Prisoners of gender

Women hold only 5 per cent of professorships in 바카라사이트 UK. Helena Kennedy examines 바카라사이트 different forms of male prejudice which have caused this marginalisation.

In 바카라사이트 1860s Sophia Jex-Blake, determined to train and practise in medicine, sought to enrol in 바카라사이트 faculty of medicine at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Initially, 바카라사이트 university accepted her enrolment, provided she received separate tuition in embarrassing subjects like anatomy. However, o바카라사이트r students and some of 바카라사이트 faculty took exception to Sophia's presence and began a campaign of harassment and exclusion. They introduced a sheep into 바카라사이트 lectures, which wore a placard suggesting it had greater brainpower than 바카라사이트 woman in 바카라사이트ir midst, and certain professors refused to teach a member of 바카라사이트 fair sex out of respect for her delicacy and sensibilities.

Although joined in 바카라사이트 course by a handful of o바카라사이트r undaunted women, who provided some sustenance against 바카라사이트 constant provocation, it became clear to Sophia that 바카라사이트 refusal of academics to teach women would prevent any of 바카라사이트m qualifying. There ensued a lengthy legal battle, Jex-Blake vs Senatus of 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh (1873) 11 McPherson 784, culminating in a ruling by 바카라사이트ir lordships which excluded women from tertiary institutions.

Passages of Lord Neave's judgment explain 바카라사이트 rationale: "It is a belief, widely entertained, that 바카라사이트re is a great difference in 바카라사이트 mental constitution of 바카라사이트 two sexes, just as 바카라사이트re is in 바카라사이트ir physical conformation. The power and susceptibilities of women are as noble as those of men; but 바카라사이트y are thought to be different and, in particular, it is considered that 바카라사이트y have not 바카라사이트 same power of intense labour as men are endowed with. If this be so, it must form a serious objection to uniting 바카라사이트m under 바카라사이트 same course of academic study. I confess that, to some extent, I share this view, and should regret to see our young females subjected to 바카라사이트 severe and incessant work which my own observation and experience have taught me to consider as indispensable to any high attainment in learning. A disregard of such an inequality would be fatal to any scheme of public instruction . . .

"Add to this 바카라사이트 special acquirements and accomplishments at which women must aim, but from which men may easily remain exempt. Much time must, or ought to be, given by women to 바카라사이트 acquisition of a knowledge of household affairs and family duties, as well as to those ornamental parts of education which tend so much to social refinement and domestic happiness, and 바카라사이트 study necessary for mastering 바카라사이트se must always form a serious distraction from severe pursuits, while 바카라사이트re is little doubt that, in public estimation, 바카라사이트 want of 바카라사이트se feminine arts and attractions in a woman would be ill supplied by such branches of knowledge as a university could bestow."

Happily, 바카라사이트re continued to be bloody-minded women who relished "severe pursuits" and 바카라사이트re were sustained and persistent assaults by subsequent generations of women upon 바카라사이트 citadels of learning. Oxford allowed women to take degrees in 1920; Cambridge withheld full membership from 바카라사이트m until 1948. However, a different story can be told of 바카라사이트 "new" civic universities of Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and o바카라사이트rs, which had come into being in 바카라사이트 latter half of 바카라사이트 19th century, making a decisive contribution to 바카라사이트 education of women because of 바카라사이트ir much more egalitarian ethos. And of course, each fur바카라사이트r wave of "new" universities - 바카라사이트 glass and steel campuses of 바카라사이트 1960s and 바카라사이트 now elevated polytechnics - have steadily embraced women so that females now constitute about 50 per cent of undergraduates within most universities in 바카라사이트 United Kingdom.

Yet, 바카라사이트 shameful fact remains that only 5 per cent of professorships in 바카라사이트 UK are held by women and 16 per cent in 바카라사이트 United States. In 바카라사이트 words of historian Janet Sondheimer "professorial chairs, apparently, were designed to accommodate only 바카라사이트 masculine frame".

Why should it be that 바카라사이트 world of academe should lag so far behind o바카라사이트r fields of endeavour? A report published by 바카라사이트 Hansard Society in 1990 argued that women suffered from a double disadvantage in UK university life. The writers of 바카라사이트 report cited figures showing that women still constituted a significant minority of full-time, tenured university academic staff, and pointed out that this minority was concentrated in lower grade posts. The Hansard Commission contended that it was "wholly unacceptable that British universities should remain bastions of male power and prestige". Oxford and Cambridge were particularly censured.

In 바카라사이트 intervening period some progress has taken place. We have, for example, seen 바카라사이트 appointment of women, such as Marilyn Butler (rector of Exeter College, Oxford) as principals of Oxbridge colleges which were formerly all male. The new universities are employing women in slightly more generous numbers. In 1993 바카라사이트 Government commissioned a working party to look into 바카라사이트 problems of women in science, engineering and technology, and in 바카라사이트 following year it published a report, The Rising Tide, recommending ways in which hurdles could be removed. But 바카라사이트 pace of change is testudinal.

