A scholar at the College of Charleston in South Carolina says academia is hardly immune from problems with gender inequality and sexual harassment. Sociologist Kris De Welde will talk about the issue February 8th at Western Michigan University.
De Welde is the director of the women's and gender studies program at the College of Charleston. She's also the co-editor of the 2014 book, Disrupting the Culture of Silence: Confronting Gender Inequality and Making Change in Higher Education. De Welde says disparities in pay is just one aspect of the problem. She says women who are full-time faculty members get lower salaries than men in the same positions, no matter what their academic specialty is. And De Welde says the culture on most American campuses pushes women and minorities into fields that offer lower pay than male-dominated subjects like engineering.
While they are paid less, De Welde says female professors, staff, and administrators are often asked to do more than their male colleagues. That includes everything from routine paperwork and department committee meetings to fielding requests for help from students. And while all of that is on their plate, they are often having to deal with household chores, child care, or tending to aging parents.
De Welde says all of this is a problem that affects students too. Among other things, she says students who don't see people like themselves behind the lectern are less like to succeed academically and in careers after graduation. As an example, she says a young black women studying to become an engineer will face hurdles if she has only male and white professors in her classes.
The #MeToo movement highlighting sexual harassment and assault in the worlds of politics, the media, and entertainment have been getting much attention. But De Welde says the issue is hardly new there, or on college campuses. But she says new media attention to the issue is encouraging more women in high education to speak out about the harassment they face.
De Welde says she's optimistic that progress is being made toward gender equality on campuses across the nation. But she says there's no "silver bullet." Fixing the problem requires detailed systemic change in institutions and changing the attitudes of the people in them.
De Welde will speak about the issue on Thursday, February 8th, at 5:30 p.m. in 1910 Sangren Hall on WMU's main campus. It's sponsored by Western's College of Arts and Sciences Women's Caucus.
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