Women in Academia Discussion

The Feminist Reading Group met yesterday to discuss Women in Academe, in all its forms and valences. Here are a few of the points we discussed for further interrogation:
• We briefly addressed the Globe and Mail article in terms of the numbers and how mothers make less money than single women and single mothers even less money than mothers who are partnered.
• There is a set stereotype/idea/understand

ing of what makes a successful academic and it usually involves publishing and conferencing. This idea needs to be transformed ideally in such a way that it is more inclusionary of people who don’t fall into the presumed categories of single, male, childless, etc.
• These two things, publishing and conferencing are problematized and difficult if you are a mother.
• Student Parent Associations are a good way to both make connections to other parents on campus as well as can be a place where exchanges occur in regards to babysitting, outings, etc.
• There is all of guilt involved with being both an academic and a mother, no matter what you are doing, studying, reading, writing or spending time with your child, one always feels like they should be doing the other, thus guilt sets in.
• Mothers or even partners, couples, within departments often feel marginalized, that their children or their significant others are not welcome at functions. The discourse around this marginalizing is complex.
• One member evoked a discourse of “outing” in relation to their position as a mother, she felt that it was time that she moved to creating more exposure of her position as mother by letting others meet her children and partners.
• This discourse of outing relates the position of academic mother to other marginalized people within the departments, queer academics for one.
• Most of the academic articles on women in academia emphasize the need for exposure and for alliances to be made between all the marginalized people within any department or university, mothers, queers, racial minorities, etc.
• These articles also emphasize the need for more studies to be done on women in academe in general, both from a pedagogical standpoints as well as economic standpoints.

The FRG thanks everyone for coming out to this, our last meeting of the academic year and we hope that you all have a pleasant summer and join us again in the Fall. See you in September!