I love the idea of innovative scholarly work that can reach beyond universities. Traditional peer reviewed journal articles present barriers to many people. New research often is unlikely to make its way into public conversations since there is little access the general public has to academic research. Scholars who devote time and resources into sharing their research through innovative ways definitely deserve professional recognition. Especially in a time of fake news, disseminating knowledge is critical. (SexGenLab is doing great work sharing research through social media)
There is a very limited view of what is considered valued and successful. Focus on merit results in rewarding those with the most privilege. The wage gap shows how women and racial minority’s work is undervalued in comparison to white men. Outdated gender ideology and inflexible policies result in the disadvantage for women in the U.S. There is this ethos of individualism and principles of personal responsibility that underlie the country’s social policies. Oppressed groups who face additional barriers are left on their own to achieve herculean tasks. Working mothers, for example, end up having to decide between family or their career advancement. However, countries outside of the U.S show that work and family conflicts are not inevitable.
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As a first-generation student, I can confirm the struggle to discover the hidden curriculum to navigating graduate school. Has anyone uncovered the secret code?
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Jess,
Thanks for sharing this great resource with the class.
You’ve got me thinking about all the sites of inequality that you name. Each one seems to have its own logic that grounds it (the gender gap implicitly argues that women should be mothers and that mothering is natural rather than part of the economy). But you also point to individualism as an underlying logic that threads through many of these sites of inequality. That’s very helpful. I wonder how far we could extend that idea?
Matt
Like Matt, I would love to talk about this in more depth tonight. There is sometimes a sense of inevitability about “the way things are” in the US and in academia, but as you rightly note, there are plenty of counterexamples to point to. Looking forward to talking about it.