I'm curious what kind of support you mean. The reason that women faculty are not taken as experts as easily as their male counterparts is clearly a deep rooted social ill. Do you think there is a way that colleges and universities can selectively battle that - or do you have in mind support after the fact (with helping the professor handle the issues)?
Good question Jeff.
Battling the deep rooted social ill is like thinking a war in Iraq is winnable. What I have in mind is that departments be very careful to ensure that these faculty aren't getting overburdened. My colleagues have been good at that. For example, Kerry, just this year, tried to prevent me from having to take on a difficult student. Also, not letting facultly of color get put on every diversity committee. Things of this sort . . .
I remember the men waiting out their retirement, dozing through their safe tenured careers, giving us lectures they'd planed decades earlier, flirting with the young women, responding angrily, but not with any actual response you understand, when they were challenged by the growing numbers of mature women students in front of them, making snarky personal misogynist comments on essays...and plenty PLENTY who could not speak English. None of this ever, applied to the women, all sessional lecturers.
And I'll add, although it will be greeted as more heresy than what I've already said, most of these deadheads were American draft dodgers who came up in the late 69s and early 70s and were preferred by the one or two ahead of the, like fekkin dominoes the appointments fell to them, while BRILLIANT young women stayed sessional.
Any advice to young women starting out? I'm waiting to hear on PhD acceptances and in the meantime will be teaching a course at a local community college. (Finished my MA in December.)
Already as a TA, I've encountered more obnoxiousness face-to-face from young (male) students than any of my (male) counterparts in the philosophy program did...I checked and they were surprised by what was said to me.
I'd like to nip that in the bud without being a harda** (which translates to b***h if you're a woman). Thoughts? (Oh, and I'm a lesbian, which I think complicates matters somewhat, too, in terms of students' responses in the Midwest.)
Respect for professors and teachers has been going down for a long time. Even when I was an undergrad at Big State U many students treated faculty like hired help, there to serve them like a waiter.
At that age I wasn't any paragon of what is proper either, but I remember being shocked when I witnessed a student about my age ARGUING with a full, old, tenured calculus professor because he wouldn't give him a make-up test so the student could go on a ski trip in a few weeks.
If I went back in time to that lecture hall today I would have told that kid:
"He is the professor. He said "no". Deal with it".
ck--
I would find mentors who you can trust and seek out to give you advice. I would guard your time carefully: don't have an open door policy if you need to do research. Also, trust yourself. Be firm with your decisions and after awhile, the word will be out that you are firm, but fair.
What do others suggest?
Pony;
I remember the shock I got as a grad student when a professor who thought much of me invited to a lecture by a visiting professor open only to department faculty.
Few of the professors actually listened. You could tell by the questions they asked. What really got me was that one professor, in the corner of the front row, was literally sleeping.
I asked my professor about these things later and he told me it was not uncommon.
Some of these professors were the same ones who would quickly lecture students about truly paying attention.
FWIW, I wouldn't equate draft dodging with particular personal characteristics unless I wanted to risk being wrong.
... Thought I was beyond all this, having secured tenure etc. ... But just suffered through the worst term of students in 8 years. And just the other day I had that "clown at the back of the room" who scores points with his peers by making an openly sexist comment that undermines the credibility of the prof., and of all women. Fortunately, his remark was not particularly original and I had the tools for a smack-down right there in my hip-pocket -- so I haven't seen him in lecture since then.
That interaction made me re-examine all the things about which I had become complacent or resigned myself to in the increasing push for professors to become better teachers:
I look younger than I am by a long shot. I get challenged on everything -- due dates, not having "bonus mark assignments", all the assessment issues, all the syllabus issues...
And the worst of it is, I think that as we add more"teaching support" services on university campuses, we get more and more like 3rd grade teachers. That is: "support" means that we learn how to build ever longer syllabi, rubrics, details, feed-back that "protect" us up front (but they don't really, because it just leads to increased demands).
