{"id":33,"date":"2013-11-30T16:54:04","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T16:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/?p=33"},"modified":"2014-02-16T15:51:27","modified_gmt":"2014-02-16T15:51:27","slug":"an-alternate-view-on-the-top-5-mistakes-women-make-in-academic-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"An alternate view on “The Top 5 Mistakes Women Make in Academic Settings”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, RSA blogger syntaxfactory reposted a list<\/a> from academic advice blog The Professor Is In, entitled \u201dThe Top 5 Mistakes Women Make in Academic Settings.\u201d The five gaffes listed are typical communication \u201cproblems\u201d that are frequently trotted out in an effort to assist women in getting ahead in masculine workplace environments. \u00a0\u00a0For example, in 2011 CNN posted a list<\/a> on ways women can get ahead, and rounding out the list was \u201cnumber 8. The way you look and talk matters.\u201d While I appreciate the attention to talking about ways women can succeed I object to the idea that the only way that can happen is to \u201cmasculinize\u201d themselves, which only serves to support and preserve a system in which difference is punished, undermines new ways of thinking and communicating, and ignores how systems of power and dominance are perpetuated through \u201cadvice.\u201d In addition, in begins with the assumption that a \u201cfeminine\u201d style of speaking can only<\/i> undermine female academics. What Karen Kelsky, the professor behind The Professor Is In, ignores however, is the productive ways this communication style contributes to the production and dissemination of knowledge both in the academy and in our classrooms. So I would like to take this opportunity to present my own list:<\/p>\n

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The Top 5 Ways Women\u2019s Communication Patterns Are Better Than Men\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n

1) According to Kelsky women have the habit have of ending sentences on a \u201ca verbal upswing or \u2018lilt\u2019\u201d that \u201ccommunicates self-doubt and deference.\u201d To be sure, ending every sentence on a question mark can be annoying, but it also can have the effect of inviting responses and opening a space for further discussion. In an academic setting this is particularly useful as we use presentational moments as a time to elicit feedback from our fellow professors in hopes of improving our argument. Delivering your research in a declarative tone, as the article tells us to do, closes that space of exploration by presenting yourself as the final word on a topic, and can turn a conversation into a confrontation.<\/p>\n

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2) Kelsky writes that women tend to \u201cwait their turn to interject their contributions\u201d rather than \u201cdiving in assertively.\u201d In essence, we undermine our authority by raising our hands. Not only is this advice ridiculous for disciplining women for being polite and undermine the rules we\u2019ve been teaching our students since kindergarten, it cedes discussion to the loudest voice in the room and discourages respectful dialogue. We\u2019ve all had that encounter with a student or a colleague (or relatives and friends!) who think their opinion is so important they need to interrupt in order to \u201cinterject their contributions\u201d and I think I can say with some confidence this rarely leads to productive discussion, and in fact shuts it down. And all it takes is one know-it-all student \u201cdiving in assertively\u201d to silence a classroom.<\/p>\n

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3) When women do finally get called on, we apparently undermine our points by beginning with what we don\u2019t know, for example, \u201cI\u2019m not sure if this is always the case,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m not an expert, but I think\u2026\u201d etc. While Kelsky doesn\u2019t go into any detail on why this undermines our authority, I argue that it leaves open a space for others to participate and contribute their own expertise. Rather than using definitive statements that ignore the width and breadth of knowledge on any given subject, this communicative habit acknowledges the complicated nature of a topic and that they don\u2019t have all the answers, and instead calls for a dialogue among scholars that encourages multiple views and voices within a conversation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4) Perhaps the most baffling of the ways women undermine their authority is through their body language\u2014\u201csmiling too much, laughing too often\u201d and \u201ctaking up too little space.\u201d I\u2019m unclear how expressing your enjoyment in your work and your colleagues undermine authority, but more importantly, I find great irony in the charge that women take up too little space\u2014as though taking up more in a fat-shaming society will gain women more respect and authority. I\u2019m also curious as to how I might take up more room\u2014spread my legs when sitting? Square my shoulders? Swing my arms as I take long strides? I suggest checking out this<\/a> excellent tumblr for advice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5) I come now to the last item on my list in which Kelsky advises women to stop expressing themselves in \u201ca disorganized and emotional manner that muddies their main point and obscures their actual achievements.\u201d While there is merit it asking people to be clear and organized in a comment, I both object to the idea that emotion must be absent from our comments and from our work and the idea that crediting others work obscures our own achievements. Her example is as follows \u201cI think it\u2019s just really, really important to consider the impact of xxx, which, you know, a lot of folks haven\u2019t really done, even though of course Nelson has done some important work on xxx, but still in my own work I try and extend that\u2026\u201d But let\u2019s do an alternative reading, shall we? First the speaker introduces the topic, i.e. \u201cI think it\u2019s just really, really important to consider the impact of xxx.\u201d While Kelsky apparently thinks female academics are as eloquent as our 18-year-old students, this is a decent topic sentence for an off-the-cuff comment. Next, the example comment touches on the importance of the topic (not much work has been done on it) while still acknowledging her colleague who has presumably done some tangential work on the subject and could serve as another voice in the conversation (Nelson has done some important work on xxx). Lastly, the speaker moves on to her own research (still in my own work I try and extend that), giving a verbal nod to the fact that her work was not done in a vacuum but in fact is part of an on-going conversation. Think about your work\u2014if someone else was using your work as a jumping off point wouldn\u2019t you want some credit for all the blood, toil, tears, and sweat that have gone into your scholarship? In the end, this is an example of a fairly clear cut comment that situates itself in on-going conversations, and is not, I would like to point out, \u201cemotional,\u201d though Kelsky listed this as a particular problem women have in her topic sentence\u2014it seems merely being a women speaking is just too \u201cemotional\u201d for academics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kelsky ends her post arguing that the result of these patterns are that women students and faculty suffer both academically and professionally, accruing \u201cless status and fewer rewards at each stage in their career within the academic institution.\u201d Ignoring the specious cause-and-effect argument being made here, I would argue that the disciplining of women who communicate like this has led to an atmosphere of competitiveness, selfishness, and a lack of dialogue between colleagues and departments, which does nothing but stifle creativity and collaboration. Instead of scolding and punishing women who talk this way how about we turn the spotlight around and write articles telling men how their communication habits hurt the academy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, RSA blogger syntaxfactory reposted a list from academic advice blog The Professor Is In, entitled \u201dThe Top 5 Mistakes Women Make in Academic Settings.\u201d The five gaffes listed are typical communication \u201cproblems\u201d that are frequently trotted out in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[31,32,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhetoric.commarts.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}