This edited collection contends that if women are to enter into leadership positions at equal levels with their male colleagues, then sexism in all its forms must be acknowledged, attended to, and actively addressed. This interdisciplinary collection—Surviving Sexism in Academia: Strategies for Feminist Leadership—is part storytelling, part autoethnography, part action plan. The chapters document and analyze everyday sexism in the academy and offer up strategies for survival, ultimately 'lifting the veil" from the good old boys/business-as-usual culture that continues to pervade academia in both visible and less-visible forms, forms that can stifle even the most ambitious women in their careers.
This text brings together writing and research on feminist experience in academia. It covers issues such as provision of care, maternalism in the academy and dynamics of interaction between women in higher eduction. There are challenging and provocative analyses of many questions: how large is the gap between rhetoric and reality in HE institutions? how do institutions behave towards disabled staff? how far is stereotyping still affecting the roles which women play in academia? what do women face when they combine motherhood with teaching or studying? coping mechanisms and survival tactics are brought under scrutiny, and the effect these have on the behaviour of female academics and their interactions with the institution of each other. This text should provide insight and evidence for researchers to further develop their own theories, and also many starting points for those wishing to undertake their own research. Written in collaboration with the Women in Higher Education Network.
In a male-dominated higher education sector characterised by overt and subtle adversities for women, the path for women in academia is rarely a simple and easy one. This book sets out to empower women in academia to unite in sharing their stories, inspiring and encouraging one another.
Powerfully written and theoretically grounded, Me Too, Feminist Theory, and Surviving Sexual Violence in the Academy collects a range of perspectives from sexual assault survivors with backgrounds in academia. The contributors in this collection connect their experiences of sexual violence to their research and work within the academy as well as their lives outside of it. Contributors analyze the events surrounding their experiences with sexual violence as well as the cultural, social, and political effects. Their analyses are located within discussions of recent cultural events and the larger contexts of race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, sexuality, region, and nation.
This volume presents the personal accounts of African American, Asian American, and Latino faculty who describe in their 'narratives of struggles' the challenges they faced in order to become bona fide members of the United States Academy. These narratives show how survival and success require a sophisticated knowledge of the politics of academia, insider knowledge of the requirements of legitimacy in scholarly efforts, and a resourceful approach to facing dilemmas between cultural values, traditional racist practices, and academic resilience. The book also explores the empowerment process of these individuals who have created a new self without rejecting their 'enduring' self; the self strongly connected to their ethno/racial cultures and groups. Within the process of self -redefinition, this new faculty confronted racism, sexism, rejection, the clash of cultural values, and structural indifference to cultural diversity. The faculty recounts how they ultimately learned the skillful accommodation to all of these issues. It is through the analysis of survival and self-definition that faculty of color and women will establish a powerful foothold in the new academy of the twenty-first century.
Navigating an academic career is a complex process – to be successful requires mastering several 'rites of passage.' This comprehensive guide takes academics at all stages of their career through a journey, beginning at graduate school and ending with retirement. A Guide to Surviving a Career in Academia is written from a feminist perspective, and draws on the information offered in workshops conducted at national meetings like the American Society of Criminology and the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Through the course of the book, an expert team of authors guide you through the obstacle course of finding effective mentors during graduate school, finding a job, negotiating a salary, teaching, collaborating with practitioners, successfully publishing, earning tenure and redressing denial and, finally, retirement. This collection is a must read for all academics, but especially women just beginning their careers, who face unique challenges when navigating through these age-old rites of passage.
The eleven essays making up this book unite scholars from various disciplines to explore how feminists live, survive, and thrive in academia. The pieces investigate innovative ways that women academics occupy the space of the Academy as real living bodies while resisting being judged, devalued, or valued on the basis of their biological bodies. Specific themes include abortion rights activism, authority in the classroom, feminist mentoring, the role of women's studies programs, division of labor, and the role of theater and performance in enacting lasting change.
Women leaders and the COVID-19 pandemic are currently trending in the news. Major news outlets are all offering their positive opinions on how world-wide women leaders have addressed the crisis and reassured their people. While this sort of press coverage is certainly uplifting, little to no research has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of women’s leadership decisions and strategies in these difficult times. In concert with these global struggles resulting from the pandemic are the challenges faced by higher education. Many colleges and universities have all but shuttered their doors and are conducting instruction, student support, and day-to-day business almost completely online. Women academic leaders bear a great load during global crises, with the combination of maintaining work responsibilities and caring for families and personal households. It is shown that women leaders may feel overwhelmed but remain heroes in unprecedented times of crisis. Women and Leadership in Higher Education During Global Crises informs readers and expands their understanding about specific challenges, issues, strategies, and solutions that are associated with women leaders in higher education, the implications during the current pandemic and other natural disasters, and how these strategies can be used for future agility and success. The chapters will cover narratives, strategies, and initiatives that women leaders are using to lead their institutions, departments, sectors, and organizations. It ties together the unimaginable challenges, joys, struggles, and successes encountered by women in leadership in higher education and is ideal for higher education administrators, teachers, leaders, faculty, provosts, deans, program leaders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in both the challenges and successes women leaders in higher education face during global crises.
This text brings together writing and research on feminist experience in academia. It covers issues such as provision of care, maternalism in the academy and dynamics of interaction between women in higher eduction. There are challenging and provocative analyses of many questions: how large is the gap between rhetoric and reality in HE institutions? how do institutions behave towards disabled staff? how far is stereotyping still affecting the roles which women play in academia? what do women face when they combine motherhood with teaching or studying? coping mechanisms and survival tactics are brought under scrutiny, and the effect these have on the behaviour of female academics and their interactions with the institution of each other.