Worst of all, from a pedagogical perspsective, it does not move the students toward greater independence of thought, or capacity to self-discipline. I'd say that all these efforts to be more inclusive and meet the "needs" (an implicit rights based imperative) of all these students actually does them a great disservice and violates their actual right to development of their autonomy (by preventing it for ever longer periods of time through strucutred dependence built into rubrics, syllabi, etc).
Moreover, it subtracts from the amount of time that any of us has to think, to mull over, and to produce the scholarly work that provides the "value added" taking us beyond just being relayers of knowledge already produced [i.e.: a teacher] and into that productive status of academic who shares knowledge *production* and process [i.e.: a professor].
And the worst of it is, I think that as we add more"teaching support" services on university campuses, we get more and more like 3rd grade teachers. That is: "support" means that we learn how to build ever longer syllabi, rubrics, details, feed-back that "protect" us up front (but they don't really, because it just leads to increased demands).
That is so true. And, it reminds me that part of what becomes draining to today's prof is that the population of students is so different than it was in the days from before that we idealize.
ck, would it really be that bad if you were seen as a b***h? The particularly obnoxious guys would all spread the word, and then they wouldn't take your class. Or perhaps my prediction is completely out of touch with reality.
Characteristics of draft dodgers? No idea, politically, I thought they were lefties. Not now if they ever were. They've pretty much turned out to be private healthcare supporting, Fraser Institute quoting, sending their kids to American universities kind of expats, keeping bank accounts in the states. Those I can think of. I can think of a few. There's a whole neighbourhood of them here near the university. It's like a British enclave in India circa 1940. Tenured and living here but not actually "here". I don't really think they are all draft dodgers, some came because they had friends here who hired them. There was a real stream for a time. It died down for many years, but lately, I have received e-mails from Americans asking me how their kids could come here, what was the price of land, etc. Recently. Afraid their kids will have to go to Iraq.
From 99 Yale L.J. 1913 "Convergences: Law, Literature, and Feminism; Heilbrun, Carolyn; Resnik, Judith"
"In addition, women are expected to be nurturing and loving, not admonishing and powerful...The classes, largely comprised of those who had only silently seethed under autocratic male professors, enacted a kind of group therapy before us that was not easy to suffer. They felt free to express the anger they dared not express to men. The instructors became, therefore, the objects of additional anger, not evoked by us but displaced onto us. While every woman teacher has an anecdote, if not several, of an aggressive young male student who challenges her authority, many white men have teaching careers without those confrontations, and to the extent that they worry about their interactions with students, their problems tend to be in being too powerful--"silencing"' is today's term--not in seeking to find a place from which to speak."
Yes I've seen the above, especially with the younger women sessionals. I've seen something else too: an older tenured professor, handing back semesters major essay, called out the name, said "remarkable paper, electric writing, a man, as the best always is". The name was Mandarin Chinese, and when a young woman stepped forward to claim her paper, there was not a word of apology or embarrassement from this misognyist woman prof.
Wow. Aspasia, you have nailed it. I would try to explain to male bosses and colleagues that my students challenged me all the time. They just felt that I didn't have the classroom management skills that they did. That as a teacher I was their inferior.
Exactly! And the nurturing/counseling issues are immense. When I first started off - the only woman in a dept of 20, I was the go-to for crisis pregnancy counseling, sexual assault counseling, HIV tests -- I have sat with over 40 students as they await results. When I mentioned that in a meeting once the men were completely surprised. Yes, I get them to appropriate agencies on/off campus, but I at least still need to follow up or else I'd look inhuman -- and I want them to be able to talk with me.
