Career Guide for Women Scholars, Suzanna Rose (Ed.). New York: Springer, 1986, 224 pages. |
VOL. 5, No. 2, 99-100
I have been looking for an adequate how-to guide for female academics for a long time. I finally found one. Though the publication date is 1986, I had not noticed until recently this unassuming American book which is part of the Springer series, "Focus on Women." The book is a simple, helpful, comforting read.
Section one describes "The Academic Career Path": applying for jobs; enduring pitfalls on the way to tenure; building a network; and publishing. Section two discusses "Individual Issues and Solutions" such as the transition from graduate student to faculty member, the first job, and career transitions. The third section, entitled "Alternatives to Academe," discusses career opportunities existing beyond the academic setting. It covers such topics as: starting a private therapy practice; career options in business; and strategies for changing career direction. Of note, too, are the articles dealing with those women who are doubly oppressed: the black, female scholar; the black woman clinician; the lesbian scholar. The book concludes with three appendices: a checklist for the first academic job search; a list of American professional organizations; and additional useful references.
It is important for women academics to have their own career guide because much of the available literature on this topic does not address situations specific to women. For instance, many academic career guides make little or no reference to gender, which, at its worst, is a blatant example of sexist research, and is, at best, unhelpful. For instance, The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist (Mark P. Zanna and John M. Darley, Eds. [1987]. New York: Random House), though it does use nonsexist language, devotes only 4 of its 201 pages to those who are "a minority group member or a woman." While gender relations are probably only minimally relevant to topics such as preparing research grants or writing empirical journal articles, they are critical in issues to do with power and politics in academic departments, teaching, and managing the faculty-graduate student relationship.
The Career Guide for Women Scholars provides an important addition to the feminist literature on women in academia. Written for those who are convinced (through their own scholarship or personal experience) that women are subjected to discriminatory practices in colleges and universities, the book proceeds to help women deal with particular problems that, left unaddressed, can have devastating social and personal consequences. The author does this in a settled and even-handed approach.
Unfortunately, the book is somewhat dated. Many of the articles refer to a time when academic jobs were almost nonexistent. As the baby boom generation ages and retires, more opportunities are made available, and advice about how to proceed in a more open market is needed. A second limitation of this book is that, as an American text, it does not address concerns pertinent to women working in other contexts. For example, from a Canadian perspective, such issues as Francophone-Anglophone relations, geographic isolation and distance, and the effects of public educational funding for women are not discussed.
This book does not focus specifically on women working in distance education. Certainly, however, such women would be familiar with the main issues - such as struggling for tenure and publishing or perishing. Some translation may be needed, however, with respect to the chapter on building networks, given the idiosyncratic locations within which distance educators may work.
I recommend the book for any woman scholar who is sad or angry because of academic sexism. It would be useful, too, for men who wish to better understand discrimination against women in institutions of higher learning.
Catherine Bray
Women’s Studies
Athabasca University
Box 10,000
Athabasca, Alberta
T0G 2R0