Welcome to Our Third Issue
A message from your Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator, Fawzia Reza
Greetings everyone,
Welcome to our newsletter. The broad topic for this edition is “Commit to Gender Equality.” I selected this topic because when discussing diversity and inclusion, we must not forget to foster an environment that promotes gender equality.
Even before a child is born, many parents endorse the child’s gender by celebrating gender-reveal baby showers, decorating the nursery with blue for boys and pink for girls, and buying trucks and cars for boys and dolls for girls. In this way, we promote gender differences that can have an adverse impact as these children grow up. For example, boys are often discouraged to play with dolls or pretend to cook. If a boy shows interest in such activities, many parents get worried and question, is my child ok? This behavior might border on homophobia and these attitudes are passed on to the child, which solidifies the gender divide. This can have ramifications when the child becomes an adult and enters the workplace. Male nurses are often stigmatized for choosing their profession because nursing is considered by many to be reserved exclusively for women; females are supposed to be the caregivers. Similarly, women often hit the glass ceiling and are unable to reach C-suite positions in many corporate structures. While the term ‘glass ceiling’ has been extensively documented for women and racial minorities, members who identify as LGBTQ also face barriers in accessing supervisory and managerial positions, a phenomenon known as the Gay Glass Ceiling.
As we promote diversity and inclusion, we must be aware of how we might sub-consciously perpetuate gender inequality and consider steps we can take to create an environment in our professional and personal lives to promote gender equality so that everyone feels included, respected, and represented. I hope that you will join me in my efforts to create greater awareness of gender equality.
Gender Equality at ACE
By Shawntel Landry, ACE President
As I contemplated the theme of the current edition of our newsletter and ACE’s commitment to gender equity, I reflected on the statistics many of us know: 1) women earn more degrees, especially more graduate degrees, than men; 2) as of 2019, college-educated women comprise the majority of the workforce; and 3) women hold less than one-third of the executive roles in businesses. In this context, I am proud of ACE’s metrics when it comes to gender equity:
· ACE Board of Trustees: 43% female
· ACE Executive Team: 80% female
· ACE Leadership Team: 67% female
· ACE Academic Departments and Faculty: 68% female
· All of ACE: 68% female
In all the above categories, our gender statistics are better than national averages. We celebrate the opportunity for all genders to excel and bring their whole selves to work. While most higher education institutions are led by mostly males across all executive roles, board roles, and faculty roles, ACE’s commitment to gender equity is clear and inclusive.
We know that diversity is much broader than just gender. Diversity is about culture, race, religion, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability. Companies with above average diversity (gender, race, ethnic) outperform their peers in financial performance, which is just an added benefit of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) focus. For these reasons we have several leaders trained in DEI, we have workshops available for all staff and faculty, we regularly sponsor DEI related training at our Leadership Retreats, and we are prioritizing hiring more diverse leaders. This is a priority for our Board of Trustees and the Executive Team. Having brave conversations, talking about our similarities and our differences, and celebrating those differences is what makes us ACE, and it makes all of us better! It is part of being a learning organization where we each get to be our authentic selves.
In this month where Pride is celebrated, let’s all remember that we are each unique and our diverse perspectives and experiences make us who we are.
Breaking the Pattern of Covert and Overt Sexism
By Sean Nank, Senior Core Faculty, Teaching and Learning & Keiran Nank
We’re either for human beings or we’re not.
~Gloria Steinman (Hampson, 2020).
The implicit and explicit assumptions associated with this quote concerning the decline of feminism in the 1970s and 1980s might permeate our actions in ways that impact our students. In turn, this affects the ways students engage with others long after their degree has been conferred. To frame actionable outcomes around this point, we offer two brief stories, address differences between them, and discuss what this means for you. Although we use words such as female and male, we wish to acknowledge the struggles and oppression the LGBTQ+ community feels, realizing the complexly important truth that although the topic of sexism is no longer binary, the conversation in large part still is.
Keiran’s Story: When I was in first grade, I came home crying after school. My father (Sean) asked what was wrong and I told him my teacher had the names of all the students on the board, ranked in order from the most to least successful person on timed math tests. The teacher pointed to the pattern of all the boys in the top half and all the girls in the bottom half. The teacher then told us girls that “in order to be better at math and life, you have to think like the boys.”