But expect to be the bitch - I have a male colleague who MEASURES margins on papers and they never question him. I have a deadline and then give another 5 hours in a "loan" once per semester and I am the horrible person. I have found the one thing that began to help for me is 1) carving a day or two away from campus and 2) publishing. Now that my vita is a lot longer than everyone else's in the dept, the male colleagues can't complain and students do less too. Talk about what you are writing the first day when you introduce yourself. I have learned, I think, to do it in a way that shows writing is hard for me, but that it has to be done and that has taken away a lot of the "problem children's" issues. 3) Develop a wonderful stare. It works wonders! REALLY!
you know, I am teaching this experimental version of a causal reasoning course this term, and just finished the first (of only 4) live case study sessions last Thursday. The students were decent enough, but did just this: challenged me on scheduling and due dates, on why no extra credit, and in particular on how I am calculating their total grade. Evidently it was a little too complicated for some of them to understand the first time round, they now blame me for suckering them into a course they "wouldn't have taken if we'd known it was like that." With puppy dog eyes, no less, when they say it.
They have also been canceling out of something like 50-60% of scheduled meeting in my office, with offhand comments like, I couldn't make it right now, I'll be there in two hours. As a grad student, I don't spend that much time around my office. I am not sure if they do this to all their professors, assume that they are always available so the student can dictate what time works for them. Its strikes me as incredibly disrespectful.
I spent a lot of time this weekend wondering if I should reconfigure the grading formula, make extra allowances, etc. All this for a class that in some real sense shouldn't be made easy, because it is their quantitative reasoning requirement.
Anyhow, this was the perfect moment to read this post. Thank you for letting me rant, and confirming its not just me.
As a newer woman faculty member at a two-year institution, I have to agree completely with the statements made thus far. I deal with it by being a very cold-hearted b**ch the first day. Then I immediately ease off during day two. This scares most of the trouble makers off and keeps the "authority question" to a minimum. I suppose it is because they have witnessed me evoke the uberb**ch and that I wouldn't be afraid to again if pushed. Also, I teach a "hard science" class so there aren't as many opportunities to question me. I'm either correct or I'm not. In that way, I am very lucky.
I would have to agree about starting out as a b***h and then easing off. Also, don't give in. Don't accept late work, don't bend deadlines. I agree that we are often challenged, but I also think that saying no works. "Can I come by your office and talk about my personal life?" No, but if you have a question about my class, feel free. Part of being a good teacher, and part of what I like about it, is the interaction with people. But you can't do your "work" if you're busy defending your class and/or counseling everyone. I know it's not popular to say no, but I think it's the only thing we can do. And also dealing with problems in class. I had a disrespectful male student, and I addressed it. I confronted him. It's gotten better. We can't be afraid to be called a b***h. I simply aknowledge I am one and move on.
I also have had to learn to be a bitch at the beginning and then ease off. That attitude and a kick-ass syllabus cover most potential problems.
I remember being shocked how easy it was to say no to a student asking for extra credit...and how that student just gave up! Once I had done it, it got easier each time.
I regularly meet with newer faculty and adjuncts and we have the "how to be firm/a bitch" conversation. I have coached a number of women on how to say "no" and "that is not going to work for me," which is the nice girl's version of no.
Something must be going right, because I no longer feed anxious about any class, presentation, or lecture. And I don't get too much crap.
Funny thing... When my husband & I were both teaching, I would frequently respond to irate student emails on his behalf--usually from young females. He usually had several challenges to his grading after the semester was over, and I have not had any. I think our evals. were about the same. And he always had the girl with marital or boyfriend or health issues (or health issues caused by a cheating boyfriend) crying on his shoulder. He was a lecturer working from a standard syllabus; I was a Graduate Assistant using my own. I always told him that he came across as nicer than me. But my students don't seem to think I'm a b***h, either. So is marital status something to factor in here, too?
WOW. ok, so I'm a young male faculty in engineering, and I've had a running conversation with my (female, and on every educational and diversity committee they dream up) collaborator about this... I have expressed exactly that "I just walk in and bullshit" attitude you mention and been so puzzled by how my female peers will prep and prep and prep, while our mentors tell us to minimize the time we're spending on teaching and focus on research... This gives a new perspective on it. But if the solution was just mentorship, changing attitudes (a 60% job might be enough for a class now, you focus on improving throughout your career but you need to develop the research base now), I can kind of see it, but if it's student stuff? As for the "problems" of young male faculty - when I show up to class with the whiz kid attitude, no one really challenges me. I guess that even in 2007, it's more socially (and professionally!) acceptable to be an assh**e than a b**ch.
