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MisEducation: Women & Canadian Universities
Abstract
This book is intended to point out the extent of sexual discrimination and bias that occurs in Canadian universities; to reveal the anti-woman ambience that presently exists in academia, undermining the confidence and self-respect of women scholars; and to offer recommendations for action that would greatly ameliorate the situation of university women. Results of surveys, statistical data, and other evidence and information are presented in the following chapters: (1) "Realities of Student Life"; (2) "Science and Engineering"; (3) "Arts, Law, and Medicine"; (4) "Traditional 'Feminine' Disciplines"; (5) "Women's Studies"; (6) "Research"; (7) "Administrations, Professors, and Staff"; (8) "University Services"; (9) "Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Violence"; and (10) "What's To Be Done" (specific recommendations for action, organized according to the book's chapter headings, that range from immediate and individual actions to long-range and university-wide plans of action). A selected bibliography of 134 references is appended. (KM)
... Statistics Canada (1985) shows that the number of women 1985). Dagg and Thompson (1988) report that in Canada in engineering and applied sciences, 12% o f full-time undergraduates were female. ...
... Although the percentage o f women in nontraditional fields has been increasing, it has been suggested that when there are f e w women present in a given discipline, it w i l l come t o be seen as appropriate that it should remain so, and furthermore, attempts t o rectify the imbalance with an influx of women into that field w i l l be seen as "wrong" (Simeone, 1987, pp.10-1, as cited in Dagg and Thompson, 1988). In a British study following women university graduates in nontraditional areas such as science and engineering, Chisholm and Woodward (1980) (Hacker, 1983). ...
... Ellis (1981) When students are discouraged i t is more frequently female students, and they are discouraged b y other women, although they m a y also be discouraged b y their male peers. Related t o discouragement, Dagg and Thompson (1988) found in a study o f Canadian universities that many male professors believe that the number o f w o m e n in science and engineering is lower than actually exists, and that those w o m e n who are in engineering and sciences w i l l n o t make committed ...
... A survey done on the 1984-85 Canadian university calendars revealed that in the English courses that listed writers to be studied in their course descriptions, women writers were never more than l A of those mentioned and were usually far fewer (Dagg, 1986). Canadian history textbooks ignore the importance of women or the impact of events on women's lives (Dagg and Thompson, 1988). ...
... However, in Canada, women's studies is underfunded, and there are no tenured professors. Neither has there been any effort in Canadian universities to integrate women's studies into the existing curriculum (Dagg and Thompson, 1988). ...
A review of the literature on gender bias in the post-secondary classroom reveals that in many cases women students do not participate in class discussions as much as men students. Cause and effect cannot be determined from these studies, but a female teacher and teacher training in sex equitable behaviour are two factors associated with increased female participation. Studies examining student evaluations of teachers reveal that female students rate their female professors higher than their male professors. Research examining post-secondary experi-ences leading to women's achievement and self-confidence after graduation suggests that attending a woman's college and having female teachers are important. Future research is needed to determine the cause and effect relationship between specific classroom variables on women's classroom partici-pation, satisfaction, and achievement after graduation.
... On the other hand, some felt that our failure to find a male-female salary difference demonstrated that men, in fact, were underpaid, since they believed males were indeed more "meritorious" (i.e., more scientifically productive) and this was not taken into account by the regression equation. Clearly, further research is needed to elaborate the role that statistical analyses can play in what is ultimately a political arena (see Dagg & Thompson, 1988), wherein perceived social reality is just as crucial as the socalled facts. ...
To assess sex discrimination in university salary allocation accurately, one must determine whether gender explains the salary difference in and of itself, or exerts its influence through other variables, such as rank and departmental affiliation, that themselves affect salary and may correlate with gender. Using members of the Faculty of Social Science (N = 133) of a large Canadian university as a case sample, we assessed gender discrimination in promotion and gender differences in departmental affiliation as related to salary before including these two variables in statistical analyses predicting salary. No evidence was found for discrimination in promotion and women were not morie under-represented in the higher-salaried departments. Several regression models recommended in the literature for assessing gender discrimination in salaries were conducted and yielded convergent findings : male and female faculty similar on salary-relevant variables were equivalently paid. While these results should be reassuring, they would not go very far toward resolving salary discrimination disputes in the university studied or in most other academic institutions. The difficulties of applying the results of statistical analyses within a politically-charged arena are discussed.
... Physical scientists Dagg and Thompson (1988) identified a number of issues at various campuses and made specific suggestions for change. Research geared toward male concerns excludes more than women scholars, it does not unearth more knowledge about women; therefore research about women should be viewed as a serious and valid undertaking, and be as likely to win a professor tenure as is doing research on any other topic The Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume XXX, No. 3, 2000 (p. ...
Contributions of academic women in Canadian universities are reviewed to determine whether their participation has reached a "critical mass." Specifically, scholarship about higher education, participation rates within academic ranks, and the frequency of administrative appointments are examined as illustrations of research, teaching and ser-vice, the traditional pillars that represent academic achievement. A fun-damental assumption is that to achieve equity, a critical mass of women academics must promote and maintain gender sensitivity through these three pillars. Results indicate that, in a few instances, the minimum level of participation (35%) was attained, but generally, critical mass has not yet been reached.
