Gender Issues in Academics and Academia

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Abstract/Syllabus

Courseware/Lectures

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Gender Issues in Academics and Academia

Spring 2004

A humorous take on how gender balance in classrooms may affect learning environments. (Image courtesy of "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham. Used with permission.)

Course Highlights

This course features a complete set of readings and lecture notes.

Course Description

Does it matter in education whether or not you've got a Y chromosome? You bet it does. In this discussion-based seminar, we will explore why males vastly outrank females in math and science and career advancements (particularly in academia), and why girls get better grades and go to college more often than boys. Do the sexes have different learning styles? Are women denied advanced opportunities in academia and the workforce? How do family life and family decisions affect careers for both men and women?

Syllabus

Format

This course, as part of the Experimental Study Group Seminar Series, offers students the opportunity to participate in a small discussion-based class taught by an MIT upperclassman under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. Students Laurel Ruhlen (B.S. 06 Physics) and Kayla Jacobs (B.S. 06 Physics, 07 Mathematics) taught this seminar in cooperation with Dr. Holly Sweet, Lecturer and Associate Director of the Experimental Study Group. Seminars taught in this format are all graded Pass/Fail and receive 1/2 of the academic credit assigned to regular academic classes.

Course Description

While much of the material will deal with the issues of girls and women in academics, boys' experiences will also be addressed. We will also briefly investigate the effects of race and general societal pressures on these issues, and how MIT specifically is addressing gender concerns in its educational and research programs.

Class Structure

The class will meet for two hours once per week. The seminar is almost entirely discussion-based, guided by the readings assigned for that class.

Readings

Each week will have 25-50 pages of reading to be completed before class. A number of the selections, especially early in the semester, will come from two excellent books:

Sadker, Myra, and David Sadker. Failing at Fairness. New York, NY: Scribner, 1995. ISBN: 9780684800738.

Jossey-Bass Publishers. The Jossey-Bass Reader on Gender in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2002. ISBN: 9780787960742.

Others readings will be provided as photocopies or online links. Unless you're using a library book, do mark up the pages with underlining, highlighting, and notes in the margins. Students are encouraged to suggest interesting supplemental topics and readings to the class.

Writing Assignments

Jot down your initial thoughts and reactions and questions after each reading (try to include the page number that prompted your idea, so that it can be easily referred to during the discussion). Come with at least one open-ended discussion question every week - something you found particularly interesting, or surprising. Your journal will not be graded or even looked at (unless you'd like the instructors to give you feedback); it's for your own recordings of your thoughts, though you will need to draw from your notes during class discussions.

Grading Policy

This seminar is graded P/D/F. You will be expected to complete all the assigned readings before class, use your journal regularly, and participate fully and thoughtfully in the discussions. Because the discussion element of the course is so integral, you may miss at most two class sessions; please inform your instructors ahead of time if possible, and let them know if there are any special circumstances.

Calendar

Course calendar.
SES #	TOPICS
1	Introduction; History of Gender in Education
2	Boys' Educational Issues
3	Course-Taking Patterns; Sex Education
4	Title IX
5	Standardized Tests
6	Single-Sex Schooling
7	Classroom Dynamics
8	The Feminine Mystique
9	Women's Studies
10	ESL Studies and Cross-Cultural Issues
11	MIT's Journey Towards Diversity
12	Opting Out
13	Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Experiences
14	Summary and Conclusions

Readings

FAF = Sadker, Myra, and David Sadker. Failing at Fairness. New York, NY: Scribner, 1995. ISBN: 9780684800738.

JBR = Jossey-Bass Publishers. The Jossey-Bass Reader on Gender in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2002. ISBN: 9780787960742.

