I've been going through university webpages this last week as I've been applying for post-docs and tenure track positions. Just in the US, I've looked at over 80 department websites, looking at professional webpages of faculty in 2 to 3 subgroups per department. Here are a few observations:
1) I have yet to see a single woman put up pictures of herself with her kids. On the other hand, when I do see a school with lots of men pictured playing with their small children, I subconsciously think "maybe I won't be so miserable here." I don't know if it is on purpose, but it's good marketing.
2) Of all the pictures on web pages I've seen, I have seen 5 faces that look like they were of African/African-American origin. Two male, two female, and one that I'm guessing. To be fair, I have not found any traditionally black colleges that with research strengths that match my interests.
3) One department home page had a line about my field separating the power of thought from authority. Who writes this crap? What does that even mean? Do the faculty not read the department web page?
1) I have yet to see a single woman put up pictures of herself with her kids. On the other hand, when I do see a school with lots of men pictured playing with their small children, I subconsciously think "maybe I won't be so miserable here." I don't know if it is on purpose, but it's good marketing.
2) Of all the pictures on web pages I've seen, I have seen 5 faces that look like they were of African/African-American origin. Two male, two female, and one that I'm guessing. To be fair, I have not found any traditionally black colleges that with research strengths that match my interests.
3) One department home page had a line about my field separating the power of thought from authority. Who writes this crap? What does that even mean? Do the faculty not read the department web page?
Your observation more or less sums up what I've seen when I look at all the dpartments in my field but not just in the US. I hardly ever see any women and if I do they're almost never wearing a skirt and there aren't any children in sight, only keen undergraduates looking earnest and youthful busy working on the guidance of the senior male academic (who usually has a fully grown beard). I just 'sigh'...
ReplyDeleteWow..about the departmental page that had the line your field "separating the power of thought from authority"...what does that mean? I'm just lost as to what it might mean.