... On the other hand, some felt that our failure to find a male-female salary difference demonstrated that men, in fact, were underpaid, since they believed males were indeed more "meritorious" (i.e., more scientifically productive) and this was not taken into account by the regression equation. Clearly, further research is needed to elaborate the role that statistical analyses can play in what is ultimately a political arena (see Dagg & Thompson, 1988), wherein perceived social reality is just as crucial as the socalled facts. ...
Salaries and promotion patterns in the social sciences faculty at a large Canadian university were examined for evidence of gender discrimination. No patterns of discrimination in promotion were found, and women were not more underrepresented in higher-salaried departments. Male and female faculty similar on salary-relevant variables were found to be equivalently paid. (Author/MSE)
... Expressing dismay at this finding, these universities announced plans to hire more women, either informally or formally, through affirmative action schemes. Despite their efforts, universities in the United States (Aisenberg & Harrington, 1988) and Canada (Dagg & Thompson, 1988) continue to have far fewer women than men teachers. ...
In the past, the academic careers of women married to professors have often been disadvantaged by anti-nepotism rules in universities and by informal department policies against hiring one's own Ph.D. graduates. To determine if these two systemic forms of discrimination, which especially affect faculty wives, are still operating, a study was made at a large university, the University of Waterloo. UW calendars show that some departments have hired academic spouses and many have hired their own Ph.D.s; however, a survey of UW professors indicates that a sizable number are against hiring spouses in a department and against a department hiring its own Ph.D.s. There is still cause for concern, therefore, if a university wants to hire the best candidate for a position and she happens to be a faculty wife.
... Female students reportedly often felt "left out" of informal communication networks within their departments and were denied acceptance as "professional colleagues" by faculty in the same manner as male students. This study subsequently spawned research on the status of women in universities of Canada (Dagg & Thompson, 1988;Chilly Editorial Collective, 1995). ...
The thesis is put forward that changes in public policy which originally promoted broad access to higher education are leading to the diminished likelihood that minorities, those from low-income backgrounds and females in underrepresented disciplines will pursue, or be able to complete, the doctorate. By reviewing a wide range of research literature and statistical reports on the status of doctoral education in the U.S. & Canada, a detailed sociological portrait of those who pursue the Ph.D. is presented. Recommendations are given for further research on doctoral education, particularly in areas of attrition,retention, student indebtedness, social stratification, and post-doctoral career plans.
In this innovative book, four prominent philosophers of education introduce readers to the central debates about the role of gender in educational practice, policymaking, and theory. More a record of a continuing conversation than a statement of a fixed point of view, The Gender Question in Education enables students and practicing teachers to think through to their own conclusions and to add their own voices to the conversation. Throughout, the authors emphasize the value of a gender-sensitive perspective on educational issues and the relevance of an ethics of care for educational practice. Among the topics discussed are feminist pedagogy, gender freedom in public education, androgyny, sex education, multiculturalism, the inclusive curriculum, and the educational significance of an ethics of care. The multiauthor, dialogic structure of this book provides unusual breadth and cohesiveness as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas, making it both an ideal introduction to gender analysis in education and a model for more advanced students of gender issues.
Résumé Le présent article fait état des principaux résultats d'une enquête menée auprès des membres des départements de mathématiques, et de certains départements connexes, dans toutes les universités canadiennes. Le but de la recherche était de comparer les femmes et les hommes du point de vue de origine sociale, situation familiale, études, carrière, difficultés professionnelles liées au sexe et attitude envers les programmes d'accès à l'égalité en emploi.
This research involved in-depth interviews with nineteen women professors, drawn from across various faculties and ranks at one Canadian university, and was intended to explore the interconnections between the women's personal and professional lives. The women in this study chose to combine having children with an academic career. Most of them depicted their career trajectory as a lifelong challenge, one that was both fulfilling and prestigious. In contrast, the women reported a number of obstacles in their career paths that served to prevent them from gaining full membership in academic life. This study probes the nature of such obstacles that are grouped into two categories: the child-related time crunch and the career-related time crunch. As a result of these obstacles, the women encountered childbearing/childrearing problems, research dilemmas, a willingness to leave the academy, and denial of tenure and promotion. Findings call for a restructuring of academic careers in order to effectively accommodate women with children in the profession.
This paper examines data from a small university in Atlantic Canada, focusing on the university as employer, in order to highlight one aspect of the impact of gender on universities. The data include official records on all employees, details from contracts and terms of employment, responses to questionnaires sent to all employees, and unstructured interviews conducted with university officials. Employees belong to one of six groups: faculty, librarians, professional and technical workers, secretarial-clerical workers, physical plant employees, and "non-classified". Working conditions and salaries vary across groups and within groups by step, rank or level. Women employees are concentrated in the secretarial-clerical group, one of two with restrictive working conditions. Women are more likely than men to be part-time employees, with few employee benefits. Men dominate the higher ranks of each group; women are concen- trated at the lower ranks. Regression analyses of salaries show that, even with controls for rank, seniority and education, women in each employee group tend to earn considerably less than their male colleagues. Responses to the questionnaire reveal that women report more gender discrimination and sexual harassment than do men. The analysis highlights the importance of developing structures to address issues of gender equity for all university employees.
