Published at Women in Higher Education on February 9, 2015. We could chalk up the lack of women in political office to systemic discrimination, but this alone doesn’t explain the gender gap in politics. Discrimination emerges as only part of the problem. For example, to get a woman to run for office, she has to be asked […]
Published at Women in Higher Education on December 5, 2014. Unfortunately, while confidence might offer more possibilities to women, it does not mitigate hostile or benevolent forms of sexism, change gender inequalities in pay, or guarantee that women are not harassed in the workplace. Confidence might make us feel better about ourselves, but it is no balm […]
Published at Chronicle Vitae on November 17, 2014. Blaming women is an easy strategy, the harder one is to meaningfully engage the myriad of factors that lead women to avoid or drop out of STEM. Like many others, I was pretty shocked that anyone could claim that science, or any other field of human endeavor, wasn’t […]
Published on Chronicle Vitae on February 3, 2015. There was my journey from primary sources to a dissertation and from dissertation to manuscript. A ragged and torn poster from 2005 declared that I was once an “emerging scholar.” The poster’s condition felt like a strange symbol of early hope and promise that had been degraded by painful […]
Published at Bearings on February 12, 2015. The more I thought about attending my previous church, the more I felt that I needed to. I needed to know where they are now, so maybe I could figure where I should be too. They were my map a long time ago, so maybe they could help me […]
Published at Brain, Child on February 26, 2015. “You’re beautiful,” my daughter says to a sixty-something waitress with a halo of wild gray curls. The waitress looks tired and worn. The compliment seems to take her by surprise, as if it unsettles her. She pauses, tentatively smiles, and murmurs a hushed “thank you.” When a five year […]