Gender and Ageism

This week in class we looked at ageism and adultism, defined as ageism: the oppression of elders by youth and adults, and adultism: the oppression of young people by adults and elders. As I was looking for articles to relate these definitions to my overall theme of gender, it was quite easy to do. Each of the articles I found focus on women and aging and how each of

these ideas relate to one another.

      In Harris's article Women Embrace Aging, Despite Experiencing Ageism More Deeply than Men, she discusses how women throughout the world are embracing their age even though statistics show that  "68 per cent of older women said they've been treated unfairly or differently due to their years, versus 57 per cent of older men" (Harris, M., 2013). This disconnect is believed to be a result of women maintaining stronger social networks than men, which may serve as a buffer against negativity; promote physical, emotional and mental health, allowing a sense of having defied negative senior stereotypes; and give women purpose. This article really intrigued me and gave me reason to think more about the women I know and how their health has been significantly better in older age than men in their similar situations. 

       Continuing the trend of having stronger social networks, in Ready to go Gray?, Whitbourne discusses how some women are ditching hair dye for a more natural look and reflecting on why they are trying to keep their youthful image, rather than embracing who they are changing into. This could be because of ageism, oppression in the workplace or just a reaction to getting older. If we think about how men with gray hair are looked at, I think of wise, experienced and knowledgeable  but on the other hand women with gray hair simply are seen as old by the public. Why this double standard over something as  trivial as hair color? Embrace who you are ladies, and if you're graying and don't like it, then go ahead and get the hair dye. 

      Finally, a topic that I think it absolutely ridiculous, but I've heard in the news quite a bit lately, is that some women are "too pretty" for their jobs. A story I'm sure most of America heard this past year was about and Iowa mother-of-two Melissa Nelson who was fired in 2010 after working for a dentist for 10 years because he said his attraction to her was a threat to his marriage. Ms. Nelson's story is not the only of its' kind, in fact in Fynes-Clinton's article, discusses other similar cases from London and California where women have experienced discrimination because of their looks. 

Fynes-Clinton, J. (2013, July 25). Ageism and sexism are common types of discrimination in the workplace but being pretty is a problem too. In Courier Mail. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/ageism-and-sexism-are-common-types-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace-but-being-pretty-is-a-problem-too/story-fnihsr9v-1226684162280

Harris, M. (2013, July 3). Women embrace aging, despite experiencing ageism more deeply than men. In Calgary Herald. http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Women+embrace+aging+despite+experiencing+ageism+more+deeply+than/8612066/story.html

Whitbourne, S. K. (2013, July 24). Ready to Go Gray? Why Some 50+ Women Are Ditching The Hair Dye. In Huff Post Post 50. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-krauss-whitbourne/aging-gracefully_b_3610251.html

Transgender Students in Higher Education

I'd like to start this post off with an apology for the delay on getting this up. I recently started a new job and have been overwhelmed with training so a little late, but here's the post!

I chose to focus this week on transgender students in higher education because of the topics covered in this week's reading, and because of the prominence of these issues coming to light in all fields of education.

The first article I found was related to a high-school student, Calliope Wong, who had applied to an elite all women's college, Smith College of Massachusetts, because she was documented as male on government documents. Because of this discrepancy in one item of paperwork (her FAFSA was the only document that identified Wong as a male) her application was returned to her unread, twice. In order for Wong to be considered for acceptance to the school, she would need to have gender reassignment surgery. When Smith's vice president for public affairs was contacted for comment she stated that in order to be accepted to the college, all applicants must have documents stating female as their gender because of title IX funding. "Title IX is an important factor in our consideration but not the only one," she said. "Smith is focusing on the broader policy challenge of how to be inclusive and supportive of transgender students while being faithful to the mission of a women's college" (Howard, Z., 2013). 

To follow up on Wong's story, Huffington Post published an article, Smith College Plans Committee to Address Transgender Student Applicants, after a petition with over 4,000 signatures to support transgender women. Smith's Dean of Admissions Debra Shaver said that a committee will be formed to directly address the issues pertaining to transgender applicants in response to the petition. The committee is scheduled to meet at the beginning of next school year to determine the best way for the college to work with transgender students. The fact that Smith College is having this discussion shows an opportunity for other universities to take notes to best accommodate transgender students. 

I believe it is essential for all professionals in education to have the knowledge and ability to work with students of all genders in any type of setting. Knowing how students identify and how open they are to talk about these identities helps both the staff, student and peers be comfortable and successful in school. New resources are now available for advisors with suggestions for how to work with students in the LGBTQ and transgender communities. 

