Comments on: We need a new metaphor: fixing “leaky pipes” won’t cut it

By: What’s a “good university?” : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:02:48 +0000

[...] What was the penalty for this discriminatory stance the department took? “Dean Reynolds and Provost Zeev Dagan, alike, perceived this search as a unique opportunity to strengthen our department and the college with the pick of a bumper crop of promising young philosophers. The dean had obtained the provost’s approval and the support of President Gregory H. Williams to hire not one, but two of our finalists.” Awesome! White men almost never catch a break, do they? Gee–I wonder why women in philosophy are still so marginalized? [...]

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:24:47 +0000

Gah! Argh!

I forget the breakdown … I think we’re up to about 60 or 70 percent of English undergrads and grad students are women, but that the women PhDs get heavily clustered in the temp and adjunct jobs.

I guess it’s nice to be able to see lots of women in my classes and profs as mentors, but I’d like to get paid a decent salary for doing this too, dammit!

By: Historiann

Historiann — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:17:57 +0000

Isn’t it depressing that this is still the message for our young students? “Yes, the evil claw of patriarchy will get you too, my pretty!” (as we cackle like Miss Gulch/the Wicked Witch of the West.)

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:09:30 +0000

I’m sorry, Historiann, but are you suggesting that sexism has something to do with all this? I’m shocked, completely shocked.
Unfortunately, all of this evidence provides an excellent answer to those poor students I occasionally see who think that the quality of their mind and their work is all that matters.