I'm a Grad Instructor who's been teaching Intro to Comp and Intro to Lit classes for over 5 years now, and I've mastered the art of the cover-my-ass-syllabus. I have a policy for just about everything. On the first day, I go over all those policies and even institute a brief quiz over the important ones a few days later. I usually come off as a hard ass, but that's okay with me. I'm not a pushover, and I don't want to be seen as one.
Also, students these days are - for the most part - still children! So, my parenting experience comes in handy. If they act like children, I treat them like children - it's really simple. If Mutt and Jeff are in the back row, talking and distracting others, then I call them out in class and ask them if they need to be separated. However, if they act like young adults, I clearly show them that I value their engagement and respect their thoughts. I let them know that I hate to have to make a "rule" for just about everything, but society in general is becoming more litigous, and students are increasingly fostering the need for syllabi and course contracts that "cover" the instructor.
In terms of gender, I actually had a male student challenge me on something in class. I pulled him aside immediately after class and told him I wanted to see him in my office for a conference. When I came in, I simply asked, "What's your problem?" He matter-of-factly explained, "Oh that? I was just testing you. I do it to all my professors." (see the "like children" note above)...
I've concluded that while part of the problem can be attributed to gender, an individual's personality, physical presence, and aura of authority are equally important factors. As a 6'2" former basketball player, I carry myself a bit differently than my younger officemate, who's 5', barely 100 lbs, and generally less experienced. I think these are differences that would result in different student responses regardless of whether she and I were men.
This is a post I'm so glad to have stumbled upon. I'm currently an undergraduate student at a small liberal arts college; an English major. I get angrier and angrier at the department (made up of mostly straight, white men all with their emphases in Renaissance/18th century literature) and their treatment of women in the department. My faculty advisor told me recently that women professors in the department receive 5-10 more advisees than male professors in the department. Factor in the underlying resistance the department has to progressive women of color faculty and postcolonial studies as a "legitimate" part of the English canon and you have yourself one hell of a place to be.
My point I suppose is, I'm glad there are conversations going on about women *needing* to work harder because of institutionalized sexism, not because they are less intelligent or less prepared - of course it tazers my heart a little to think that this is something that grows only more apparent as a woman transitions from undergraduate to graduate student, grad student to faculty. And I think when one factors gender in with other marginalized identities (race and sexual orientation for example), it just gets messier.
In any case - a WONDERFUL post!
Although I am a female assistant professor "with an accent" (the worst possible combination?), I rarely experience lack of respect. Sure I get challenged by students, but I deal with it swiftly and with a sense of humor, which my students seem to appreciate. I developed the curriculum to leave room for group discussions and as much active learning as possible. This allows me to show my students I can think on my feet (in case it is not obvious already). In the course of these interactions, I do not experience challenge as a threat. I have experimented with various syllabus styles. I have found it is best if I write syllabi that reflect my desire to reinforce students for honesty and hard work rather than discipline them for bad behavior. I combine these strategies with my gifts as a woman - I am more sensitive to my students' needs than some of my male colleagues. The best of both worlds.
Boy, Pony, I cringed when I read your posting. I could have written it myself. I have never in my life encountered the hostility I experienced as an older student. It did not even cross my mind to try for a doctorate, when my mere desire to get a Master's made the cabal of aging mediocrities in the English and German departments so furious.
btw: are you Canadian? I know several guys who went up there and nailed sweet faculty positions when they could not get anything in the U.S. They were not "draft dodgers," but I guess they could have been hired in preference to equally qualified Canadian women.
oops. didn't realize this wasn't the top thread. My excuse: I've been sick. In my delerium I'd forgotten that we discussed this a while ago.
Still it is one fascinating topic!
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