The Gender Challenge at The Academy  Is there a challenge?  Should we do something about it?

14 years (lecturer / senior lecturer to assoc. prof: 16/11.5 years)

We want gender equality: 1. Pure economical justification, exploiting the human asset. 2. Equality, especially in the academia. 3. Heterogeneity, and especially women, lead to a better working environment.

Cognitive differences??? National math exams: US department of education, 2007

Proportion of women graduating in Israel Pro-women acts did make a difference: undergraduate master phd

Why so few? 1.Postdoc as a significant barrier. 2.Traditional roles in the family, overlap between the first years of an academic career and of motherhood, different “priorities in life”, expectations of the society. 3.Viewing the academia as a cold and competitive place. 4.(Some fields, mainly natural sciences): masculine image. 5.Stereotypical thinking, preference of the like in situations of uncertainty, lack of women in “the corridor culture”.

Why so few? 1.Postdoc as a significant barrier. 2.Traditional roles in the family, overlap between the first years of an academic career and of motherhood, different “priorities in life”, expectations of the society. 3.Viewing the academia as a cold and competitive place. 4.(Some fields, mainly natural sciences): masculine image. 5.Stereotypical thinking, preference of the like in situations of uncertainty, lack of women in “the corridor culture”. √ √ √ √

Why so few? 5. Stereotypical thinking, preference of the like in situations of uncertainty, lack of women in “the corridor culture”. Gender bias! Exists, indeed, also in our own backyard.

John and Joan 1968/1986 1: good 5: bad

The effect of switching to blind reviews:

Competence score (“grade the applicant”) vs. scientific productivity (publications, citations)

ISF success rate in grant proposals: (5-10% out of ~35%, thus 15-30%) women success ratemen success rate

More: -Analysis of recommendation letters (312 letters to leading medicine schools in US): significant disparity in superlatives, confidence in the recommendation, length, technical details,… -Adding a curtain in orchestra auditions increased the number of women by 30%-60%. - … “after some periods of drought, she seems to find her place…”, “…took her a long time to found a lab”, “… little participation in international meetings…” Lack of awareness…

Gender bias: intentional or subconscious? Subconscious, and the stronger is the claim to control the subconscious, the stronger the bias is.

CategoryItems MaleMan, Boy, Father, Male, Grandpa, Husband, Son, Uncle FemaleGirl, Female, Aunt, Daughter, Wife, Woman, Mother, Grandma ScienceBiology, Physics, Chemistry, Math, Geology, Astronomy, Engineering Liberal ArtsPhilosophy, Humanities, Arts, Literature, English, Music, History Harvard Implicit Association test MaleFemale Wife

CategoryItems MaleMan, Boy, Father, Male, Grandpa, Husband, Son, Uncle FemaleGirl, Female, Aunt, Daughter, Wife, Woman, Mother, Grandma ScienceBiology, Physics, Chemistry, Math, Geology, Astronomy, Engineering Liberal ArtsPhilosophy, Humanities, Arts, Literature, English, Music, History Harvard Implicit Association test ScienceLiberal Arts Math

CategoryItems MaleMan, Boy, Father, Male, Grandpa, Husband, Son, Uncle FemaleGirl, Female, Aunt, Daughter, Wife, Woman, Mother, Grandma ScienceBiology, Physics, Chemistry, Math, Geology, Astronomy, Engineering Liberal ArtsPhilosophy, Humanities, Arts, Literature, English, Music, History Harvard Implicit Association test Science or Male Liberal arts or Female Boy

CategoryItems MaleMan, Boy, Father, Male, Grandpa, Husband, Son, Uncle FemaleGirl, Female, Aunt, Daughter, Wife, Woman, Mother, Grandma ScienceBiology, Physics, Chemistry, Math, Geology, Astronomy, Engineering Liberal ArtsPhilosophy, Humanities, Arts, Literature, English, Music, History Harvard Implicit Association test Science or Male Liberal arts or Female Physics

CategoryItems MaleMan, Boy, Father, Male, Grandpa, Husband, Son, Uncle FemaleGirl, Female, Aunt, Daughter, Wife, Woman, Mother, Grandma ScienceBiology, Physics, Chemistry, Math, Geology, Astronomy, Engineering Liberal ArtsPhilosophy, Humanities, Arts, Literature, English, Music, History Harvard Implicit Association test Science or Female Liberal arts or Male History

We got the position, now what? Leadership: who leads the discussion?

Penalties for success: reaction to women who succeed in men gender-typed tasks (2004) Personality: who is nice? We got the position, now what?

Why so few? 1.Postdoc. 2.Motherhood. 3.Atmosphere. 4.Masculine fields. 5.Gender bias.

Barriers that money can solve / involve an academic compromise. We don’t want to perpetuate the traditional roles in the family. We want parents to enjoy their kids (and vice versa). Kids grow up, faculty members are here for many years. Note, beware, remember: What can we do? 1.Postdoc. 2.Motherhood. 3.Atmosphere. 4.Masculine fields. 5.Gender bias. Be aware. Make other aware.