their work and denies them opportunities for a balanced life. While the study found some overt discrimination in the form of harassment or explicitly sexist remarks, many of the concerns involved more subtle “deeply entrenched inequities.” These include: unintended bias and outdated attitudes, devaluing positions once women hold them, and service and gender.

Ok, ye academic women GWP readers out there. Does this describe you? And if so, what do you do?

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Ok, I’m in ridiculously good company this weekend. Don’t miss out on the year’s premiere conference for researchers, policy analysts, gender thinkers, women leaders, and activists. The opening plenary this Thursday (4-5:45pm) is free and open to the public:

Stir it Up: Women’s Activism Reframing Political Debates
The possibility of a woman or an African-American presidential candidate has galvanized voters and moved citizens to become more actively engaged in the political process. It has also provided real opportunities to place women’s issues and concerns on the national agenda. Join leading experts, thought leaders, and advocates as they discuss how issues need to be framed so they influence political debates at local, state, and national levels, and strategies for ensuring that women’s voices are heard and their votes counted in the upcoming election.

Featured Speakers:
Ruth Mandel, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University (Moderator)
Kathy Bonk, Communications Consortium Media Center
Kim Gandy, National Organization for Women
Barbara Lee, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Diana Salas, Women of Color Policy Network at NYU
Marie Wilson, The White House Project

And here’s the list of the rest of the speakers at the conference:

Mimi Abramovitz, Hunter College
Liz Abzug, The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute
Amy Allina, National Women’s Health Network
Patricia Antoniello, Brooklyn College
Veronica I. Arreola, University of Illinois at Chicago
Margaret Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology
Subha Barry, Merrill Lynch
Linda Basch, National Council for Research on Women
Kathleen Barnett, ICRW
Julia Beatty, Twenty-First Century Foundation
Kathleen Barnett, International Center for Research on Women
Taina Bien-Aime, Equality Now
Elodie Billionniere, Arizona State University
Lynn Bolles, University of Maryland, College Park
Kathy Bonk, Communications Consortium Media Center
Kristin “KB” Bowman, Columbia College
Vicki Breitbart, Planned Parenthood of New York
Jaweer Brown, Planned Parenthood of New York
Connie Buchanan, Consultant (formerly with the Ford Foundation)
Victoria Budson, Harvard University
Charlotte Bunch, Rutgers University
Tamara L. Burk, Center for Engaged Learning
Johnella Butler, Spelman College
Kathryn Peltier Campbell, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Hope Campbell, Anti-Violence Project, New York
Timothy Casey, Legal Momentum
Amanda Cassel, Women’s Foundation of California
Lybra Clemons, American Express
Ellen Chesler, Hunter College
Carol Cohn, Boston Consortium on Gender, Security, and Human Rights
Elizabeth Colton, International Museum of Women
Aimee Meredith Cox, University of Michigan
Kimberle Crenshaw, Columbia University
Jane Daniels, Luce Foundation
Anisha Desai, Women of Color Resource Center
Brittany Denitzio, College of New Jersey
Patricia Deyton, Simmons School of Management
Bonnie Dill, University of Maryland
Catherine Dixon-Kheir, Alignment Strategies
Sharon Doherty, The College of St. Catherine
Stephanie L. Drahan, University of Massachusetts
Ana Duarte McCarthy, Citigroup
Rosanna Durruthy, Aequus Group
Kirsten A. Elling, University of Michigan
Patricia Eng, Ms. Foundation for Women
Joan Entmacher, National Women’s Law Center
Jessica Fields, San Francisco State University
Michelle Fine, CUNY Graduate Center
Susan Forde, University of South Florida
Gisela Fosado, Barnard Center for Research on Women
Andrea D. Friedman, Global Justice Center
Ellen Friedman, College of New Jersey
Stacie Geller, University of Illinois, Chicago
Paula J. Giddings, Author Ida: A Sword Among Lions
Lilyane Glamben, The Sister Fund
Sangita Gopal, University of Oregon
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
Cheryl D. Gray, The College of New Jersey
Autumn Green, Family Economic Initiative, Boston
Michele Rene Gregory, York College of the City University of New York
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Spelman College
Connie Sutton, NYU
Carol Hardy-Fanta, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Bill Harvey, University of Virginia
Katherine Henderson, Texas A&M University
Rita Henley Jensen, Women’s eNews
Silvia Henriquez, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
Rebekah Heppner, University of South Florida
Ines Hernandez-Avila, University of California at Davis
Lyndi Hewitt, Vanderbilt University
Sarah F. Hill, The Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, Inc
Mary Hopps, The College of New Jersey
Eleanor Horne, Educational Testing Service
Evelyn Hu-deHart, Brown University
Hae Ja Shin, Dongseo University
Janet Jakobsen, Barnard College
Annalisa Jenkins, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center
Cheryl Johnson, Miami University of Ohio
Heather Johnston Nicholson, Girls Inc.
Kate Kahan, National Partnership for Women and Families
Erika Kates, Wellesley College
Don Kulick, New York University
Helen LaKelly Hunt, The Sister Fund
Barbara Lee, The Barbara Lee Family Foundation
Tobe Levin, University of Frankfurt
Janet E. Malley, University of Michigan
Ruth Mandel, Rutgers University
Courtney Martin, feministing.com
C. Nicole Mason, National Council for Research on Women
Lisa McClain, Boise State University
Kathleen McHugh, University of California, Los Angles
Caryn McTighe Musil, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Monique Mehta, Third Wave Foundation
Soraya Mekerta, Spelman College
Elaine Meyer-Lee, Saint Mary’s College
Shari Miles-Cohen, American Psychological Association
Yuriko Mita, Merrill Lynch
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University
Meredith Moore, Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP
Linda Moran, Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Sandra Morgen, Pennsylvania State University
Roweena Naidoo, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
Kimber J. Nicoletti, CARe: Communities Against Rape Initiative
Anne Marie Nicolosi, The College of New Jersey
Catherine Orenstein, The Op-Ed Project
Ramona Ortega, Women of Color Policy Network at NYU
Rupal Oza, Hunter College
Heather Panahi, MassNOW
Eesha Pandit, MergerWatch
Judy Patrick, The Women’s Foundation of California
Linda Perkins, Claremont Graduate University
Ros Petchesky, Hunter College
Marj Plumb, Women’s Foundation of California
Katie Quan, Cornell University/University of California, Berkeley
Dina Refki, State University of New York at Albany
Ashley Reichelman, College of New Jersey
Jane Roberts, 34 Million Friends of UNFPA
Brenda Ross, Cottey College
Sue V. Rosser, Ivan Allen College
Ariella Rotramel, Rutgers University
Anne Runyan, University of Cincinnati
Larry Ruisi, Credit Suisse
Elizabeth A. Sackler, Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum
Lynda M. Sagrestano, University of Memphis
Judith R. Saidel, State University of New York at Albany
Kimberlee Salmond, Girl Scouts of the USA
Rebecca Salonen, Godparents Association
Kathy Sanders-Phillips, Howard University College of Medicine
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, University of Pennsylvania
Cynthia Secor, NCRW Board of Directors
Donna Shavlik, American Council on Education
Deborah Siegel, Woodhull Institute
Jael Silliman, Ford Foundation
Ellie Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation
Taleigh Smith, Mothers on the Move
Donna Stewartson, University of Massachusetts,Boston
Catharine Stimpson, New York University (NYU)
Taleigh Smith, Mothers on the Move
April de Stefano, University of California, Los Angles
Carla Stokes, Helping Our Teen Girls in Real Life Situations, Inc
Ivy O. Suriyopas
Donna Tambascio, Wellesley College
Mary Thom, Author
Deborah Thomas, University of Pennsylvania
Gloria Thomas, American Council on Education
Gosia Tomaszewska, MassNOW
Suzanne Tomatore, City Bar Justice Center
Virginia Valian, Hunter College
Sarah VanHooser, Vanderbilt University
Sia Vang, The College of St. Catherine
Kathleen Vermazen, Women’s Media Center
Delores M. Walters, National Council for Research on Women
Susan Wefald, Ms. Foundation for Women
Seth Wessler, Applied Research Center
Patricia Williams, Columbia University
Marie Wilson, The White House Project
Ludmilla Wikkeling-Scott, National Minority AIDS Council
Jane Wishner, Southwest Women’s Law Center
Lisa Witter, Author, Fenton Communications
Melinda Wolfe, American Express
Gina Wood, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
LaLa Wu, The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute
Diana Yadria Salas, Women of Color Policy Network
Joy Zarembka, Break The Chains Campaign, Institute for Policy Studies