Sean’s Story: I had been my daughter’s (Keiran) Girl Scout leader since kindergarten. During one Girl Scout meeting I could not attend, three moms started drinking alcohol. Word traveled and the Girl Scout council advised the mothers that they could no longer hold meetings in their house. Shortly after I enforced the ruling, the same mothers tried to get me dismissed from the leadership position stating my gender was cause for concern.
The first consideration for these stories is that Keiran’s is an example of sexism while Sean’s, although embodying prejudice, is not. Any -ism is a systemic practice, philosophy, ideology, or movement. Sexism, racism, ageism, heterosexism, these all denote a power structure of oppression, violence, and persecution. The reason why Keiran’s story is a case of sexism and Sean’s is not lies in the realization that the educational and cultural systems are designed to perpetuate the beliefs that “feminine” traits are undesirable while empowering people to oppress those who exhibit these traits. In Keiran’s case, the first-grade teacher has the institutional power to perpetuate and enact oppression. In Sean’s case, his experience was an isolated incident where “masculine” traits were used against him but the structures in place could not easily perpetuate the discrimination. Keiran is forced to consider her gender for her entire life while Sean’s experiences are isolated and not systemically endorsed.
The second consideration is that both stories are examples of overt actions. Of great concern is covert actions which embody the belief that stereotypically “feminine” traits are bad and “masculine” traits are good. Examples include referring to a group as “you guys,” commenting on women’s appearances more than men’s, assuming lesser roles and abilities if you’re female, asking about children only if you’re female, and disproportionate volume and duration of voice given to males. These examples are endless and dangerous because when one feels covertly slighted, violated, or oppressed it is difficult to address the specific occurrence that facilitated the feeling, thus perpetuating lingering stress and concern. Add to these comments made toward people in the LGBTQ+ community and the thread of oppression wrapped in consternation persists.
What does all this mean for you? Here at ACE, we rarely see our students in person. Absent nonverbal cues, we need to be more diligent in monitoring for any of the -isms in our classrooms. There are fundamental things we can enact to monitor for biases while transforming our environment for true gender equality. Steps include:
- Take the gender implicit bias quiz to identify where your implicit assumptions lie: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
- Use this implicit bias checklist to monitor classroom interactions while asking questions such as: Do you respond in the discussion boards more to masculine names? If a masculine or feminine name appears in your email, do you respond to one faster than the other or is there more leniency to one or the other? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pKo0Vb9gtUTRAdxMOWGCLk549BYFokwaJpH-PiOeB78/copy
- Purposefully hire and promote people who see “feminine” and “masculine” qualities as equal importance. Even better, hire and promote those who do not believe in this dichotomy.
- Support gender diversity in a meaningful way by acknowledging every individual.
- Do not assume or assign identity based on the masculine or feminine classification of a name.
- Realize that no one is a single story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
- Embrace empathy at most, sympathy at least while assuming honorable intentions.
Reference
Hampson, K. (Producer). (2020). History 101: Feminism [Video]. Netflix.
Gender Equality and Women of Color
By Elizabeth Caslin, ACE Student, M.Ed. Educational Leadership
As we turn the page on this new millennial age, words carry more of an emphasis than ever before. Words such as: diversity, justice, equity, inclusion, education, and feminism have collectively carried our more recent political climate. As an individual who can relate to all of these concepts, navigating through society can be extremely intricate. Women are faced with adversity as factitious gender roles constrict our potential and growth worthy opportunities. Infrequently, groundbreaking women are publicized by their efforts in attempting to dismantle the glass ceiling. However, and notwithstanding these successes, as a group we continue to experience strife.
The Black woman is one of the most overlooked and underrated individuals in numerous categories. Black women suffer from barriers which stem from discrimination, including negative race-based stereotypes and are more frequently questioned regarding their credibility and authority. Due to this, the Black woman is less likely to be held in the capacity of a leadership role. According to the Harvard Kennedy School for Women in Public Policy, “Black leaders are evaluated more negatively than White leaders who perform equally well. Since Black women are members of two marginalized groups (Black and female), they might experience greater discrimination, a “double jeopardy”, compared to the discrimination faced by individuals that hold one marginalized identity (i.e. White women or Black men).”
