WOW - Women of the world!

WOW - Women of the World is holding their annual celebration of womanhood, in all it's diversity, from March 7-12, 2017. This festival celebrates the achievements of women and girls everywhere and examining the obstacles that keep them from fulfilling their potential. Hear influential and challenging speakers, take part in mentoring sessions and workshops, and see some of the best female comedians, musicians, performers and writers around.  Past speakers have included Malala Yousafzai, Julie Walters, Shami Chakrabarti, Gordon Brown MP, Salma Hayek, Annie Lennox and Vivienne Westwood.

For 2017, a range of events are planned in London and around the world, including a London session hosted by the comedian Sandi Toksvig, (Chancellor for the University of Portsmouth).

Women in geography: is there a disciplinary glass ceiling?

An upcoming session at the Nordic Geographers Meeting is focusing on this question.  Abstracts close next week (15th December).  This should set the stage for an intersting debate about culture within geography by geographers themselves.  The resultant proceedings will no doubt be quite thought provoking - and will hopefully not only raise some issues but potentially offer solutions to overcoming this, and similar issues.  At the very least, it will make for some interesting reading for all those interested in equality within the field that we have all chosen.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Today, December 3rd, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. According the UN, "observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life."

In this spirit, I want to share this vidoe "Steep Rain" which one of UK entries into the 2015 ENABLE film festival.  To see other previous entries, head to this page (and scroll halfway down).The 2016 selections will be announced this afternoon at the UN headquarters.  

The lead up to today has included a number of events and forums, such as discussions on how to make "Accessible Cities for All", and  "Building Capacity for Inclusive Development in Africa".  These themes clearly reflect the capacity and further potential for the field of Geography to contribute to making the world a place for all. It might be a utopian ideal, but perhaps one day there will no longer be the need to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities - or even for blogs like this.  In the mean-time, if you are interested in seeing what other activities are taking place today, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, check out #adayforall or the associated Facebook page.

UK failing on disability rights

Tonight the BBC revealed that the UK has government has receieved a less than positive report from  the  UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled Persons (CRPD), who found that recent reforms in social security unduly discrimate against disabled people.  The full article can be accessed here.  Ironically, in a report which mentions stereotyping and negative portrayal of disabilities, the two images used are firstly of someone in a wheel chair, and secondly, of wheel chair (disabled) car parks.  At least the government recognises some diversity in disability.


Unsurprisingly, the government disputes the reports findings, noting that they provide a range of work and health related support, not just social security.  Although not mentioned in the article, one example of this is the Access to Work program, which provides assistance to people with diabilities, to enable them to find, or return to work.  The program recognises that no two cases are the same, and works with individuals to provide solutions appropriate for their own needs and job role.  As someone who has benefitted from this program, I know that it has definitely helped ease my transition back into full time work. It is a shame that welfare reforms adopt a similar approach where the outcomes are not only more tailored to meet the needs of individuals, but where the processes involved are designed to ENABLE everyone to contribue as much as they can to society, in whatever role that may be...  

New reports on sexual harassment and promoting social mobility may make some men feel disadvantaged.

The American election has been dominating the press lately.  Claims of sexual harassment by Donald Trump made headlines around the same time that the Universities UK Taskforce examining violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students released their report: Changing the Culture.  Whilst this received some coverage in the UK press, it was only a brief flare of interest compared to the ongoing saga of the US election.  Even less noticeable, was the release in mid October of the 'Working In Partnership: Enabling Social Mobility In HigherEducation' Report that aims to improve "education and career outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, from black, minority and ethnic groups, and for disabled students" (Universities UK).  Both of these reports contain a number of recommendations as to how universities can improve the univeristy experience, and indeed access to it, that will hopefully lead to positive changes in these areas.