Howard, Z. (2013, March 28). Elite women's college rejects transgender student, prompts outcry. In Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/28/us-usa-college-transgender-idUSBRE92R0YT20130328

Morgan, G. (2013, May 5). Smith College Plans Committee to Address Transgender Student Applicants. In Huffpost Gay Voices. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/03/smith-college-transgender-committee-_n_3209606.html

Moorhead, C. (2013, March 5). Advising Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Higher Education. InClearinghouse Academic Advising Resource. http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Advising-Lesbian--Gay--Bisexual--and-Transgender-Students-in-Higher-Education.aspx

Gender Gap in Higher Education

In my previous posts, I have discussed the gender gap, but mostly in regards to equal pay. Today I have decided to focus on the gender gap in higher education in relation to females in professional roles in higher education and the workplace. In James Grove’s article Gender gap in number of female professors brings to our attention the staggering statistics of “Universities’ efforts to address gender inequality have been criticized in light of figures showing that just one in 10 professors is a woman at some institutions.” This gap in gender equality among professors is not just an issue in the United States but also throughout the world, and in the United Kingdom where this study was focused. Although the statistics are drastic, I am beginning to see more women in professional roles in higher education, but it can also vary depending on the subjects being taught.

While Grove discusses the slowly closing gender gap in the United Kingdom, Women close education gender gap, compiled by StatsCan looks at the education gender gap in Canada. The report, based on data from the 2011 National Household Survey said “that 64.8 percent of women aged 25 to 64 have pursued post-secondary education, compared to 63.4 percent of men. When looking at men and women aged 25 to 34, the gender gap widens, with women ahead by a margin of about 10 percent.” (StatsCan, 2013). This gap is not surprising to me, but even with advanced degrees women are still in gender-stereotyped roles, as are men; there are more female teachers, nurses and administrative assistants, while more men are in fields of mechanics, and business. How can we encourage female, and male, students to go outside their thought processes of “girls are teachers, boys are doctors” as they grow?

This gender gap may prevent some women from achieving their highest goals, and if that goal is to become a CIO (chief information officer), then that ability to reach that goal does not seem very promising based on research by Wayne Brown documented in In higher education, fewer women graduate to CIO. Brown states that “the percentage of women chief information officers (CIOs) in higher education has been on a slow but steady decline; from 2008 to 2013, the percentage of female CIOs declined five percent, from 26% to 21%” (Brown, 2013). The research also shows that the decline may be due to the mentoring of women going into, or already in the CIO roles. Men and women learn and work differently, so to best equip each gender with the tools they need to success, employers need to provide options that work best for any individual, no matter the gender.

Although these articles mention the closing of the gender gap, I can still see it alive and flourishing in higher education. Take the educational leadership program for example; how many men do you see in the program compared to women, and why? What would a MBA or MS in Biology or Chemistry look like compared to our program or a nursing program? In my position in the admissions office, I can imagine working with students each day and compiling data about gender ratios at the university and looking at the data and figuring out how to recruit both men and women to the school. How can you think about the gender gap in your roles and school, work or even at home?

Brown, W. (2013, June 19). In higher education, fewer women graduate to CIO. In Information Week Education. http://www.informationweek.com/education/leadership/in-higher-education-fewer-women-graduate/240156884

Grove, J. (2013, June 13). Gender gap in number of female professors. In Times Higher Education. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/gender-gap-in-number-of-female-professors/2004766.article

StatsCan. (2013, June 26). Women close education gender gap. In CTV News. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/women-close-education-gender-gap-statscan-survey-1.1342237

Gender Discrimination: when does it start?

For this week's post, my articles were focused on when gender disparities begin to appear in education. These differences are apparent when a child hasn't even been born! Parents are often anxious to find out whether or not they will have a boy or a girl in order to paint a baby's room, buy clothing and other responsibilities that come with being a parent. Whether or not it is obvious to them, a parent who buys their son a blue outfit with a red firetruck saying "future firefighter," those parents have just implemented a gender stereotype upon their child. These occurrences are extremely typical and yes, often adorable as well, but are parents setting their children up to be "filed" into categories based on gender? The three authors I have chosen to focus on this week may agree with that statement.

Paul Hamaker discusses this gender discrimination in his article Gender Discrimination Begins in Elementary School. For those of you who are elementary school teachers, please bear with me as the following statistics may make you a bit uneasy, or they might just turn on a light bulb. Hamaker mentions a research study completed at the University of Georgia where "“The data show, for the first time, that gender disparities in teacher grades start early and uniformly favor girls. In every subject area, boys are represented in grade distributions below where their test scores would predict.” The study goes on to discuss why this discrepancy exists and found that often teachers grade based on behavior rather than performance. With these gender differences beginning so early, how are students supposed to overcome these obstacles later in life when it's all they've known since beginning elementary school?

Not only do children suffer from gender discrimination when it comes to grading, but students are also often categorized based on gender; So what happens to those students who are transgender? Martha Irvine tackled this difficult topic in her article Transgender Youth Presenting Challenges for Schools, where she discusses what changes schools are beginning, and need to start making, to make school a safe and accommodating place for transgender students. Irvine mentions a study in her article that gave a staggering fact "According to a 2010 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 41 percent of transgender people surveyed said they had attempted suicide. That figure rose to 51 percent for those who said they'd also been bullied, harassed, assaulted or expelled because they were transgender or gender nonconforming at school" (Irvine, M. 2013).  These students need a safe place just as much, if not more, than all other students.

