It's not differences that divide us.
It's our judgments about each other that do.
Margaret Wheatley, Turning to One Another
It sneaked in, like many important things do, when I was preoccupied
with yet another road trip.
Charity Hirsch called to ask me a question. She is a co-founder of
the WAGE group (We Advocate Gender Equity) supporting female faculty
at the University of California, the mother of former WIHE writer Jennifer
Hirsch.
"What would help women at _________ university?" she asked
me, naming "one of the most prestigious universities in the world."
A faculty woman who was negotiating a settlement with this university
had asked for help in creating a shopping list of improvements that
would make a difference for those women who came behind her.
Great idea, I thought. Promising to get back to her on my return,
I flew off and let the question simmer in my head. By then the woman
had made her own list, but I shared my ideas with Charity, and now with
you.
Adapted from business, the idea of benchmarking is to determine how
your group stacks up against others. In this case, what are the ideal
components of a culture that truly values its women, as administrators,
faculty, staff or students, and how does your campus rate?
(It is not coincidental that I may attend the annual meeting of SWAAC,
the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada in Ottawa on April
24-26, and have been asked to make a presentation on benchmarking.)
Call it utopia, call it impossible, call it incomplete, here are my
suggestions of what women on campus want.
1. Continual climate and salary surveys
It's easy for a unit or a campus to dismiss women's claims of bias
due to a so-called unique situation, but aggregate numbers are hard
to ignore, as the women at MIT knew.
Every 3-5 years a campus-wide survey of all female faculty, staff
and students should record perceptions of how women feel about where
they spend the majority of their waking hours. Do they perceive fairness
or discrimination based on their gender, race, or whatever? Research
shows it's the perception of inequity that counts, which a well-designed
climate survey can uncover.
Likewise, it's crucial to document salary inequities for employees
on both a campus-wide and unit basis. Many
administrators need to see the figures in black and white.
Fortunately a new monograph may help with this research. "Conducting
Salary-Equity Studies: Alternative Approaches to Research" presents
insights and advances made by several influential researchers in salary
studies. It is part of the Jossey-Bass New Directions for Institutional
Research series.
" When facing the ongoing challenge of achieving salary equity
or even responding to claims that their institutions have engaged
in pay discrimination against women faculty, institutional researchers
find that there are no universally accepted guidelines to use among
existing salary-equity studies," according to a release. "The
first of a two-volume set on the subject, it also bridges the gap
between academic research and the more pragmatic statistical and political
considerations in real-life institutional salary studies."
2. A committee on the status of women
This committee would include faculty, staff, students and key administrators
at a school, as well as informal female leaders, and report directly
to the president. Its challenge would be to educate and monitor levels
of inclusiveness of women on campus. Many an enlightened male president
has used such a committee to keep a finger on the pulse of his best
constituents.
3. A policy on sexual harassment
Many an employee and student has been the subject of unwanted harassment,
and a school having such a policy is at least peripherally aware of
its need. With one, women have a better chance to lodge and resolve
complaints.
4. A Women's Center on campus
Not only can it establish a focal point for programming and service,
it offers a safe sanctuary for promoting the full and active participation
for women who work and learn on campus. Schools that have Women's
Centers make a visible, financial commitment to valuing their women
on campus.
5. A Women's Studies department or program
The academic equivalent of the activist Women's Center, this entity
offers gender-related scholarship so students and faculty alike can
use research, theory and historical evidence to understand and change
prevailing gender stereotypes. It also can model inclusive teaching,
academic collaboration and interdisciplinary cooperation.
6. Family-friendly policies for staff/students
As the College and University Work/Family Association points out,
a campus should embrace the integration of work and life. When things
get out of whack, it's usually the family that suffers. Since higher
education was designed by and for upper-class males, changes must
be made to welcome women as full partners. Enlightened policies include
parental leave, flextime, tenure clock flexibility, health insurance
coverage for partners and dependents, and a host of other initiatives
that grows continually.
7. A formal mentoring/network program
Research shows that nothing works better to help faculty and staff
succeed than establishing a system to mentor and support women on
campus. Grad students can also benefit.
8. An ombudsperson on campus
An ombudsperson can be a safety net to serve those whose rights
may have been trampled by an unfair system. People in this job must
dance a fine line between administration and its cogs, but they can
be the difference between a woman's success or failure.
How do you fare?
Readers can assess how their campus rates by this benchmark. Now comes
the real work: improvement. With any luck at all, we can all get top
grades and establish a flat curve, so we all share the last laugh.
