Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Women in political science appear to be hitting a glass ceiling

Or, at least that's one of the conclusions that could be made from the NSF-sponsored, APSA research report on women in the discipline. Women are more likely to be hired as part-time or adjunct faculty, and less likely to be steadily promoted. The full report is online.

The report suggests that four forces shape the role of women in political science:

(quoting and paraphrasing from pg. 12)
1. A leaking pipeline (women leave)
2. A dual burden of tenure track and family (not enough support for family)
3. The institutional climate (women don't understand the unspoken rules of male political science/academic culture)
4. The culture of research (too much lone wolf research and an undervaluing of feminist political science research)

And contrary to what one Inside Higher Ed reader suggests, the report offers no evidence that "Maybe women are simply happier in non Tenure Track jobs?". I hope he's not a political scientist. BTW, men are part of families, too, and maybe they should get leave to participate in their families' lives?

posted by Michelle @ 7:04 PM,

5 Comments:

At 8/02/2005 11:21 PM,  Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, if I had a daughter I'd never encourage her to go into political science. The casual misogyny of a good chunk of the discipline is something to behold.

 

At 8/03/2005 12:07 AM,  Michelle said...

That's too bad. Maybe it's because I grew up in Texas and was used to being underestimated and discriminated against as a woman (for example, the H.S. biology teacher that assumed I wanted to be a hairdresser....or the YMCA Youth in Government supervisor that called me a bad name usually reserved for women because I wanted everyone to play by the rules), but it's something I accept. I try to wear pink (or other non-threatening colors), play nice with others, and work extra hard. And, I probably won't be starting a family until after tenure. I'm young enough to have that luxury.

 

At 8/03/2005 12:18 AM,  WTOTW said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 

At 8/03/2005 12:23 AM,  WTOTW said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 

At 8/03/2005 9:29 AM,  WTOTW said...

Nick smackdown of the first commenter at Inside Higher Ed, Michelle.

 

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