For decades, the field of education has been heavily saturated with a male dominant influence. Collegiate chancellors, academic directors, superintendents, and school administrators mostly share the same gender and pigmentation. Despite the strides in representation of women in powerful roles, it is still surprising that the world continues to not trust that women are capable to lead effectively. Women who ascribe to additive complexities experience great barriers in the field of education, specifically in the pursuit of leadership positions. It is now time to focus on women who are underrepresented because they have great potential to effectively impact student achievement in ways that have never been addressed before.
Picture this. The year is 2007, you encounter a seventh-grade Black American female. She gleams with ambition but experiences challenges, as she is diagnosed with Dyslexia. The world that surrounds her requires her to be quiet and content, and the pursuit of higher education is not eagerly encouraged. However, this young girl did not give up and continued her education. Today, she advocates for a more open mindset and greater equality for women of color within the educational system. As a seventh-grade Black girl who was diagnosed with dyslexia, this story is about me. I am your FUTURE educational leader.
Diverging Trends of Male versus Female Educational Attainment and Employment
By Jason Caudill, Senior Core Faculty, Leadership and Administration
While there has been great progress in gender equity in education and employment in the United States the data clearly shows that there is still room for improvement. This is particularly true as we continue to face highly male-dominated fields that are reflected by majority male enrollment in the educational programs that prepare people for those careers. That said, there is at the same time a crisis of education for men in the United States that is translating to limited opportunities in the workplace and overall limitations in financial success.
In broad terms, Statista reports that from 1990-2019 the employment rate for men in the U.S. fell from 72% to 66.6%, while for the same period the employment rate for women rose from 54.3% to 55.4%. Looking at education specifically, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that for starting cohorts in higher education from 1996-2014 the graduation rate within five years for men rose from 51.8% to 66.1%, while for the same period the rate for females rose from 60.5% to 73.2%. At the high school level NCES reports higher dropout rates for males (6.2%) than for females (4.4%). This raises the question of what is responsible for lower levels of academic achievement of males versus females and the negative trend for male employment.
At this point there are quickly more questions than answers. The employment question can be easily answered by identifying that many of the industrial jobs that were traditionally male dominated fields have left the U.S., which results in lower employment rates for that demographic. The question remains, however, as to why so many have failed to transition careers and find new employment opportunities. The education issue raises even more questions as to why males are more likely to leave high school without a diploma and also less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree once they start.
One of the solutions we need to embrace for these problems, particularly as educators, is the mindset that helping different demographic groups is not a zero sum game. By establishing focused academic achievement and career path programs for males we are not by default taking opportunities away from female students. The uniqueness of people based on all aspects of who they are is valuable and should be respected. There is a need to make more progress in engaging women in academic and professional fields where they are underrepresented. There is also a clear need to engage men in academic and professional programs to raise their levels of education and their participation in the workforce.
Schools and workplaces operate at their best when they are diverse. Right now, there is a trend of men in the U.S. accomplishing less over time as women accomplish more, which will ultimately lead to a less diverse workforce as women continue their progress and men continue a regression. To achieve the equity that we all want these trends must be recognized and addressed in how we structure education and career opportunities for all students.
Are Women Stymied by STEM?
By Debra Cannon
Curriculum Support and QA Specialist, Curriculum Production and Program Development
Only 23% of high school physics teachers in 1987 were women, increasing to a mere 37% by 2013 (White & Taylor, 2014). Women earned about half of all science and engineering degrees awarded in 2018 but only 22.2% of the bachelor’s degrees in engineering (NCSES, 2021). Nearly 80% of healthcare workers are women, but only about 21% of health executives and board members are women (AAUW, n.d.).
According to a 2017 study, half of women in STEM jobs report being discriminated against at work, but the figure is 78% for women in male-dominated fields such as engineering and computer science. Moreover, 48% of those women report sexual harassment in the workplace (O’Donnell, 2019).
Probably the most pervasive factor causing gender inequities is stereotypical beliefs. In 2020, over 200 biology and physics professors from large research universities in the United States rated identical curriculum vitae (CVs) depicting a hypothetical doctoral graduate applying for a post-doctoral position. The name on each CV provided clues about race and gender of the fictional applicants. Physics faculty favored the male candidates as more competent and more hirable than the identical female candidates (Eaton et al., 2020). At a more personal level, a senior-level master’s degree-prepared electrical engineer, Latonya John, recalled the frequent request of her clients to “speak to a man” (L. John, personal communication, May 15, 2021).
