This article is from 2010, but we just discovered it (Thanks, HK!) and felt it deserved an extra highlight (even though it's not actually news anymore I suppose).
There has been much discussion on this blog (see related articles here) about gender in the composition world (and outside of it), including why fewer women end up with tenure track jobs or don't advance as often or as quickly as men. The findings in the article don't surprise me at all, but I have mixed feelings about it- I think it's important research that needs to be out there and is a very real concern for many women (and I'm surprised that this is the first time the phenomenon has been formally studied). However, I worry that it could potentially have a negative effect as well, by drawing attention to only one aspect of the reason women seem to land fewer tenure track jobs. I think many people assume that the only reason women don't advance is because they drop out of tenure track to pursue the "mommy track," as I've heard it scathingly referred to, which is not only incredibly insulting but ignores the fact that women also drop out for reasons such as discrimination, harassment, and lack of support from colleagues and/or administration (and the article does briefly touch on these factors as well, which I was glad to see). Either way, it seems like an important contribution to the field and I hope that this and future studies might eventually effect some change in the way academia works.
Posted by Sarah
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