In May, five female professors at the Florida State University law school in
Tallahassee, more than half the female faculty resigned en masse, citing a
"poisonous cloud" of gender and racial bias. Last April, five female
professors at the University of Washington filed a class-action lawsuit alleging pay
disparities between men and women. (San Jose Mercury News, 2/18/00)
Former Professor Wins Sex-discrimination Case
The Chronicle of Higher Education (8/2/99) reported that a jury awarded
$725,000 to Barbara Michael, a former assistant professor of anthropology at the
University of Alabama. Michael sued the university in 1997, claiming sex
discrimination after her contract was not renewed in 1995. Most of her allegations
concerned her former department chair, Roger Nance. According to Michael's
attorney, Nance did not renew Michael's contract because he considered her
publications inadequate. In her lawsuit, Michael countered that her accomplishments
were comparable to those of her male counterparts, citing a Fulbright scholarship
that she had received.
Welcome to Newsletter #13 By Mary Singleton
Co-Coordinator
Welcome to the first WAGE newsletter of the Year 2000. I wish I could report that the
new century has brought with it significant advances for academic women at our
universities and colleges. But the disturbing truth remains that there is as great a
need as ever for organizations like WAGE that support women in their struggle for
fair treatment in the promotion and hiring process throughout the University of Cali-
fornia system and beyond.
From its inception, women outside the UC system have called upon WAGE for
advice and support. Because of this, WAGE has rewritten its mission statement to
include women faculty, staff, and students at other colleges and universities, not just
those within the University of California system. You will see this change reflected in
the articles in this newsletter and in our program for the Spring Meeting in Berkeley
on April 29th.
You won't want to miss the Spring Meeting where our featured speakers are Dr.
Sally
Blower, who is leaving the Department of Medicine at UCSF for the Department of
Biomathematics at UCLA, and Dr.
Cynthia
Mahabir, Associate Professor of African-
American Studies at CSU San Jose. Although Dr. Blower has not taken legal action
against UCSF, her problems with sexism in its Department of Medicine have received
international coverage. Dr. Mahabir has won a major success in her legal battles
against CSU San Jose. Join us in the morning to hear updates on discrimination cases
that are ongoing against several institutions of higher learning.
The importance of supporting these women in their personal struggles is greater
than you might realize. Taking legal action against huge, highly respected institutions
like the University of California, the California State University System, or Stanford
University takes more courage and commitment than most of us can muster. The
support and validation of our colleagues and friends is what makes this possible for
the individual plaintiff. Hearing their stories is what energizes the rest of us to action.
Our need to be energized is a constant and critical part of the process to bring
about change. If you find your energy lagging I recommend two things that work for
me. First, get together with women who are going through their own personal
struggles and hear their stories first-hand; better yet, support them by attending their
trials and showing the court that others are concerned about the outcome. Second,
read some of the excellent books that are available on the subject of women in the
workplace, e.g., Why So Slow? by Virginia Valian, The World Split Open by Ruth Rosen
(a WAGE member), and either of Margaret Rossiter's books on Women Scientists
in
America. There are many more excellent books on the market about women's
problems in academe. It will amaze you all over again that the struggle continues
unabated
when you realize that women first fought for access to higher education in the nine-
teenth century and continue to fight into the twenty-first century! Who would have
predicted it would take so long and who knows how much longer it will take. Clearly
women must work together to bring about further change. See you on April 29th.
Southern California Fall Meeting Sat. Oct. 14, 2000
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