Whilst it is regrettable that there is a need for such reports in today's society, an even more disheartening fact is that promotion of equality for all can make some men feel that they are being discriminated against.  As outlined in this article published in the Harvard Business Review, there is a proportion of the white male population that views the promotion of opportunities for women or minority groups as automatically having a negative effect of them - regardless of whether or not this is true.  And to get back to the election, there even appears to be a relationship between which white american men will hold this view and their voting preferences; with republican males more affected.  Mind you, perhaps that shouldn't be all that surprising given their choice of role model.  In fact, the report states, there is also a correlation between those who feel discrimated against, the strength of support for Donald Trump.   However, given that the feeling of being discrimated against can increase group coherence (ie an increased prevalence to feel close to those of the same gender or race), perhaps it is not just Trump's behaviour that appeals, but simply the fact that he is not female.  Of course, this does not imply that all of Trump/s supporters feel disadvantaged by increasing opportunities for women and minority groups; it is simply interesting to see how the psychology of feeling discrimated against can influence one's belief system and behaviour.  With election day looming, I wonder how much these issues may influence the outcome? 

Technology helps foster the careers and aspirations of girls and women in developing countries

The guardian has published several articles in recent months showing how practical skills with computing can assist women in developing countries, or inspire girls to design apps that can not only benefit both themselves and their families in their current situations but also give them skills that may help them secure better careers in future.You can read more about the Dharavi Slum Innovation project here.

Celebrating Ada Lovelace - the woman who first saw the potential of computers

Ada Lovelace is often regarded as the first person who truly saw the potential of computers.  Although there have previously been documentaries made depicting her life, a new movie is being made by the female owned start up Monumental which aims to portray her complex character. This film reflects the increasing amount of attention are being paid to Ada Lovelace recently, partly due to the recent declaration of "Ada Lovelace day", which is the second Tuesday of October each year.  The intention of this day is to celebrate, and raise the profile of, women within STEM.  Of course, this is also an opportunity to reflect on the gender biases which are still prevalent in these industries, where women are still a minority in technical roles. This is nicely demonstrated by a recent report in The Guardian on diversity within major techology companies (Apple, Microsoft, Facebook etc). Of course, this isn't an issue that can be simply solved by positive employment policies; there needs to be an adequate suply of qualified women wanting to work in these areas.  Despite attempts over several decades, the "leaky pipe" continues to exist, with few girls choosing to take STEM subjects at each step in their education.  This emphasises why initiatives that celebrate the contributions of women and provide rolemodels to younger generations is so important.  The more girls and young women see other females succeeding in these areas, the more likely they are to pursue careers in these fields.  Consequently, Ada Lovelace is not just part of history, she is a representative of women all of the world who can inspire others to follow their own dreams and carve their own niche in this world.   

Gender pay gaps and global leaders

Posted for Liz Twigg

An interesting article from the guardian concerning the gender pay gap at universities - The university gender pay gap is down to neoliberal orthodoxy.

which mentinos this paper:

For Slow Scholarship: A Feminist Politics of Resistance through Collective Action in the Neoliberal University

Academic Bullying

Posted for Tara Woodyer

A couple of blogs concerning bullying in academic institutions

The first looks at why bullying thrives within an academic environment - Culture of cruelty.

The second looks at how some male academics are protected due to a concept of having to accept certain behaviour because of their supposed 'genius' - Protecting abusive academic men because of the 'genius' must stop.

Fieldwork, family, friendship and feeding

(Suggested by Clare Boston)

Interesting blog from Tori Herridge on the excitement of fieldwork in a Maltese cave as well as the network of friends and family and their attitudes that make such fieldwork possible with a baby. The blog highlights the importance of attitude and acceptance of others for creating an environment where a new mother feels that her presence isn’t a burden nor merely tolerated.

 

Parenthood and career – how do you change?

(Suggested by Clare Boston)

 Another interesting piece in the guardian about how parenthood changes your perspective as a researcher. Personally, it isn’t ‘Wheels on the Bus’ but ‘Let It Go’ that is the current melodic meme taking over my brain! This appropriate song maybe related to the age of your child – is there a research paper in that? More seriously, the impact of these short pieces lies in the personal stories that come across and the key issues they raise about how we work as researchers and academics and how the supposed barrier between our personal lives and our work lives are continually dissolving. How this impacts our careers is a concern. Better let it go now!

Can you be a research scientist and partner/parent?

(Suggested by Clare Boston)

 Interesting piece in the Guardian from the Royal Society on whether it is possible to have a life outside of work as a research scientist. The general tone seems to be that ‘we’, by which I assume they mean the established hierarchy, needs to be more inclusive in what is seen as a ‘normal’ working life that includes family life, having a partner and so on. So there is hope, possibly?!

