Men in the Globalizing University’
The role that gender plays at institutions of higher education throughout
the world was the focus of a conference held on campus last month. — By Gila Reinstein
T H I S
The event began the day before — and was held in conjunction with — the
third annual meeting of the International Alliance of Research Universities
(IARU), which brought together 10 university presidents from around the world
at Yale to discuss common challenges.
The conference, titled “Women and Men in the Globalizing University,” had
been authorized by the IARU presidents and continued a conversation on this
topic that began at the first such workshop at Cambridge University in 2006.
About 80 Yale faculty members and administrators joined representatives from
each of the 10 IARU member universities and experts from other institutions
and foundations devoted to education at the conference, held on April 21 in
the General Motors Room of Horchow Hall.
Launched in January 2006, IARU is a cooperative endeavor among research-intensive
institutions that have agreed to participate in conferences, student and faculty
exchanges, joint and/or dual degree programs and summer internships. In addition
to Yale, its members include the Australia National University, the University
of California at Berkeley, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford,
the University of Copenhagen, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology),
the National University of Singapore, Peking University and the University
of Tokyo.
“Women and Men in the Globalizing University” explored four major
themes: how universities can improve the numbers of, and positions held by, women
in their ranks; what tools for data collection and analysis can be used by universities
to assess their progress; the relationship between the twin aspirations for equality
and excellence in the academy; and how globalization affects these issues.
In the first session, titled “Engendering Self-Knowledge: Mapping Gender
in University Data,” the group assessed quantitative and qualitative
methods for collecting data about the numbers of and positions held by women
and men in universities. Having learned at their 2006 meeting that collection
and provision of information varied greatly across the IARU schools, they discussed
the challenges of creating internationally comparable datasets and the possibility
of an alliance-wide data collection initiative. Participants agreed that collection
of this kind of data is essential in order to design targeted interventions
to integrate women more fully into the academy.
The second session focused on university and governmental policy interventions
that aim to improve the representation and advancement of women in universities,
particularly in the sciences. The program — titled “Intervening:
What Works, What Doesn’t and How Do We Know?” — addressed
ways to measure the effectiveness of such interventions, identified programs
that had been successful and considered the transportability of such initiatives
within and across nations and to women and men in other fields.
In the third session, “Equality and Excellence in the Globalizing University,” the
group turned to the overarching question of what a robust commitment to equality
looks like in a global research university, and asked how barriers, representation
and attention to gender in scholarship change as universities, students and
faculty cross national and disciplinary borders. They also explored how other
trends in higher education (such as standardization and competition) impact
aspirations for women and men to be full participants in universities.
The group concluded the afternoon with reflections on what roles IARU could
play in enabling its member universities to explore how gender affects them
and with setting an agenda for the future.
By the end of the day, several proposals had been drafted to present to the
IARU presidents, who were meeting the next morning to begin their own two-day
program. The assembled leaders of all 10 universities were enthusiastic about
the group’s work and agreed to support several proposals for future IARU
collaboration.
The first key proposal commits each school to gather and share detailed statistical
data. At the conference, Marc Goulden, director of Data Initiatives for Academic
Affairs at the University of California at Berkeley and co-author of the “Do
Babies Matter?” research project, shared prototypes of the data that
each institution could collect, tracking the gender, race and nationality of
students and faculty at all ranks. Each IARU president agreed to appoint someone
to gather this data at his or her university, and each institution pledged
that whatever data they gathered would be shared among the members.
“We will use the University of California at Berkeley’s data as a
benchmark so that we can make comparisons across the six countries of IARU,” said
Kate Pretty, principal of Homerton College at the University of Cambridge. She
is also one of Cambridge’s five pro-vice-chancellors, with special responsibilities
for outreach, life-long learning and international strategy as well as overseeing
the university’s museums and libraries.
“We will look at patterns of gender on every level, from undergraduate
student to provost,” Pretty said. “We will also consider nationality.
We don’t know enough about the components that go into this. At Cambridge,
for example, 30% of the faculty is non-British.”
The IARU presidents also agreed to pool each institution’s experience
regarding the initiatives they have undertaken to attract and retain women
on the faculty. Once all the information has been gathered, a data bank of
effective interventions will be made available to all the affiliated universities.
In addition, the presidents agreed that the group should increase the joint
academic ventures across the IARU schools, including seminars on gender-related
research. Just such a collquium was held the very next day, and was attended
by representatives from several of the IARU schools.
Titled “Mapping the Terrain of Work, Care and Gender,” the mini-conference
focused on contemporary theories, practice and research on the interactions
among paid work, gender and households from transnational perspectives. This
event was co-sponsored by the Yale Women Faculty Forum, the MacMillan Center
and the Yale Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program.
That same day, the presidents also met and endorsed the continuation of the
work of this research group, including the approval of funds for another conference
on gender in universities. That session will be held at Cambridge or Oxford
in the fall of 2009.
Judith Resnik, the Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale and a founding member
of the Women’s Faculty Forum, summed up the conference in this way: “It
was moving to see the shared commitments, the interests and the common concerns;
across oceans, disciplines, university cultures and nations, we joined together
to explore how we might understand the effects of gender on our scholarship,
our classes and our workplaces and how with that understanding we can enrich
university life and contribute to the development of new bodies of knowledge.”
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Ian Shapiro chosen to join American Philosophical Society
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Yale to celebrate 307th graduation
Summertime at Yale
Scientist Joan Steitz wins nation’s largest prize in medicine
University names 18 future leaders as 2008 World FellowsENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Mary E. Miller named Sterling Professor of the History of Art
Joseph Roach appointed Sterling Professor of Theater
Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar is the new Bunker Professor of Hematology
Dr. Richard Edelson is the first Lerner Professor of Dermatology
Architecture students helping to design Mideast Peace Park
China’s President Hu Jintao meets with participants in . . .
In Yale-led study, astronomers discover nine young galaxies . . .
Research on male mating behavior suggests brains may be unisex . . .
Paul Anastas honored as the founder of ‘green chemistry’
Town-gown partners honored with Elm-Ivy AwardsSCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWS
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Study: No ‘Hollywood heart attack’ symptoms for most women
Findings suggest eating chocolate may be boon to pregnant women
Early-stage bone cells may offer possible estrogen replacement
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Computer program helps keep drug abusers abstinent, study shows
Noted gastroenterologist named chief medical officer at YMG
Yale Ob/Gyn researchers discuss their work at New Orleans meeting
Symposium on pain management aimed at medical school students
Exhibits explore artist’s Liverpool years, British watercolors
Two student-curated shows focus on the medium of photography
Library creates digital archive of ‘oldest college daily’
Two seniors will study at the University of Cambridge as Gates Scholars
Campus leaders discuss strategies for increasing staff diversity
Former Bucknell chaplain is named new pastor of University Church
Professor Miroslav Volf will co-teach class with . . .
Tony Blair
Council of Masters honors 10 juniors for their scholarship . . .
Conference focuses on ‘Women and Men in the Globalizing University’
The future of ‘Computers, Freedom and Privacy’ to be addressed . . .
Karyn Frick honored for contributions to women’s health
Campus Notes
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