Women & Environmental
Careers/Gender Issues in Science
Spring 2006 (FOR 496-10 &
797-2)
Class meets Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30, 213 Marshall Hall
IF THERE IS A GUEST SPEAKER, class will meet from 4-5 pm, 140 Baker
Laboratory UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
|
Instructor |
Speaker coordinator |
|
Diane Kuehn |
Heather Engelman |
|
205 Marshall |
218 Marshall |
|
470-6561 |
315-470-4877 |
Course
Overview:
This
is a 1-credit, college-wide seminar geared towards a diversity of students from
various departments at ESF. The main goal of the course is to provide an open
forum for female and male faculty and students to interact and discuss gender
issues pertaining to academia and other professional arenas. The course
consists of one hour of lecture or discussion per week, with opportunities to
interact with female professionals outside of class. Updates to this syllabus
can be found at: http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/syl2006.htm
.
Course
Objectives:
After
completing this course, the student should be able to:
Course
Layout:
This
seminar is comprised of two types of class meetings: (1.) discussions of
general interest topics facilitated by class members and (2.) guest speaker
presentations that comprise the ESF "Women in Scientific and Environmental
Professions" public lecture series (http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/speakers.htm).
In addition, students are STRONGLY encouraged to attend the mentoring sessions
(usually dinner) that are organized with each guest speaker of the lecture
series.
Students’
responsibilities:
1.
Assist in the arrangements for speakers (25% of your grade). You or a pair of you will develop a
schedule for one speaker during her visit. "Instructions for Student
Hosts" offers tips and recommended timelines. Specifically, you are
responsible for:
Arranging
meetings with interested students and faculty (generally at ESF, but SU,
Upstate, and some local groups might also request an audience);
Arranging speaker pick-up and drop-off at the airport if needed;
Making arrangements for a post-lecture reception; and
Making arrangements for a mentoring dinner with the speaker and class
participants.
To assist you, the speaker coordinator
(Heather Engelman) will take primary responsibility for sending out e-mails to
ESF faculty and will arrange overnight accommodations, parking, publicity, and
reimbursements to the speaker for travel expenses. She will also arrange the
date and location of each mentoring dinner. She has made initial contact
with the speakers, their sponsors here at ESF, and faculty members offering
their homes for the mentoring dinners, and will provide you with this
correspondence.
2. Write a press release on the
speaker's presentation (15%).
Following the speaker's visit, the hosting student(s) will (jointly) write a
brief press release about the speaker’s presentation. Press releases are to be
submitted electronically to the instructors by the Tuesday following the
speaker's presentation; the instructors will then forward it to the Knothole and sponsors on your behalf.
The press release should include the speaker’s name and affiliation, the title
of the presentation, and a summary of the presentation, and conclude with
presentation sponsors and biographical information about the speaker.
3. Facilitate a discussion on one
general interest topic (20%).
Each student will lead or co-lead a discussion on one general interest topic
listed below in the class schedule. The articles that each student is required
to read in preparation for class discussions are listed below each topic. You may choose additional or
different articles for your class facilitation. If articles are not listed for
a topic, it is the student’s responsibility to invite guest speakers or to
choose and distribute articles for the discussion. The student facilitator(s)
should prepare questions based on the articles that will foster class
discussion. You may find Bloom's taxonomy (http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html)
useful in developing questions. Discussion questions should be typed for
distribution in class. The student should give the instructor the typed
questions by noon on the day of the class so that photocopies can be made. You
are encouraged to talk with the instructor about your facilitation prior to it.
4. Write two brief paragraphs
stating the two most important points of your facilitated session (10%). These paragraphs should be no more that two to
three sentences each, and should state the two most important discussion points
resulting from the class that you facilitate. These should be e-mailed to the
instructor by the Tuesday following your facilitated discussion.
5.
Weekly class participation (30%). Every
student is expected to participate in class discussions on a weekly basis by:
a.
Reading the assigned articles and participating in the class discussion
(15%).
Completing
a discussion assessment form at the end of each session (15%). Discussion
assessment forms are due to the instructor by the Tuesday following the
session. Anonymous copies will be given to the discussion facilitator to help
them improve their facilitation skills. The instructors will assess and
grade the original assessments and return them for the purpose of improving the
constructive commentary of students.
Attending
the "Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions" Lecture
Series that has been scheduled during the normal class meeting time. There will
be a 10% deduction in final class grades for each lecture missed. You are also
encouraged to join all of the speakers for the mentoring dinners.
Deductions for lateness:
Written
assignments and discussion evaluations are due to the instructor by the
following class. Deductions of 10 points per day for each day that assignments
are late will be made on written assignments that are received after the due
date.
Instructor
responsibilities:
The
instructors will answer any questions the student facilitator(s) have
concerning appropriate questions for class discussions and will facilitate
interactions between the speaker and sponsors. The instructor will grade
discussion assessment forms and written assignments and will provide
constructive commentary in a timely manner. The instructors view this syllabus
and its development as a work in progress, and we expect to modify it during
the semester to better meet the needs of the students and speakers.
Schedule
for Spring 2006
Readings
are listed in italics below. Students are expected to read the articles prior
to class.
