Gender Equity in Academia
Issues concerning the climate for women faculty have once again taken center stage. Recent comments by the President of Harvard University speak to the continued importance of these issues. As faculty in the sciences, engineering and underrepresented disciplines, we are working to develop a series of events that not only help raise awareness of issues for women in these disciplines but also work toward improvements in the areas of recruitment/retention and the working climate.
As a kick-off for this initiative, we are planning a reception for faculty across the five colleges and Lotte Bailyn, Professor of Management at MIT’s Sloan School has accepted our invitation to speak. Professor Bailyn was one of the leaders involved in the MIT study which found that women faculty often experienced marginalization and inequities in terms of resources for research and compensation. Since its release, the study has led to prompt corrective actions at MIT as well as the creation of new policies aimed at preventing similar problems from arising in the future.
Immediately following this talk, there will be a workshop for anyone interested in doing a similar gender equity study on your campus. That workshop will be held in conference room 203 of the Computer Science Building.
For directions, or to reserve a lunch, please RSVP to Lori Reardon at 545-2206 or lreardon@external.umass.edu. We can’t guarantee lunch for reservations after Monday, April 11th.
Co-sponsors of this Five College event:
College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics/UMass
Computer Science/UMass
Professor Aura Ganz, Electrical & Computer Engr./UMass
Management/UMass
Mass. Society of Professors/UMass
Microbiology/UMass
CNRE Committee on Diversity and Social Justice/UMass
Natural Resource Conservation/UMass
Psychology/UMass
Vet & Animal Sciences/UMass
Women’s Studies/UMass
Five Colleges, Incorporated
Race, Gender, Science Initiative/5 Colleges Inc.
Women’s & Gender Studies/Amherst College
School of Natural Science/Hampshire College
Dean of Faculty Office/MHC
Anthropology/MHC
Math & Statistics/MHC
Sociology/MHC
Economics/Smith College