2008 Woodie Awards
Professor questions old practices
Dylan Kingsley
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Front Page
Browyn Conrad, associate professor of sociology and director of the Women's Study Program, presented a lecture on gender discrimination in academia on Tuesday, March 23, in the Governors Room of the student center.
Conrad's inspiration for the lecture was a report by The Barnard Center for Research on Women called "Women, Work, and the Academy," which described the oppression of women within academia and stated that gender parity will take a minimum of 40 years to be reached if current conditions remain.
"The No. 1 thing we need to do is acknowledge that it's there", said Conrad shortly before comparing sexism to an elephant in the room that society is walking around. Conrad urged her audience to "break the silence, acknowledge the elephant."
Forms of discrimination that Conrad described are denial, evaluation bias, dysfunctional communication patterns and institutional practices. She listed nine forms of unconventional, more subtle, forms of discrimination.
One of the most common forms of discrimination within the workplace is dysfunctional communication patterns, such as dismissal, retaliation and patronizing. These three behaviors are used to "shut women up," said Conrad.
Institutional practices are other ways that women are discriminated against, Conrad said. She described these as tokenism, showcasing and dumping.
Conrad ended her lecture by talking about social systems and how they are created and maintained through social interactions.
"Social reality happens as people participate in social systems," she said. "You are part of the system whether you like it or not. You are participating whether you want to or not."
Conrad's inspiration for the lecture was a report by The Barnard Center for Research on Women called "Women, Work, and the Academy," which described the oppression of women within academia and stated that gender parity will take a minimum of 40 years to be reached if current conditions remain.
"The No. 1 thing we need to do is acknowledge that it's there", said Conrad shortly before comparing sexism to an elephant in the room that society is walking around. Conrad urged her audience to "break the silence, acknowledge the elephant."
Forms of discrimination that Conrad described are denial, evaluation bias, dysfunctional communication patterns and institutional practices. She listed nine forms of unconventional, more subtle, forms of discrimination.
One of the most common forms of discrimination within the workplace is dysfunctional communication patterns, such as dismissal, retaliation and patronizing. These three behaviors are used to "shut women up," said Conrad.
Institutional practices are other ways that women are discriminated against, Conrad said. She described these as tokenism, showcasing and dumping.
Conrad ended her lecture by talking about social systems and how they are created and maintained through social interactions.
"Social reality happens as people participate in social systems," she said. "You are part of the system whether you like it or not. You are participating whether you want to or not."
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