Differences in salaries reflect gender discrimination. Women in engineering, physical science, and health-related occupations earn 17% to 26% less than men in similar jobs (Funk & Parker, 2018). “Women in STEM occupations encountered a ‘glass ceiling’ in their pay progression,” and “factors associated with their gender-based disadvantages are not isolated but rather systematic” (Yonghong, 2015, p. 515).
Even 6-year-olds exhibit STEM stereotypes, with males more likely to associate math with their gender than girls (Cvencek et al., 2011). Former NASA ambassador and the famous Uhura on Star Trek Nichelle Nichols declared, “Science is not a boy’s game; it’s not a girl’s game. It’s everyone’s game” (Our Secure Future, 2018, para. 1). Parents and environmental factors can also influence children’s perspectives and future career choices. One study of gender bias in the entertainment industry applied digital language processing techniques to over 11,000 high-grossing films. The results showed a significant correlation between “mental brilliance” and the male gender, especially in genres targeting children (Gálvez et al., 2019).
Women in STEM careers may exit the profession or may be passed over for advancement because of real or imagined impacts of their family responsibilities. Some workplaces have adopted policies establishing onsite childcare or other family-friendly accommodations. A female engineer at an aerospace company, though, reported the special room designated for mothers to privately pump breastmilk was repeatedly used by one male employee for personal phone calls (Anonymous, personal communication, May 16, 2021).
No significant difference has been detected in mathematical or science aptitudes in school-age males and females with similar backgrounds (Wang & Dejol, 2017; Devi Sharma et al., 2011). However, female students often show more balanced abilities in mathematics and verbal subjects, whereas male students’ grades in in math and/or science are likely to be higher than in other studies. Perhaps this more global range of abilities opens a greater choice of career pathways for women, contributing to their unequal representation in STEM fields (Wang & Dejol, 2017).
Wang and colleagues (2017) reported women avoid challenging careers in STEM “not only because they erroneously believe that innate intelligence is needed for success in these fields but also because they erroneously believe that they [are] less likely to possess the qualities needed for success in these fields” (p. 126). However, girls and women with a growth mindset - the belief intelligence and talents can be developed over time - can face intellectual challenges with the confidence, sufficient effort, and persistence leading to success (Smith, 2020). Carol Dweck’s (2007) research indicates girls may benefit more from growth mindset training than boys.
Engineer Roberta Rincon says, “…where men are the majority, their behaviors and actions are necessary to address inequities within their immediate spheres...They also have the ability to serve as role models and spokespersons for other men” (O’Donnell, 2019, para. 2). A prominent male allyship program adopted these strategies:
- Assess implicit bias by taking a gender-science implicit association test.
- Recognize common forms of resistance to gender equity and plan effective responses.
- Advocate for a healthy work/life balance for both women and men (O’Donnell, 2019).
Astronaut Sally Ride not only was the first American woman in space, she went on to help with NASA’s strategic plan and then become a physics professor and author upon retirement from NASA (Blakemore, 2019). Devoted to increasing girls’ interest in science, she stated, “I never went into physics or the astronaut corps to become a role model. But after my first flight, it became clear to me that I was one. And I began to understand the importance of that to people. Young girls need to see role models in whatever careers they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday. You can't be what you can't see” (Inspiring Quotes, 2021, para. 1).
References
American Association of University Women (AAUW). (n.d.). The STEM gap: Women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math. https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/
Blakemore, E. (2019, March 6). When Sally Ride took her first space flight, sexism was the norm. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/sally-ride-first-astronaut-sexism
Cvencek, D., Meltzoff, A. N., & Greenwald, A. G. (2011). Math-gender stereotypes in elementary school children. Child Development, 82(3), 766–779. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x
Devi Sharma, M., & Bewes, J. (2011). Self-monitoring: Confidence, academic achievement and gender differences in physics. Journal of Learning Design, 4(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5204/jld.v4i3.76
Dweck, C. (2007). Is math a gift? Beliefs that put females at risk. In S. J. Ceci & W. M. Williams (Eds.), Why aren’t more women in 1460 science? Top researchers debate the evidence (pp. 47–55). APA Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/11546-004.
