In my short time as a professor, I have reviewed hundreds of applications for doctoral programs or for faculty positions at my institutions. Women and men tend to talk about themselves in different ways. Referents—the people who write letters of recommendation—also tend to write about women differently than they write about men. The more I’ve considered this pattern, the more I’ve thought that the application process is an opportunity for women to advocate for themselves. Personal statements are your introduction to a program or position—you get to tell a story about why you’re qualified for that position. Letters of recommendation, similarly, articulate your match to a specific position or program.
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In schools and universities, men are overrepresented in leadership relative to their representation in the lower and middle levels of the organization. For example, there is a much larger percent of men in principalships—about 48%—relative to the percent of men who are teachers (about 21%). Similarly, women outpace men in earning doctoral degrees but only 23% of college and university presidents are women. Outside of education, only one in five C-suite executives is a woman, which is low but represents a significant increase over the last two decades.
Read MoreWow, what a 2020 we are off to. I’d love to say something affirming or comforting here, but I, probably much like you, have eaten way too many of my quarantine snacks already, while frantically trying to design engaging lessons from afar, as I contemplate my mortality and also whether I really need more pretzels. We are in scary times. I hope that you are being safe, staying home, and are able to convince your older parents that, no, they don’t need to go to the gym today. But even if you are home, hopefully watching Netflix, practicing some self-care and saving the world by social distancing, that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your quest to support women. Here is a list of some ideas to help you stay engaged in the fight while making safe choices for you and your family.
Read MoreAs we move forward in the presidential election cycle, we are once again deluged with a flood of articles analyzing the race. We have many women running from across the country and that is phenomenal! Special shoutout to one of my former students who was just elected as the youngest Councilor-at-Large of her hometown! So, as we wade through this coverage, we are going to see lots of analytic pieces that are, let’s face it, filled with gender-coded language meant to cut women down. We will see it on the news, read it in print, and hear our beloved family members say it over turkey and stuffing in a few weeks. What do we do then when confronted by this? Well, I’ve got a plan for that.
Read MoreGender inequities are not limited to the experiences of women who teach or lead in education – as we’ve documented here, students also bear the brunt in inequitable practices in schools, districts, and educational organizations. Importantly, inequity is not limited to different treatment of the genders, but instead extends to the range of identities a person might represent (see our brief introduction to intersectionality). Yet we know that gender bias manifests in classrooms in a couple of ways: girls may be called on less frequently than boys, be assigned to lead groups less frequently than boys, girls who evince more traditionally masculine characteristics may be subject to school-based consequences, and students who identify as nonbinary or trans may be erased or persecuted.
Read MoreI mentioned in last week’s blog that calling in is a tool I want to use more in 2019. I’m currently in a diversity-focused book club with school leaders in a local district, which is where I was first introduced to the practice. Please understand that this blog represents my newest learning and comprehension of calling in; I will cite my sources as thoroughly as possible and any errors are mine alone. I may get things wrong, but I think it’s worth wading through some complexity in order to both be a better ally and to broaden the community of activists.
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