More info on the conference here.

This is why I love CCF, which I blog about here a lot because they’re just such darn good providers in the knowledge business. This week they’re issuing a press release on the importance of a time use survey, with contemporary spin and flair–and an important message with policy application: “Save ATUS.” What’s ATUS you ask? Here’s a sneak peak at the release, courtesy of Virginia Rutter, who just sent it to me. Feel free to pass it on!:

Making Time for Work and Family: Got Data?

For Family Social Scientists, the American Time Use Survey Provides Valuable Information on Work, Family, and How We Endure the Conflict between the Two

June 4, 2008 Chicago Il —- Mothers do more paid work—14 hours more—than they did 40 years ago. They do less housework—exactly 14 hours fewer—too. But they do 4 hours more of childcare than in the past. How do we know? Suzanne Bianchi, University of Maryland sociologist, and her colleagues used the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), a time diary study that has been collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since 2003.

Dads are stepping up in new ways too. Men have steadily increased their participation in housework and child care over the past 30 years. And contrary to claims of some earlier studies, dads who work less than full-time don’t use their extra time just to watch TV. Part-time worker dads do more housework (about an hour more) than full-time worker dads, and about 40 minutes more childcare. We know about these changes thanks to forthcoming work from Liana Sayer (Ohio State University) and Sanjiv Gupta (University of Massachusetts at Amherst) in which they analyzed the 2003-2005 ATUS.

But if women have given up 14 hours a week of housework and taken on 14 more hours of paid work, what else have they given up to put in 4 more hours of childcare? Here the news may be less rosy. It appears that social bonding with spouse, kin, and friends is being sacrificed to the higher standards for time with children. Bianchi and colleagues’ analysis of the ATUS reveals that, compared to 20 years ago, married working moms now spend less time with their spouse—while single moms spend less time with friends and family.

SCIENCE HELPS US KEEP UP WITH SOCIAL CHANGE
These facts illustrate the on-going revolution in how Americans spend their time—what they do at work, how men and women organize family schedules, and how children and teens spend their days. To understand changes in family life and to guide policy makers—and families themselves—about the best ways to adjust to new patterns of work and parenting, researchers collect such information. This in turn becomes the basis for news stories, advice columns and television programs that citizens rely on—and are hungry for.

The American Time Use Survey is one of those key resources. (For more information on ATUS visit http://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm and www.saveatus.org.) As researcher Bianchi explains, “ATUS provides essential information about how Americans spend their time—time spent caring for children, cleaning the house, working for pay, and caring for sick adults.” We all rely on these jobs being done in order to keep our society running well: but it is vital for us to know how, when, and by whom they are done in our changing social world.

“The Council on Contemporary Families uses this kind of scientific research in order to understand the complex and changing dynamics of the family,” reports Evergreen State College Professor Stephanie Coontz, CCF’s Director of Research and Public Education. “Many CCF briefing papers and fact sheets rely on data from the time-use studies.” (A host of examples are at http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/briefpapers.php.)