With so many of today's societal problems focusing on gender, Sara Wood takes a different approach in her own life, which she discusses in Gender Neutral. Wood has decided to not let her gender define who she is, at work or at home. She describes herself as "Adventurer, mother, friend, colleague, type A, liberal, oversharer, Southerner, donut-lover, yes, but never "woman" (Wood, S. 2013). I admire her view on how much our gender identity "defines" us, even if that definition doesn't match up to who we are as individuals. If only more people, men and women alike, could adopt this view and thought of identifying more with who we are rather than what we are, men or women, we might all begin to close the gender gap.

For the full links please see the list below:

Hamaker, P. (2013, January 3). Gender Discrimination Begins in Elementary School. In Examiner. http://www.examiner.com/article/gender-discrimination-begins-elementary-school

Irvine, M. (2013, May 28). Transgender Youth Presenting Challenges for Schools. In Huffington Post.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/boy-or-girl-gender-a-new-_n_3345965.html

Wood, S. (2013, May 30). Gender Neutral. In Huffington Post Women. 

         http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-wood/gender-neutral_b_3354305.html

The Gender Gap and Equal Pay

For this week's posting I found three articles related to the gender gap and equal pay. In today's society it is startling that men and women still are not earning equal pay for the same work being done. If a woman is in a position of leadership within a company or school, she should be earning the same amount of money as a man in her same position. We encourage our young girls growing up to "dream big" and to go after their goals, no matter what it takes, so they can become successful later in life; but how can these girls achieve their dreams if the gender gap continues to hold them back?

The articles I found focus specifically on the gender gap in both higher education and the rest of the working world. The first article written by Kate Michelman, How Long Will Equal Pay Take to Achieve?, focuses on on why there is still such a wide gap in pay between genders when the equal pay act has been in place for over 50 years. Michelman states that "Pew Research Center reported that women are the sole or primary source of income in 40 percent of American households with children under age 18" (Michelman, K. 2013). Such disparities in wage are simply unacceptable in today's society and this gender gap does not seem to be getting any smaller, or seem to be closing anytime soon. In order to bring about change in our society, we must do something to ensure that women are getting paid a fair, equal amount as their male counterparts.

In Gender Roles and Wage Gaps in Higher Education, Shaadi Shoubaki discusses potential reasons why women are in these lesser paying jobs, specifically because of the occupational gender segregation that is evident when choosing a major in college. The article goes on to discuss how women are consistently choosing "women-appropriate majors" even though the idea of gender inequality is believed to be a problem of the past. When I reflect on my experiences at UW Oshkosh, I go back to hearing friends of mine saying there was only one male in their nursing classes, or only a handful of males in their education courses. On the other hand, I have good friends who are the only females in a few of their finance or science courses. Gender disparities are seen throughout a college campus, and with the consistent wage gaps, female students in higher education are being set-up to earn less after graduation.

Finally, Gregory Linton discusses why these gender gaps in higher education need to be discussed in Higher Education Gender Gap Deserves Attention.  While many articles seem to focus on disparities against women in the gender gap, Linton focuses on how males are struggling through this phenomenon. A staggering fact he states is "Since 2000, a little more than 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees were conferred on women each year. By 2020, that will increase to 58.5 percent. In the next 10 years, 2.78 million more women than men will receive bachelor’s degrees" (Linton, G. 2013). With the gender gap affecting both men and women, it is something that needs to be addressed not only in higher education, but also in K-12 as well. 

The gender gap is not something of our imagination, nor is it something that is going away on its own. It is something we all need to think about in our daily lives, not only at work, but also at home. What stereotypical gender roles are we, or family, or friends, implementing on our children, and more importantly, how can we set them up for success no matter what their gender.

For the complete articles, please see the links below:

• Michelman, K. (2013, June 10). How Long will Equal Pay Take to Achieve?. In Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-michelman/how-long-will-equal-pay-to-achieve_b_3417743.html
• Linton, G. (2013, March 23). Higher education gender gap deserves attention. In Knox News. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/mar/23/gregory-linton-higher-education-gender-gap/
• Shoubaki, S. (2013, April 11). Gender Roles and Wage Gaps in Higher Education. In Examiner.  http://www.examiner.com/article/gender-roles-and-wage-gaps-higher-education

Introduction

Hi everyone,

My name is Amanda Sunila and I am excited for this summer 2013 semester of Dialogues in Social Justice. I am excited for the semester to begin as I will be graduating this August!

Throughout the summer I will be focusing my blog posts on gender issues as they relate to the topics discussed in this course.

Amanda