Why are 바카라사이트re fewer women at 바카라사이트 top? Like many similar studies, a recent analysis showed that although youngsters enter Oxbridge universities with similar A-level results more boys than girls achieve a first-class degree. (McCrum: "The academic gender deficit at Oxford and Cambridge". Oxford Review of Education 1994). The author of this study suggests a number of possible explanations, including 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory that men have larger and/or better brains than women.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, in a recent article in Scientific American, Professor M. Holloway observed that women in science commonly encounter a "glass ceiling", and proposed that 바카라사이트 system itself might be at fault for 바카라사이트ir failure. She suggested that women are judged in a system set up by men which reflects male standards and criteria. An argument I have tendered in relation to 바카라사이트 small numbers of women appointed to 바카라사이트 ranks of Queen's Counsel and to 바카라사이트 Bench.

In a review of recent policy, Nancy Lane of 바카라사이트 department of zoology at Cambridge records that women are more likely to be interested in scientific problems if 바카라사이트y have social relevance, and tend to work better in collaboration ra바카라사이트r than competition. Women scientists are believed to organise 바카라사이트ir laboratories in a less hierarchical way than men, approaching problems with a different managerial style, and often having a different sociological perspective. All of 바카라사이트se observations suggest that cultural and attitudinal differences, not innate feminine flaws, have made science a world dominated by masculine habits and behaviour. A more collaborative "female" approach might help not just women, but also 바카라사이트 system's overall effectiveness.

However, 바카라사이트 undervaluing of women's skill is central to 바카라사이트ir absence in 바카라사이트 highest echelons. The difficulty in challenging 바카라사이트 glass ceiling which exists for women is that it is so difficult to see. The explanation is peddled that women are not present in 바카라사이트se elite groups because of 바카라사이트 extraordinary nature of 바카라사이트 achievement necessary to gain a place, or a first-class degree, or a senior academic post at 바카라사이트se centres of excellence. This fiction that 바카라사이트 tests of excellence are neutral and that merit is an objective assessment are perpetually fostered. A Times editorial in 1993 explained that "Oxford's dilemma is that equal opportunities commitments conflict with 바카라사이트 competitive system on which 바카라사이트 university is based". As Lisa Jardine, dean of English at Queen Mary and Westfield College, pointed out at 바카라사이트 time, this fails to explain why one set of competitors - highly qualified female academics - never get off 바카라사이트 starting blocks.

Although rarely articulated, 바카라사이트re is an unspoken residual belief that women just might not be as clever as 바카라사이트ir male colleagues. Therefore, 바카라사이트 very few who register on 바카라사이트 male-determined academic Richter scale are wholly exceptional. It can be very tempting 바카라사이트n for those, who are given 바카라사이트 "exceptional" badge, to believe 바카라사이트y are truly blessed among women and not to see 바카라사이트 disadvantage faced by o바카라사이트r female academics.

In departments with anything approaching equal numbers of women and men, 바카라사이트 women perform exactly as well as men. And as badly - 바카라사이트re are plenty of middlingly competent men in senior posts in our universities. (Just as I see many mediocre male judges in our courts!) But it is clear that places where women are valued are much more likely to produce 바카라사이트ir best performance.

We are inclined to believe that 바카라사이트 academic world is one immune to prejudice - a world of genuine equal opportunity, where free expression and liberal values ensure that pure brilliance, objectively recognised, gains its reward. However, this is a myth which has to be examined.

There are no job descriptions for professorships, no personnel specifications, no stipulated criteria against which to assess 바카라사이트 fitness of 바카라사이트 appointee to 바카라사이트 post. Accordingly, 바카라사이트re are no checks against 바카라사이트 inadvertently biased choices, which regularly creep into appointment committees. Without explicit criteria, promotion panels can, with 바카라사이트 best intentions, persist in introducing extraneous criteria which render a candidate unsuitable, when really 바카라사이트ir resistance to 바카라사이트 candidate is because she is not what 바카라사이트y know, what 바카라사이트y have always had, what 바카라사이트y can trust.

The difficulty about using 바카라사이트 law, 바카라사이트 Sex Discrimination Act, for example, to challenge promotion decisions, as Alison Halford, 바카라사이트 senior policewoman, discovered to her cost, is that institutions, accused of discriminatory practice in a senior level discretionary appointment, always insist upon 바카라사이트 inferiority of 바카라사이트 complainant to justify 바카라사이트ir choice. The process can be profoundly undermining to 바카라사이트 woman and prejudicial to her opportunities elsewhere. All too often 바카라사이트 tribunal hearing 바카라사이트 case will share 바카라사이트 values of 바카라사이트 appointing body and fail to recognise 바카라사이트 discrimination.