“The complexity of coordinating families’ work and school schedules with the need for health care, down time, cultivation of intimacy, and everyday chores presents new challenges to couples, parents, and children in the way they spend their days,” explains Coontz. “Changes in time use help us understand how families cope with modern stresses–and also what happens when they cannot cope. Right now, the economy is slowing down, but many families find themselves speeding up. Unless we keep on top of these changes, we cannot analyze what kinds of practical support and information families need. Making sure that the data continue to be collected is an issue that cuts across partisan divisions, uniting family researchers from many different points of view.”

For further information on the American Time Use Survey, visit http://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm.

WELL DONE, CCF!

Interesting piece in today’s NYTimes by Tamar Lewin, titled ‘Sisters’ Colleges See a Middle Eastern Bounty. It seems women’s colleges are a dwindling breed in the United States. So this spring the admissions deans of the five leading women’s colleges — Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley and Smith — went recruiting to a place where single-sex education is more than a niche product: the Middle East. Read the rest.

The Mama PhD gals have started their blogging over at Inside Higher Ed–and what interesting timing. Turns out two new studies suggest that academe may hinder parenthood, and that as a result many female academics may be opting not to have kids. Watch for the Mama PhD anthology in July.

My father always told me, “Follow your passion and the money will follow.” Since leaving the academia track, I’ve definitely been following my passion, and the money, well, still kinda waiting for it to catch up in spades. Along the way, however, I’ve found my bliss so I know that there’s no turning back. The topic is the focus of a blogger roundup over at The Art of Nonconformity. Definitely worth checking out. And big thanks to Marci Alboher, who has covered the topic in her New York Times column Shifting Careers, for the heads up.

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Caroline Grant, coeditor of the forthcoming anthology Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life, just gave me the heads up that InsideHigherEd.com is launching a new Mama PhD blog, and seven of the book’s contributors — Libby Gruner, Megan Kajitani, Susan Bassow, Dana Campbell, Liz Stockwell, Anjalee Nadkarni and Della Fenster — will be blogging regularly for them. As Caroline notes, “This is a terrific opportunity to bring the discussion of academic work/ family life balance issues out of the book, into the blogosphere and from there into classrooms and campus administrative offices.” Hells yeah.

Megan, of the very cool blog Having Enough, will be writing a weekly advice column. For more on everything, check out the book’s website here. And congrats, you Mama PhD powerhouses out there! I’ll be sure to blog more about the book in this space when it comes out.

The Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Columbia University announces a fall conference:

“What is Feminist Politics Now? Local and Global, “19-20 September, 2008

The conference will explore:
– The changing meanings of feminism, and its goals (intellectual,social and political) in a global context: to examine whether these meanings can any longer be contained within the rubric of common social agendas.
– Emerging social movements within the United States and beyond, including those that foster the collective interests of women across national, class, religious, and racial borders; the common interests of women and men; and those that call for greater individual autonomy.
– Questions about how women within the post-industrial west can effectively relate to, and remain engaged with, issues that arise from diverse locations and affect differently situated women in different ways.

More info coming soon here.

Herbert Allen has an interesting op-ed up over at the New York Times today, in case you missed it. Allen makes a case for a form of revenue sharing among colleges and universities that would allow the poor schools back into the competition for the best teachers and students. Writes Allen,

Our graduated income tax system sets varying tax rates based on income levels. Similarly, we could establish standards for the endowments of colleges and universities.

An example: Harvard or Williams (my alma mater) have endowments that are well over $500,000 per student. Why not take the colleges whose endowments exceed that per student amount and tax their capital gains? The tax revenue could then be put into a designated pool and distributed pro rata to colleges under the base level. The college with the lowest per student endowment would get the highest share.

…I know it won’t be easy to convince well-off schools to share their wealth. But they should. They should see this act as part of a down payment on their professed mission: to create a stronger, smarter and ultimately more stable society.

And on a slightly related note, for an interesting look at the pursuit of Ivy gold by a stellar emerging author, Joie Jager-Hyman, keep your eyes peeled this March for a book called Fat Evelope Frenzy:One Year, Five Promising Students, and the Pursuit of the Ivy League Prize.