Eaton, A. A., Saunders, J. F., Jacobson, R. K., & West, K. (2020). How gender and race stereotypes impact the advancement of scholars in STEM: Professors’ biased evaluations of physics and biology post-doctoral candidates. Sex Roles, 82(3/4), 127–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01052-w
Funk, C., & Parker, K. (2018, January 9). Women and men in stem often at odds over workplace equity. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/
Gálvez, R. H., Tiffenberg, V., & Altszyler, E. (2019). Half a century of stereotyping associations between gender and intellectual ability in films. Sex Roles, 81(9/10), 643–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01019-x
Inspiring Quotes. (2021). Sally Ride quotes and sayings. https://www.inspiringquotes.us/quotes/DPJ6_La4lNecG
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). (2021, April 29). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering [NSF 21-321]. National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21321/report/about-this-report
O’Donnell, G. (2019). STEM fields need male allies to advocate for greater gender equity. INSIGHT into Diversity, 93(6), 30–31. https://www.insightintodiversity.com/stem-fields-need-male-allies-to-advocate-for-greater-gender-equity/
Our Secure Future. (2018, February 6). "Science is not a boy's game": Celebrating International Day of Women and girls in science. One Earth Future. https://www.oursecurefuture.org/opinion-insights/%E2%80%9Cscience-not-boy%E2%80%99s-game%E2%80%9D-celebrating-international-day-women-and-girls-science
Smith, J. (2020, September 25). Growth mindset vs fixed mindset: How what you think affects what you achieve. Matter. https://www.mindsethealth.com/matter/growth-vs-fixed-mindset#:~:text=A%20growth%20mindset%20means%20that,never%20be%20good%20at%20it.
Su, R., Rounds, J., & Armstrong, P. I. (2009). Men and things, women and people: A meta-analysis of sex differences in interests. Psychology Bulletin, 135(6), 859-884. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0017364
Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. (2017). Gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): Current knowledge, implications for practice, policy, and future directions. Educational Psychology Review, 29(1), 119–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9355-x
White, S., & Tyler, J. (2014, December). Who teaches high school physics? American Institute of Physics. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/highschool/hs-whoteaches-13.pdf
Yonghong Xu. (2015). Focusing on women in STEM: A longitudinal examination of gender-based earning gap of college graduates. Journal of Higher Education, 86(4), 489–523. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2015.0020
Gender Equality and Knowledge through Education
By Vanessa Nieves, ACE Student, M.Ed. Educational Leadership
Gender equality sets the foundation for equal opportunities and an equitable society regardless of how people identify themselves. If jobs were solely determined based on gender, opportunities for advancement in our world would be very limited. To foster equality and create a growth mind-set, we must continue to promote inclusive practices.
When I was eight years old, I wanted to be an altar server at my church. At that time, the concept of a female server was not heard of or encouraged. Unfortunately, the priest at my local church also had a similar mindset. During a congregation, he firmly stated, “Girls are not supposed to be altar servers. It is meant for boys!” I was fortunate to have supportive parents who encouraged me to pursue my dreams and contacted my uncle to further determine the validity of these claims. My uncle confirmed that nothing explicitly barred girls from becoming altar servers. This incident made me become more aware of the challenges that might come my way due to my gender, and I was ready to accept these challenges and face the discrepancies that came my way.
To promote inclusive practices, we must advocate for equality. To achieve this, we must begin by changing our own mindset and gaining knowledge through education. Students should be encouraged to develop an appreciation for diversity. When students are introduced to diverse topics it allows them to become more culturally competent and open to accepting and appreciating others. Everyone should be able to apply for any job they desire. Gender should not determine the likelihood of job procurement. Nothing besides qualifications should be required for a job position.
December 2021 Newsletter - The Importance of Being Comfortable: More Representation of the LGBTQ Community
We are already thinking ahead to our next newsletter, and the broad theme will be “The Importance of Being Comfortable: More Representation of the LGBTQ Community.” We really hope these newsletters become a showcase for the diversity in our ACE Community. The next edition will be published in December 2021, and we want to hear from YOU!
Those who wish to contribute to the next newsletter should send their contributions to Fawzia Reza at fawzia.reza@ace.edu no later than November 1, 2021. We would also really LOVE to see creative presentations, lesson plans related to diversity and inclusion, artwork contributions, etc. Please use these guidelines to assist in developing contributions. Have fun and think outside the box!
Note: Unfortunately, not all contributions submitted can be included in the newsletter. Those contributions relating most closely to the theme will be selected. If yours is not selected, we will invite you to submit for a future newsletter.
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