Women in graduate programs have, in the past, been subject to a "chilly climate" (Hall & Sandler, 1982). Those in educational administration faced particular problems associated with the male orientation of the discipline (Edson, 1988). Has this diminished now that half of the students are women? Although there were many positive reports, the overall experiences for women in educational administration programs were often marred by discriminatory attitudes displayed by specific professors, negative responses to affirmative action initiatives voiced by fellow students, and resentment displayed by both male professors and male students toward female professors. In the students' perceptions, universities had done little to encourage women, although some had been able to take educational administration courses intended to address issues of gender or women's studies courses as part of program. Positive experiences were often associated with exposure to women mentors interested in qualitative research methods. Students' recommendations for improvement of educational administration programs centred around the inclusion of women in course content, the "upgrading " of particularly entrenched professors, and program changes to provide more flexibility. Students were also concerned with changing the school systems themselves, in order to improve job opportunities once they had completed their programs.
Interviews with some women graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education reveal that the presence of men students in feminist academe is a complex and conflicted issue. Women respondents were concerned about men's personal, political and epistemological appropriation of feminist space in academe. The women's concerns arise out of men's actual behaviour and/or perceived motivation inside and outside the classroom. Such concerns are possibly linked to the women students’ sense of proprietorship over the women's studies enterprise.[1] I thank the women who consented to be interviewed by me for sharing their thoughts and feelings. June Larkin deserves much praise for her invaluable editorial assistance. This paper is much improved because of her. I acknowledge Denise Squires and Conine Johnston for their advice and Sylvia Novack for her feedback. Sandra Acker in Canada and Lynda Measor in England responded graciously to all my queries. A shorter version of this paper was presented at the ‘Fourth Interdisciplinary Conference for Feminist Graduate Students at York and OISE,’ Toronto, Canada, 12–14 March 1992.
De 1984 à 1999, pour tous les professeurs à plein temps des universités canadiennes, les modèles de temps de défaillance accéléré démontrent que le temps médian de promotion de professeur adjoint à professeur agrégé est de 0,4 année plus long pour les femmes. Il n'y a pas de pic correspondant au refus de titularisation après cinq à sept ans de service, et les augmentations salariales des promotions sont stables avec le temps. Le temps médian de promotion de professeur agrégéà professeur titulaire est d'un an plus long pour les femmes que le temps médian pour les hommes, soit 8,3 années. Les différences entre les disciplines et entre les institutions n'ont qu'un petit impact sur les évaluations des différences entre les genres dans les promotions.
From 1984 to 1999, for all full-time faculty members at Canadian universities, accelerated failure time models show that the median time to promotion from assistant to associate professor is 0.4 years longer for women. There is no peak corresponding to denial of tenure after five to seven years of service and rates of promotion are stable over time. Women's median time for promotion from associate to full professor is one year longer than the median for men, 8.3 years. Variation between disciplines and between institutions has little impact on estimates of gender differences in promotion.
The problematic in how women experience their work worlds today is eclipsed by glossy images of a mythical liberated woman catapulted to instant glory by an increasingly enlightened division of labour. Women in the professions have been used predominantly to portray this visionary image of our times while reported instances of gender discrimination have been downplayed. This lapse in understanding amounts to a compromise of trust in institutional life. Gender discrimination is now treated as a limited issue determinable by character or chemistry, and amendable in terms of assigning innocence or blame to individuals. Such a construal ignores the processual and emergent nature of social interaction and how organizations themselves contribute to the problem. This paper is an attempt to redefine gender discrimination as a collective level process and to suggest an archetype based on case study evidence.
In this article, the author discusses characteristics in feminist pedagogy literature and situates them with respect to four dialectical aspects. These characteristics are then combined with non-discriminatory classroom practices to develop a frame of reference for an inclusive pedagogy in mathematics education.
This study explored gender differences in the reasons why academics accept or reject offers of faculty positions. Using both open-ended questions and rating scales, 115 academics in the early stages of their careers who had accepted or declined/resigned university positions between 1986 and 1989 were interviewed. Contrary to suggestions in the literature, few significant gender differences emerged. In particular, family needs were a major consideration for both men and women. Responses revealed that both female and male academics who accepted positions generally were influenced most strongly by the academic reputation of the department and university, the compatibility of the appointment with the needs of family members, including dual-career relationships, and the attractiveness of the job offer, especially the length and type of contract. Male rejecters showed a similar pattern while female rejecters focused primarily on family needs and the job offer. Opportunities for personal development, support for research, the job market, teaching assignments, and geographical location were generally less influential for all respondents. Salary and discrimination were cited least frequently as factors underlying employment decisions. The results imply that academic recruiting for both female and male faculty members can be best enhanced by emphasizing the quality of academic life in the department and university, accommodating the needs of family members, and offering greater job security in the form of longer, tenure-track appointments.
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