In Search of Token Women in Academia

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1982

This article makes an important distinction between two definitions of "token woman." In the first definition, a token woman is one of few women in a predominantly male setting. The second meaning of "Token Woman" identifies that subset of such women who have made the distinctive psychological adaptation described by Laws (1975). The methodological decisions in Young, Mac-Kenzie, and Sherif's (1980) research are justified as based on that definitional distinction. Constantinople's critique is shown to be appropriate as an alternative to Laws' theory, but not as a criticism of our research. Alternative generational explanations for previous findings about Token Women are not supported by existing data. Constantinople (1 982) has suggested that the most serious problem with our research lies in definition of the concept "token woman." We agree that clarification is needed regarding how we (Young, MacKenzie, & Sherif, 1980), Laws (1975), and Constantinople have used the term. The term "token woman" was used in two different ways in both Laws's analysis and our own. The first definition of token woman involves considering only the relative frequency of men and women in Requests for reprints should be sent to Carlotta J. Young, Institute far Program Evaluation,

Perspectives on Politics, 2008

Is there gender discrimination in academia? Analysis of interviews with 80 female faculty at a large Research One university-the most comprehensive qualitative data set generated to date-suggests both individual and institutional discrimination persists. Overt discrimination has largely given way to less obvious but still deeply entrenched inequities. Despite apparent increases in women in positions of authority, discrimination continues to manifest itself through gender devaluation, a process whereby the status and power of an authoritative position is downplayed when that position is held by a woman, and through penalties for those agitating for political change. Female faculty find legal mechanisms and direct political action of limited utility, and increasingly turn to more subtle forms of incremental collective action, revealing an adaptive response to discrimination and a keen sense of the power dynamics within the university. Women attributed the persistence of gender inequality not to biology but to a professional environment in which university administrators care more about the appearance than the reality of gender equality and a professional culture based on a traditional, linear male model. Respondents described heart-wrenching choices between career and family responsibilities, with tensions especially intractable in the bench sciences. They advocated alternative models of professional life but also offered very specific interim suggestions for institutions genuinely interested in alleviating gender inequality and discrimination. the University of California at Irvine (UCI), a major Research One (R1) university, from 2002 to 2006. Analysis consists of five parts. First we clarify that there is, in fact, a problem. We present statistics on salary and employment data for men and women within academia, since job and salary differentials are obvious indicators of Kristen Monroe

2003

1982

Gender Work and Organization, 2012

In this article we propose a multi-level distinction between gender inequality practices and gender equality practices to come to better understanding of the slow pace of gender change in academia. Gender inequality resembles an unbeatable seven-headed dragon that has a multitude of faces in different social contexts. Based on an empirical study on the recruitment and selection of full professors in three academic fields in The Netherlands we discuss practices that should bring about gender equality and show how these interact with gender inequality practices. We argue that the multitude of gender inequality practices are ineffectively countered by gender equality practices because the latter lack teeth, especially in traditional masculine academic environments.

2003

Semi-structured individual interviews and document and observational analyses from two feminist faculty grassroots networks provide an understanding of how faculty confront an inequitable campus climate. From these data, the author shows that two subtly different strategies emerge to help women mobilize and address issues of discrimination and bias. One organization is a professional organization of feminists while the other is an activist organization of professionals, which in both cases help define academic feminism and the faculty profession.

… doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas …, 2003

ADVANCE Journal, 2020

This study examines the Advocates & Allies Program, a men faculty peer-to-peer professional development program designed to disrupt gender inequities in academia. The pedagogical approach is grounded in a grassroots-based critical analysis, was developed at a public land grant university, and has been introduced at over twenty additional higher education institutions. Data from five universities and two professional association conferences are included in this study. Results of this mixed methods case analysis illustrate why academic men may be motivated to engage in gender equity work; findings also confirm that the program increases participants' knowledge of unconscious bias and its impacts, prepares men with tools to enact change, and enhances personal commitment to gender equity, thereby affirming and extending the existing knowledgebase on effective allyship. The data suggest that the approach is an effective transformative model of intellectual activism that could be adopted by a wider sphere of academic institutions.

Black Issues in Higher Education, 2004

Sex Roles, 2009

Using data from 188 female full professors from all 14 Dutch universities this study examines whether skewed sex ratios in the environment and the absence of a women-friendly environment are related to their career path experiences and to their perception of the general ease of women's obtaining a professorship. Results from multi-level analyses show a positive relationship between the perception of women-friendly environment and both the experience of their own career path, and the perceived ease with which other women could become a full professor. Moreover results show that the higher the percentage of women professors in the academic field the stronger the relationship between perception of women friendliness and the experienced ease with which they became a full professor.