 

Athena SWAN Conference 26th April 2016

A very interesting conference and well worth reporting back on the presentation, or rather hour long chat by Professor Tom Welton, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London and proud owner, not personally, of an Athena SWAN gold Award in the Sustainable Chemistry Department. His talk focused what he thought Athena SWAN was all about. Awards, of any colour, are nice and look to be increasingly essential as an initial hurdle for getting grants but that should not be why we are taking on the Athena SWAN principles in his view (although he does already have a Gold Award!).

Athena SWAN is about tackling issues of Equality and Diversity, but these are not issues that can be easily isolated from the type of department we want to work. Tom Welton linked the drive for Athena SWAN principles with his departmental vision for the future – their desire to be the top Chemistry department in Europe. It is fine to have a vision but why do you want that vision in the first place and what do you need to do to get there? When asked what the best chemistry department in Europe would be like, staff come up with a place top people would want to work in, a place top students would want to study, a place where going to work would be enjoyable. Is this general vision any different from one we would think of?  

The question is how to get there from where you are. So where are you? This is what the data analysis and staff surveys should reveal. They should also reveal how far you are from your vision and point towards what you need to do to get there. Putting in place formal procedures and practices can help and are essential for some things such as formal flexible hours. We all know though that procedures do not mean things actually happen nor do they necessarily reflect the sum total of what we can  or should do. If Athena SWAN principles are to really work, if we are really going to tackle issues of Equality and Diversity then we need to all buy into accepting that there are issues that need tackling and into the belief that our actions as individuals and collectively can make a real difference to these issues. Little things can make a difference – coffee and cakes, the odd pint or eight, saying thank you – we can improve our working environment by small and large steps, as individuals and by our collective efforts.

A key point that came across to me was the importance of listening. Not just remaining attentive before you construct your defensive response, but actually listening and thinking does the person have a point and could things be done differently.?We may all believe we do this, but I can tell you from individual experience I certainly don’t do this some of the time 9or is it most of the time?) I think it’s called empathy but I will have to check! Listening doesn’t mean agreeing with the other person’s viewpoint but it does mean trying to think about that viewpoint.

Anyway what do you think?

 

Athena Swan Conference Wednesday 27th April - not too late!

It's still not too late to sign up for the conference this week:

Athena Swan conference: Portsmouth

Starts at 13;00 and finishes by 16:30

Feminist glaciology – at least it is being talked about!

 

The recent paper in Progress in Human Geography:
Glaciers, gender and science: A feminist glaciology framework for global environmental change research. 

Has caused a great deal of controversy, with the authors being drawn into the ‘culture wars’. The paper is worth a read so that you can form your own opinion, but remember the authors set out to promote discussion so maybe they intended to be controversial (see article).

At roughly the same time as the paper came out I received a paper to review for the Canadian Geographer  on critical thinking in physical geography that I reviewed positively that as part of its introduction distilled the arguments of the Progress in Human Geography paper down to three key points that seemed, at least to me, to be quite reasonable.  The key points were:  knowledge producers, the gendered nature of science and the domination of the scientific viewpoint. Each of these can be presented as a reasonable argument, by which I mean an argument that most physical scientists would not necessarily disagree. At the same time most physical scientists would ask what has this to do with my work? This is the harder part of make clear but one that we need to increasingly address as the difficulties of interdisciplinary research become clear. This is not a trend that will go away so trying to understand the implications of who produces what nolwdge and how are issues that even the hardest of physical geographers will need to grapple with. So what is your view?

Graduate premium for women, but is it high enough?

 

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on earnings differentials between graduate and non-graduate women suggests that there is a significant graduate premium, with female graduates, 10 years after they graduate, having median earnings up to 3 times greater than the median earnings of non-graduate females. The analysis used big data (260,000 graduates), so is one of the most extensive of its kind. Despite the higher earnings by female graduates they still tended to earn less than male graduates who had been graduated for 10 years. Male graduates earned about 23% more than female graduates 10 years after graduation, so still a significant gap despite the supposed equality of higher education.  At the upper end of the pay scale the differences are even starker with 10% of male graduates earning over £55,000 (the equivalent statistic for female graduates is £43,000, a difference of £12,000), 5% of male graduates earning over £73,000 (the equivalent for female graduates is  £54,000, a difference of £19,000) and 1% of male graduates earning over £148,00 (the equivalent for female graduates is £89,000, a difference of £49,000). So inequality seems to grow as pay does!