January 17: Introductions, expectations, and speaker
preparations
January 24:
Discussion on career patterns of women with demonstration of facilitation
skills. Diane Kuehn to facilitate.
Sonnert, G., and G. Holten. 1996.
Career patterns of women and men in the sciences. Am. Scientist 84:63-71.
Benditt, J. 1992. Women in
science. Science 255:1365-1388.
Primack, R. B., and V. O’Leary.
1993. Cumulative disadvantages in the careers of women ecologists. BioSci.
43:158-165.
January
31: Discussion: Mentoring
National Academy of Sciences,
National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1997. What is a
Mentor. Ch. 1 in: Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: on being a mentor
to students in science and engineering. National Academy Press, Washington,
DC.
Sandler, B.R.
Mentoring: Myths and Realities, Dangers and Responsibilities.
pp: 271-279 in: A hand up: Women Mentoring Women in
Science.
Kohler, C.C., J.E. Wetzel.
1998 . A report card on mentorship in graduate fisheries education.
Fisheries 23(9): 10-13.
Murphy, B.R. 1998.
Graduate Mentoring: Advancing Students' professional development.
Fisheries 23(9): 7-9.
February 7: GUEST SPEAKER: Joanne Westphal
February 14:
GUEST SPEAKER: Lorna Gibson
February
21: Discussion: Women's
Voices and/or learning styles
American Association of
University Women. 1994. Shortchanging girls, shortchanging
America: Executive Summary. American Association of University
Women.
Miller-Bernal, L.
1993. Single-sex versus co-educational environments: A comparison of
women students' experiences at four colleges. American Journal of
Education. 23-53.
Rosser, S.V. 1990. Women's Ways of Knowing. Chapter 4 in Female Friendly Science. Pergamon
Press.
February
28: Discussion: Campus Climate
Fellows, M.O., J.J. Kimberlin,
and J.F. Palmer. 1995. Summary Findings from the 1995 ESF Working
Environment Survey. SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY. 7 pp.
Mason, J. 1991. The
invisible-obstacle race. Nature 353:205-206.
Phillips-Miller, D. L., K
Guilfoyle, D. Ehrenreich, F. Sammarruca, and B. Howard Meldrum. 1999. Exploring
campus climate for women. Women in Natural Resources
Phillips-Miller, D. L., K
Guilfoyle, D. Ehrenreich, F. Sammarruca, and B. Howard Meldrum. 1999. Exploring
campus climate for women: part II. Women in Natural Resources
March 7: Discussion: Balancing work and family
Excerpts from
Equality in the University of Wisconsin System: A Focus for Action in the Year
2000; Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in the University of
Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin System Initiative on the Status of
Women; October 25, 1999, (http://www.uwsa.edu/acadaff/status/equal.htm).
Heweltt, S.A. 2002.
Executive women and the myths of having it all. HBR OnPoint.
Product number 9616: 5-11.
Romano, C. 2001. Get
a life and a career. What a concept! The Chronicle of Higher
Education (chronicle.com) March, 23 issue, B12.
“How colleges can help faculty
members with children,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 5, 2003, vol.
50 (15): 7.
Stafford, S.G. 1996. Finding
leadership opportunities in an era of dual-career couples. BioScience 46: 52-4.
Wolf-Wendel, L.E.;
S.B. Twombly; and S. Rice. excerpts from Dual-career couples: keeping
them together. The Journal of Higher Ed 71(3): pp. 1-2 and 14-16.
March 14: Spring Break
March
21: Mid-course evaluation
Review of assessment form, syllabus, instructions
for student hosts.
March 28: GUEST SPEAKER: Nancy Grulke
April 4: Please attend
Farnsworth Lecture on Friday in lieu of class today.
April 7: GUEST SPEAKER/FARNSWORTH LECTURE: Sally
Fairfax (NOTE: SCHEDULED at 3:00 pm; 1st half hour will likely
be awards followed by speaker and questions.)
April
11: Discussion: Productivity
differences in women and men
Creamer, E.G. 1998.
Equity and equality in measuring faculty productivity. Women in Higher
Ed. Sept. issue: 7-8.
Holton, G. 1999. Different
perceptions of "good science" and their effects on careers. Annals NY Acad. Sci. 869: 78-86.
Loehle, C. 1987. Why women
scientists publish less than men. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of
America. 68: 495-496.
Sonnert, G. 1995. What makes a good scientist?
Determinants of peer evaluation among biologists. Soc. Studies of Science
25:35-55.
April
18: Discussion:
Whistle-blowing and harassment issues
Sexual harassment in the federal workplace: Trends,
progress, continuing challenges; US Merit Systems Protection Board
Sexual harassment: Suggested policy and procedures
for handling complaints; Am. Assoc. of University Professors.
Gunsalus, C. K., 1998, How to blow the whistle and
still have a career afterwards, Sci. and Eng. Ethics, vol. 4: 51-64.
April
25: International and
cultural perspectives on women in science: An invited panel
No new readings. Panel to be
selected by student facilitator.
May
2: Discussion: Personal and
Professional Strategies (Course Wrap-Up)
Please be prepared to discuss:
what about this class should remain the same (and why), and what should still
be altered (and how). What topics that should be added to the 2006 syllabus?