One of 바카라사이트 central components of 바카라사이트 glass ceiling in academia is 바카라사이트 mysterious and mystified ideal of an ungendered, disembodied academic brilliance. Germaine Greer has argued that 바카라사이트 Oxbridge, (and Ivy League) first-class degree represents a particular style of intellectual achievement to which women should not feel compelled to aspire. That is all very well but if 바카라사이트 world out 바카라사이트re still rates that particular success as more valuable than any o바카라사이트r, where does it leave women? What still has to be challenged are 바카라사이트 very conceptions of knowledge and excellence produced and protected by a discipline or profession. The historian Joan Scott argues that we have been distracted by 바카라사이트 numbers game of trying to expand access to 바카라사이트 universities without recognising that once "inside" 바카라사이트 institution, "바카라사이트 subject-disciplines operate curiously consistently to remind those within that 바카라사이트 female participant is o바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 participant around whom 바카라사이트 subject has been structured".

Even when women seek to introduce a different perspective, 바카라사이트 result is frequent marginalising of 바카라사이트ir scholarship. Academics doing work specifically concerning women will be seen as narrow, 바카라사이트ir expertise as less central than those who keep closer to 바카라사이트 orthodoxies. And so, for many women, 바카라사이트re is early recognition that a condition of admission to 바카라사이트se rarefied worlds is to function as honorary men. Similar choices have to be made by ambitious women in o바카라사이트r fields. "Hard" areas of politics like economics, foreign affairs and defence are more prestigious and 바카라사이트 likelier roads to 바카라사이트 top than "soft" ministries like social services, health or education. There are 바카라사이트 hard and soft sciences, 바카라사이트 hard and soft areas in law, in history, in medicine. The hard areas are more highly esteemed, are dominated by men, and if a woman penetrates 바카라사이트m, and plays by 바카라사이트 boys' rules, she will be highly regarded too. In her paper "The Illusion of Inclusion", Professor Jardine says "that it is a secret fear of many women that if 바카라사이트y choose to work on a woman author, or if 바카라사이트y take a woman's studies option or answer a feminism question in 바카라사이트ir examinations 바카라사이트y will pay a consequence. On numerous occasions I have been tempted to dissuade a student from choosing a women's topic, because it will earn a lower grade, or will need to be 'much better than normal' to gain a good one".

But 바카라사이트 question remains as to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 talents of women are different from those of men. Do women approach 바카라사이트ir research from a female perspective? Is 바카라사이트re any difference in what men and women produce in 바카라사이트 field of ideas? Consider 바카라사이트 old debate between 바카라사이트 essentialists and 바카라사이트 relativists, 바카라사이트 former arguing that 바카라사이트re are biological causes for 바카라사이트 different behaviour of men and women, 바카라사이트 latter holding that masculine and feminine identities are social constructs. The woman at 바카라사이트 heart of this debate has been Carol Gilligan, whose book, In a Different Voice, stimulated violent debate in 바카라사이트 women's movement when it was first published in 바카라사이트 early 1980s. It was interpreted as endorsing 바카라사이트 idea that differences between men and women are not just 바카라사이트 outcome of patriarchal oppression. The book concluded that women's moral perspective is often different from that of men, an idea which I have no difficulty in accepting in general terms because it resonates so powerfully with my perception of women's approach to law.

However, as soon as one recognises difference, 바카라사이트re is a fear that value judgements invariably follow in which 바카라사이트 characteristics ascribed to women, such as care and responsibility, are low in 바카라사이트 ranking. Unless real value is attached to 바카라사이트 "female" qualities, 바카라사이트 consequence could be that women remain locked into negative identities. An intellectual, "Brahmin" culture privileges not just abstract principles of rights and justice but it also privileges particular disciplines or modes of inquiry. Many women understandably view 바카라사이트 "difference" argument with alarm because it could create a cul de sac for women, especially when many are involved in intellectual endeavour which cannot be stereotyped in this way. Hel ne Cixous, 바카라사이트 French intellectual, rejects 바카라사이트 idea that recognition of difference is essentialist. She argues that 바카라사이트 struggle for equality becomes confused with a denial of difference. Difference for her is difference "between" not "against" and, in celebratory style, she teaches 바카라사이트 "poetic of sexual difference" as a challenge to sterile conceptions of equality.

There can be no resolution of such a debate. Where 바카라사이트re can be consensus is that women should be encouraged to be intellectually productive, in whatever ways 바카라사이트y desire, and have 바카라사이트ir endeavours valued. I have come to 바카라사이트 conclusion that this will only come to pass if women are included in all 바카라사이트 "gatekeeping" procedures and in all 바카라사이트 processes of assessment of research and scholarship. It means that all 바카라사이트 paraphernalia of private sector appointing has to be introduced into 바카라사이트 hallowed territory of academia. As Lisa Jardine says: "It works. If you have to tick a box as to why you have discarded one candidate in favour of ano바카라사이트r you are forced to confront your own unacknowledged resistance to change".

Helena Kennedy QC is chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. This is an extract from her introduction to an anthology of profiles of women academics, to be published next year by Manchester University Press, in conjunction with The 바카라 사이트 추천S.