Report on the FSD ‘Media Associations Project’
Gendered Experience of Academics in Media and Communication Studies
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen
The Feminist Scholarship Division is coordinating a project to look at the gendered experience of academics in media and communication studies, and would like to encourage members to get involved. In particular, we’d like to hear from members who are interested in conducting focus groups in their own departments on gender in the academy. We’d also like to conduct focus groups at the ICA conference itself with FSD members. If you’re interested in helping out with this research, either by participating in a focus group at ICA, or conducting research at your own institution, get in touch with Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (wahl-jorgensenk(at)cf.ac.uk).
As part of the project, FSD will be sponsoring a roundtable in Dresden, and invite everyone who is interested in gender and the academy to come along. The title of the roundtable is “The Gendered Experiences of Academics in Communication and Media Studies”, and it will take place on Wednesday, June 21, from 12:00-1:15, in the Dresden Conference Center, Conference 8. Speakers -- including Karen Ross, Cindy Carter, Claire Wardle, Martina Myers, Katharine Sarikakis, Yoo Jae Song, and Carolyn Byerly -- will be reporting on research in departments around the world. The roundtable aims not only to discuss gendered experiences in the discipline, but also to make suggestions about how to promote equity and create academic cultures that are welcoming and supportive of everyone.
This topic is of urgent importance to all of us. Statistics show that even though there are more women today with advanced degrees in academic departments everywhere, they remain concentrated in the lower ranks of all disciplines. Previous work in communication and media studies disciplines suggests that there are significant differences between the experiences of men and women. Female scholars have highlighted discriminatory practices, suggesting that their gender has “kept them from being heard, being positively evaluated by students, peers and administrators, and from being advanced within the ranks of their profession” (Edley et al., 2002, p. 21-22). As Rush and her colleagues (2005) point out in their study of journalism professionals and academics, the “workings of the academy and the communications industry reveal inequality and discrimination in the more general and deeper structures of patriarchy, regardless of local cultures and traditions” (p. 22). Nevertheless, researchers have also found that women in the discipline have more extensive social and professional support networks, which “serve as sources of emotional support and professional affirmation” (Edley et al., 2002, p. 22). To trace the specific nature of gendered experience, we need more research. And to conduct this research, we need your help.
Please join us!
References
Edley, P. P., Ross, K., Shirvani, S., Carter, C., Byerly, C. M., and Newsom, V. A. (2002). Gender and equity in the academy. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Seoul, Korea, July 2002.
Ross, K. (2000). Women at the top 2000. London: Hansard Society.
Rush, R.R., Oukrop, C. E., and Sarikakis, K. (2005). A global hypothesis for women in journalism and mass communications. Gazette, 67(3), 239-253.
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen
The Feminist Scholarship Division is coordinating a project to look at the gendered experience of academics in media and communication studies, and would like to encourage members to get involved. In particular, we’d like to hear from members who are interested in conducting focus groups in their own departments on gender in the academy. We’d also like to conduct focus groups at the ICA conference itself with FSD members. If you’re interested in helping out with this research, either by participating in a focus group at ICA, or conducting research at your own institution, get in touch with Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (wahl-jorgensenk(at)cf.ac.uk).
As part of the project, FSD will be sponsoring a roundtable in Dresden, and invite everyone who is interested in gender and the academy to come along. The title of the roundtable is “The Gendered Experiences of Academics in Communication and Media Studies”, and it will take place on Wednesday, June 21, from 12:00-1:15, in the Dresden Conference Center, Conference 8. Speakers -- including Karen Ross, Cindy Carter, Claire Wardle, Martina Myers, Katharine Sarikakis, Yoo Jae Song, and Carolyn Byerly -- will be reporting on research in departments around the world. The roundtable aims not only to discuss gendered experiences in the discipline, but also to make suggestions about how to promote equity and create academic cultures that are welcoming and supportive of everyone.
This topic is of urgent importance to all of us. Statistics show that even though there are more women today with advanced degrees in academic departments everywhere, they remain concentrated in the lower ranks of all disciplines. Previous work in communication and media studies disciplines suggests that there are significant differences between the experiences of men and women. Female scholars have highlighted discriminatory practices, suggesting that their gender has “kept them from being heard, being positively evaluated by students, peers and administrators, and from being advanced within the ranks of their profession” (Edley et al., 2002, p. 21-22). As Rush and her colleagues (2005) point out in their study of journalism professionals and academics, the “workings of the academy and the communications industry reveal inequality and discrimination in the more general and deeper structures of patriarchy, regardless of local cultures and traditions” (p. 22). Nevertheless, researchers have also found that women in the discipline have more extensive social and professional support networks, which “serve as sources of emotional support and professional affirmation” (Edley et al., 2002, p. 22). To trace the specific nature of gendered experience, we need more research. And to conduct this research, we need your help.
Please join us!
References
Edley, P. P., Ross, K., Shirvani, S., Carter, C., Byerly, C. M., and Newsom, V. A. (2002). Gender and equity in the academy. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Seoul, Korea, July 2002.
Ross, K. (2000). Women at the top 2000. London: Hansard Society.
Rush, R.R., Oukrop, C. E., and Sarikakis, K. (2005). A global hypothesis for women in journalism and mass communications. Gazette, 67(3), 239-253.
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