 

 

Gender and the Institute of Fiscal Studies Graduate Earning Report

 

The recent Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on variations in graduate earnings by gender, institution, subject area and socio-economic background has some interesting points to make about the relative differences between male and female earnings whatever subject individuals take. Of as much importance to the equality and diversity agenda, however, is the observation that the socio-economic background of individuals can have a relatively large impact on earnings. The potential implications of this observation for long-term social mobility are not considered but something those in higher education need to be aware of.

 

 

Steps to Gender Equality in Politics and the Workplace

The Guardian recently published an interesting piece on 12 steps needed to achieve gender equality in the politics and the workplace. The piece highlights the international dimension of the issue of gender equality as well as the long timescale over which changes needed to occur. The key points are the need to listen and act, sensitivity of actions to gender and the eradication of violence.

12 steps to achieve gender equality in our lifetimes

 

 

 

The Stereotype Trap (CogTales blog)

That women in science and in the professional world in general are subject to gender biases with real consequences (lower pay, less career opportunities) goes without saying.
In this context, I find it important to be aware of how easy it is to be biased myself. Not in order to justify, but to better understand. I have recently made two experiences with my own and fellow female researchers’ biases, in situations where I somewhat slipped into a man’s skin.
Now, slapping on my man skin aka MetaLab poster for the BCCCD conference, I got one female researcher who looked, mumbled  “Oh, oh, this looks complicated!”, and left. There was another one who actually started talking to me but who stated, before I could even open my mouth: “I am not sure I will understand this. It looks very difficult.” Granted, this is a sample of N=2 (although Christina just told me that she got similar reactions exclusively by women on a similar poster recently), and there were many others that did not say anything like this. Nevertheless, I had never gotten any such reaction on any other project. So man skin experience #1 showed me a few examples of women having a that’s-too-complicated-for-me-bias against themselves.
Well, you might say, this man skin isn’t too convincing. But I have an even better one. It’s my first name. First names ending in ‘o’ are, across many cultures, associated with men rather than women. I think I first got painfully aware of this when the Russian family friend persistently called me “Shoa”, because he just didn’t want to deal with the fact that a little girl’s name ended with an “o”. Fast-forward, and I keep receiving an uncountable amount of mail addressed to “Mr./Herr/Dhr./M. Tsuji”, and recently this involuntary man skin, actually in combination with the MetaLab man skin, culminated in me being imagined as an “over 40-year-old single guy who watches porn movies in his free time.”

Read the full post here.

University of Portsmouth celebrates International Women’s Day (Staff Essentials)

 

The University of Portsmouth celebrates International Women’s Day with the following talks and film screenings:

Female Philanthropy and the Inter-War World in Twentieth-Century Britain
Date: Tuesday 8 March 2016
Time: 5.15pm
Venue: Dennis Sciama, Room 2.14
Dr. Eve Colpus, Lecturer in British and European History Post 1850 at Southampton University, will speak on ‘Female Philanthropy and the Inter-War World in Twentieth-Century Britain’, organised by the Women’s and Gender Studies Research Cluster, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. No booking needed. All are welcome!

International Women’s Day Film and Talk
Date: Thursday 10 March 2016
Time: 6.30pm talk, 7.00pm screening
Venue: Eldon Screening Theatre, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth PO1 2DJ
The screening of Suffragette and talk by Professor June Purvis, a world-renowned expert on the subject and who advised the filmmakers.
Admission is free, but please reserve your place on Eventbrite.

Make More Noise (UK, 1899-1917) Cert | 80 min
Date: Thursday 31 March 2016
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: Eldon Screening Theatre, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth PO1 2DJ
Cinema was born as the Suffragettes campaign was gathering momentum, and so they made it there business to get in front of the camera. A fascinating compilation of 21 short films from the BFI national archive that show how these women were being portrayed on screen.

Tickets £6 from http://www.portsmouthfilmsociety.org.uk/tickets/.