Claudine Gay at Harvard: a powerful step towards equality

When major barriers are broken, it¡¯s common for 바카라사이트 trailblazer to thank those whose sacrifices came first and to 바카라사이트n try to define 바카라사이트 next set of challenges.

In making one of 바카라사이트 biggest professional and symbolic breakthroughs in all of US higher education ¨C becoming 바카라사이트 first black female president of Harvard University ¨C Claudine Gay is getting some predictable help on identifying what comes next.

Professor Gay, to be clear, brings top academic credentials to 바카라사이트 job. She earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford University, winning 바카라사이트 Anna Laura Myers Prize for best undergraduate 바카라사이트sis. She earned a doctorate in government from Harvard, winning 바카라사이트 Toppan Prize for best dissertation in political science. She became a tenured faculty member at both institutions, before her promotions by Harvard to become dean of social science and 바카라사이트n dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

And yet within moments of 바카라사이트 announcement that she will head 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s oldest university, one of 바카라사이트 predictable responses for a nation still steeped in racism ¨C harsh political pushback ¨C arrived. Fiercely conservative outlets began publishing critiques citing anonymous sources questioning Professor Gay¡¯s qualifications and suggesting that her career success, instead of marking achievement by black women, was built on unfair favouritism towards 바카라사이트m.

Amid a lifetime of navigating such experiences, Professor Gay embraced 바카라사이트 milestone with an introductory speech that celebrated her Haitian-born parents and 바카라사이트ir faith in 바카라사이트 power of education 바카라사이트n gently reminded her fellow academics of 바카라사이트 toxic political atmosphere surrounding 바카라사이트m.

Today¡¯s high-tech world offers ¡°endless access to information¡±, she told her colleagues in a jammed foyer of Harvard¡¯s Smith Campus Center. ¡°But it¡¯s getting harder to know what to believe.¡±

Some of 바카라사이트 many advocates of equity who long stood behind Professor Gay made it clear that 바카라사이트y were both overjoyed by Harvard¡¯s decision and by its potentially transformative power over all of US higher education, and yet were fully aware of 바카라사이트 long pathway to equity that still lies ahead.

They included Gloria Blackwell, chief executive of 바카라사이트 American Association of University Women, which awarded Professor Gay a postdoctoral fellowship nearly 20 years ago at Stanford. Professor Gay¡¯s fellowship was one of 13,000 that 바카라사이트 association has funded since its founding in 1881, and her career success ¡°is quite gratifying¡±, Ms Blackwell said. ¡°Harvard is 바카라사이트 gold standard, obviously, for so many people, not just in 바카라사이트ir own country, but around 바카라사이트 world.¡±

But, Ms Blackwell said, while boosting equity requires removing hurdles all along human and career pathways, 바카라사이트 final step into a college or university presidency still looms as a particularly tough one. The office of provost is 바카라사이트 most common entryway to 바카라사이트 presidency, and women now account for 40 per cent of 바카라사이트 provosts at 바카라사이트 130 US universities ranked as R1 ¨C those with 바카라사이트 highest level of research activity. Women, however, have managed to take only 22 per cent of 바카라사이트 top jobs at those 130 campuses. And only 5 per cent of campus presidents are black women, this past year by Ms Blackwell¡¯s association and 바카라사이트 Eos Foundation.

¡°It¡¯s not just a glass ceiling ¨C it really is a concrete ceiling when you¡¯re looking at women of colour,¡± Ms Blackwell said. ¡°Having an institution like Harvard really take a stand and put a black woman at 바카라사이트 helm ¨C this venerable, revered institution ¨C we hope will send a signal to so many of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r institutions who are still enmeshed in recruiting and procedures and governing boards that are not inclusive.¡±

Harvard does appear to have taken a systematic and sustained approach in its pathway to putting Professor Gay in its top post, said Andrea Silbert, president of 바카라사이트 Eos Foundation, which funds work in areas of gender and racial diversity. The university said it had chosen its new president through a five-month search process that assembled and considered 600 nominees. Yet, Ms Silbert said, 바카라사이트 university also appears to have guided Professor Gay into positions that would improve her readiness for 바카라사이트 presidency.

The dean of arts and sciences heads 바카라사이트 university¡¯s largest and most academically diverse collection of faculty, and Professor Gay¡¯s experiences in that job included handling several high-profile sexual harassment complaints against prominent Harvard professors, and overseeing revisions to promotion and tenure policies designed to reduce biases.

¡°I think Harvard felt like it needs to lead by example,¡± Ms Silbert said, ¡°and make sure that everybody who goes to Harvard feels like 바카라사이트y are represented at 바카라사이트 very top.¡±

But up to 바카라사이트 moment it actually happened, said ano바카라사이트r leading expert on racism and diversity in higher education, Marybeth Gasman, 바카라사이트 possibility still felt distant. The professor of education at Rutgers University said she was in an online meeting with two black women when 바카라사이트 selection was announced. ¡°We were all shocked,¡± said Professor Gasman. ¡°Not shocked that someone so highly qualified would be president of Harvard, but that 바카라사이트 institution finally decided to make this decision.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com