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction; History of Gender in Education	FAF, chapter 2: "Through the Back Door: The History of Women's Education." JBR, chapter 10: "How Girls Negotiate School" (AAUW).
2	Boys' Educational Issues	JBR, chapter 7: "Thorns Among Roses: The Struggle of Young Boys in Early Education" (Kindlon and Thompson). FAF, chapter 8 / JBR, chapter 8: "The Miseducation of Boys" (Sadker and Sadker).
3	Course-Taking Patterns; Sex Education	JBR, chapter 11: "Course-taking Patterns" (AAUW). JBR, chapter 17: "Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire" (Fine).
4	Title IX	JBR, chapter 1: "Too Strong for a Woman: The Five Words that Created Title IX" (Sandler). "Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972". 20 U.S.C. §1681-1688. Riley, Richards and Norma Cantú. "Title IX: 25 Years of Progress." U.S. Department of Education (June 1997). Toppo, Greg. "New rules would allow more single-sex schools." U.S.A. TODAY (March 3, 2004).
5	Standardized Tests	FAF section: "Designing Tests" from chapter 6: "Test Dive." [Section starts on p. 131.] The College Board Office of Research and Development. "Research Summary: SAT and Gender Differences." College Entrance Examination Board (February 1998). Buck, Gary, Irene Koston, and Rick Morgan. "Examining the Relationship of Content to Gender-Based Performance Differences in Advanced Placement Exams." College Entrance Examination Board (2002). [Only read pp. 1-3 (until the "Method" section), and p. 18 ("Implications"). The rest can be skimmed or skipped -- it goes into far more detail than we'll need.] Dittman, M. "College Women Underperform on Tests When in the Minority." Monitor on Psychology 35, no. 1 (January 2004): 14.
6	Single-Sex Schooling	Kaminar, Wendy. "The Trouble with Same-sex schools." Atlantic Monthly (April 1998). National Association of State Boards of Education. "Single-Sex Schools." Policy Update 5, no. 15 (July-August 1997). Schemo, Diana Jean. "Administration Proposes Same-Sex-School Option." New York Times (March 4, 2004).
7	Classroom Dynamics	Orenstein, Peggy. "Learning Silence: Scenes from the Class Struggle." Chapter 1 in SchoolGirls: Young Girls, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap. New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994. ISBN: 9780385425759. FAF, chapter 3: "Missing in Interaction."
8	The Feminine Mystique	Friedan, Betty. "The Sex-Directed Educators." Chapter 7 in The Feminine Mystique. New York, NY: Dell, 1964. ASIN: B000CBJK5I. ———. "The Sexual Sell." Chapter 9 in The Feminine Mystique. New York, NY: Dell, 1964. ASIN: B000CBJK5I. Optional: Film: Mona Lisa Smile, Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures (2003). Kayes, Rebecca. "Frowning at Mona Lisa Smile: An Alum Looks Back." Counterpoint: The MIT-Wellesley Journal of Campus Life 26, no. 1 (February 2004): 6-7. Walsh, Diana Chapman. "Message from the President to Wellesley College Alumnae Concerning the Film, Mona Lisa Smile." Wellesley College Office for Public Information (January 9, 2004).
9	Women's Studies	"Men in Women's Studies Classes II." E-mail archive of WMST-L list (February 1999). Agozino, Biko. "What Women's Studies Offer Men." West Africa Review 2, no. 1 (August 2002). ISSN: 1525-4488.
10	ESL Studies and Cross-Cultural Issues	Morris, Lori. "Differences in Men's and Women's ESL Writing at the Junior College Level: Consequences for Research on Feedback." Canadian Modern Language Review 55, no. 2 (December 1998). McGroarty, Mary. "Cross-Cultural Issues in Adult ESL Classrooms." Center for Adult English Language Acquisition Digests (July 1993).
11	MIT's Journey Towards Diversity	Jaimes, Joel J. "Diversity at MIT: 1981 to Present." The Tech 123, no. 3 (February 11, 2003). Penfield, Paul. "Faculty Diversity." MIT Faculty Newsletter 6, no. 3 (January/February 1994): 1, 12-15. MIT Committee on Women Faculty in the School of Science. "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT." MIT Faculty Newsletter 11, no. 4 (March 1999). Waugh, Alice C. "Policies Have Helped Boost Women Faculty." MIT Tech Talk (March 31, 2004). JBR, chapter 26: "Examining Women's Progress in the Sciences from the Perspective of Diversity" (Clewell and Ginorio).
12	Opting Out	Belkin, Lisa. "The Opt-Out Revolution." New York Times (October 26, 2003). Wallis, Cynthia. "The Case for Staying at Home: Why More Young Moms Are Opting Out of the Rat Race." TIME (March 22, 1994). Boufis, Christina. "Strange Bedfellows: Does Academic Life Lead to Divorce?" Salon (March 24, 1999). Hilborn, Robert C., Ruth H. Howes, Barbara L. Whitten, Suzanne R. Foster, and Margaret L. Duncombe. "What Works for Women in Undergrad Physics?" Physics Today 56, no. 9 (September 2003): 46.
13	Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Experiences	Steward, Doug. "Working Towards Equality." Academe 89, no. 4 (July-August 2003). Feltey, Katherine M. "Living Outside the Center." Chapter 6 in Lesbians in Academia: Degrees of Freedom. Edited by Beth Mintz and Esther Rothblum. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997. ISBN: 9780415917025. Anon. "My, How Times Have Changed… Or Have They? A Quarter Century as a Lesbian Academic." Chapter 29 in Lesbians in Academia: Degrees of Freedom. Edited by Beth Mintz and Esther Rothblum. New York, NY: Routledge (1997). ISBN: 9780415917025. Bernstein, Fred. "On Campus, Rethinking Bio 101." New York Times (March 7, 2004).
14	Summary and Conclusions