Recently, this email subject evoked a long series of back-and-forth messages on my professional association's listserve.
The conversation, among what I presume are mostly men, involved messages about the injustices of the modern world, with nods given to Trump, nods given to Biden, some comments on ageism, some comments on racism, & so on.
All seemed to be couched in the logic of "while I support women, we must not discriminate against men."
I'm not responding to the comments, which varied between well-reasoned & repugnant.
Everyone has a right to an opinion.
However, I do have a few public questions & responses for folks to think about.
1. What is wrong with advertising for #jobcandidates from historically #disadvantagedgroups?
Nothing.
If we are to align faculty & student demography, which in the United States now skews female, why wouldn't we actively seek more female faculty members?
2. Why would anyone object to promoting #genderbalance on a faculty?
I have no idea.
Given the strides made in equity & access to education since the 1970s, I am struck that women & men with #PhDs are generally equally qualified for faculty positions.
If the population is equally qualified, why wouldn't you simply advertise for a person that makes your group more balanced?
3. Why do universities need to target hiring #femalefullprofessors?
There is a dearth of women & non-majority group faculty at the rank of #FullProfessor.
Women hold roughly 1/3 of #fullprofessor positions. Women hold just 40% of tenured positions.
This is despite the distribution of female to male #assistantprofessors is now roughly 50% in many disciplines.
Here is more info: https://lnkd.in/gCcwHNxs
The apologist says, "well, it takes time to reach #equity."
Sure, no doubt. But that doesn't explain the under-representation of #seniorfemalefaculty.
Particularly if you assume women & men have been trained equally well, over, say the past 20 years, which is as long as I've held a Ph.D.
5. Why not appreciate the candor?
This question is for the people fussing.
Every school seeks a more diverse faculty. Most schools don't make that clear. It's not fair to candidates.
Why not be upfront? About the hire? Esp. a senior hire? Because senior hires are much more difficult to make & much riskier to apply for.
Senior faculty who shop their CVs often face sanctions.
Given this, I appreciate the school's up-front, candid approach to advertising the position.
6. What if you disagree with me?
That's fine.
But consider, the hire isn't targeting a female assistant professor - where equity seems to be closer - it's targeting a senior position - where equity is distant.
What is wrong with building more equitable faculties? Esp. at the highest ranks?
I can't see any reason to object.
See also a call for change: https://lnkd.in/g_AHnPsy
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