APA Newsletters

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2

Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy

Report from the Chair

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Report from the Chair
of The APA Committee on the Status of Women, January 2001

Communication with the National Office

We would like to thank Richard Bett, Interim Executive Director, and Jerry Schneewind, Chair of the Board of Officers, for their ongoing efforts to support dialogue between the Diversity Committee Chairs and the National Office. Richard and Jerry hosted a meeting for all Diversity Committee Chairs at the Eastern APA. These meetings enable the Chairs to discuss any questions or concerns with the APA Board Chair and the Executive Director, and provide a forum for communication between the Diversity Committees.

We would like to welcome Elizabeth Radcliffe, incoming Executive Director of the APA, who also joined the meeting. We look forward to working with Elizabeth and congratulate her on her new position.

Successful Initiatives

1. Committee on Inclusiveness

Last year, the Diversity Committee Chairs forwarded a motion to the Board of Officers urging the creation of a Standing Committee charged with increasing the diversity of the profession. In response to our request, the Board voted unanimously to establish a new Committee on Inclusiveness in the Profession, and voted, again unanimously, to recommend that it become a Standing Committee, which means that the Chair of the Committee would be a member of the Board.

We are delighted that the proposal has received such overwhelming support from the Board. The Diversity Committee Chairs argued for the importance of such a Standing Committee on the ground that it would make the diversity of the profession a charge of the APA. It is our belief that addressing the problems of underrepresentation in the profession should be a responsibility of the APA as a whole and requires the insights of a Committee who can study the complexities of diversification across the various groups currently represented by the Diversity Committees. This would enable the Diversity Committees, who are already overworked, to focus attention on the specific needs of our constituencies, knowing that issues of intersectionality will be taken up by this Standing Committee. It is also our belief, that as a Standing Committee, this Committee would have more power to effect change and a better understanding of the most effective avenues for doing so. We are also pleased that the charge of the Committee on Inclusiveness includes working in conjunction with the Diversity Committees.

The Charge of the Committee on Inclusiveness is the following: The Committee is charged with increasing the inclusiveness of the profession. It is responsible for assessing and reporting on the status of underrepresented groups in the profession; advising the Board and members of the Association of ways in which inclusiveness can be increased; developing and carrying out its own projects to promote inclusiveness; and working in conjunction with the Diversity Committees.

Because creation of a new Standing Committee requires an amendment to the Constitution, the proposal must be approved by all three Divisions. The proposal will be discussed at each divisional business meeting, and then voted on via mail ballot.

2. APA JobSeeker Database

Another idea that emerged from the first meeting of Diversity Chairs, which the CSW initiated in December 1998, was a website for job searches. The APA responded to this idea by creating the JobSeeker Database. The APA provides the following description of the database:

The JobSeeker Database is designed to give individuals who are on the job market an additional method of promoting themselves to potential employers. It is also designed to give potential employers a means of identifying individuals who may be particularly well-suited for a position, and thereby allow them to inform those individuals about their opening and to invite them to apply if interested. It is not meant to replace the traditional avenues of posting or responding to job listings, but rather to enhance the traditional process.

For more information, take a look at the JobSeeker webpage at http://www.apa.udel.edu/JobS/

Ongoing Initiatives

1. Study of the Status of Women in the Profession

The APA has organized a Committee charged with developing a qualitative and quantitative study of the profession with attention to issues of diversity. This is another initiative supported by the Diversity Committees, who have asked that the study include attention to issues of diversity and an active attempt to gather information from members of the profession, faculty and graduate students alike, and in some cases even graduate students and faculty of underrepresented groups who have left the profession. The Committee includes: Myles Brand, Chair, Jackie Kegley, Bill Lawson, George Leaman, Marcelo Sabates, Naomi Scheman, Teddy Seidenfeld, and Alison Wylie.

The APA has considered making this study a pilot project of the American Academy study of the 63 learned societies in the humanities and is discussing this possibility with John D'Arms, President of the American Council of Learned Societies. Although this study will not be completed as quickly as we had initially hoped, becoming a part of this project would enhance the value and impact of the study.

2. Mentoring Project

Although the APA approved the possibility of developing a website similar to the JobSeekers database to assist in connecting assistant professors and graduate students to appropriate mentors, the Diversity Committees are still discussing the most efficacious method for supporting mentoring.

3. Ombudsperson

In response to concerns about harassment, the Board has appointed an ombudsperson, Leslie Francis. Leslie Francis and I are currently discussing responses to two charges that have been filed with us: one a charge of a sexual assault that occurred at the Eastern APA meetings and another a charge of gender discrimination in a tenure/promotion proceeding.

Unsuccessful Initiatives

1. Staff Person for Diversity Committees

The CSW, together with the other Diversity Committees, requested that a staff person be devoted to the Committees. At the Eastern APA meeting in 1999, and again in New Mexico at the Pacific Meeting in 2000, we were told that the National Office cannot hire such a person because of space and budget limitations, but there was discussion that the National Office might hire a staff person who will deal with data.

The CSW would like to see a yearly effort on the part of the National Office to track information relevant to assessing the standing of women in the profession, including the number of women who participate in the APA meeting programs; the number of women officers throughout the APA; women on program committees and on the boards of major philosophical publications; and so forth.

We were told at the Eastern APA meetings in 2000 that the plans to hire a staff person had been postponed indefinitely, although we were assured that the APA would be putting energy and resources into the study of the profession and would make sure that the study included resources for regularly updating data.

New Initiatives

1. Workshops on Mentoring

At the joint meeting of the Diversity Chairs at the Eastern APA, we discussed the fact that many well-meaning colleagues of minorities and other underrepresented groups are often uninformed about the problems facing their colleagues and graduate students. We proposed a series of workshops, to be held at the divisional meetings, providing advice concerning issues of diversity and mentoring.

2. Hiring and Retention of Minority Faculty and Graduate Students

Another topic raised at the joint meeting of the Diversity Chairs were problems facing departments wishing to hire, recruit, and retain minority faculty and graduate students. The Diversity Chairs are planning a series of recommendations, perhaps to be posted on the APA webpage, concerning these issues.

CSW-sponsored APA sessions for 2000 and sessions planned so far for 2001

Pacific Division 2000: "What's Sex Got to Do With It?" explored new approaches to sexual harassment and focused on the work of Vicki Schultz, a professor at Yale Law School. It was co-sponsored with the Committee on Law and Philosophy. The speakers were Vicki Schultz, Larry Altman, and Leslie Francis, with Eva Kittay as Chair. This was an excellent session, generating a very lively discussion.

Central Division 2000: "Feminist Ethics: A FEAST" introduced a new organization FEAST (Feminist Ethics and Social Theory). The speakers were Allison Jaggar, Claudia Card, Hilde Nelson, and Diana Meyers, with Eva Kittay as Chair. In spite of its unfortunate timing (on Easter morning), this session drew a very large audience and brought about excellent discussions. It was one of our most successful sessions.

Eastern Division 2000: This session, organized by Martha Nussbaum and co-sponsored with the Committee on International Cooperation was devoted to "Multiculturalism and Indian Women." Speakers included Zoya Hasan (Political Science, Jawarhalal Nehru University), Amrita Basu (Political Science and Women's Studies, Amherst College), Martha Nussbaum, and Uma Narayan, with Eva Kittay as Chair. This was an extremely popular session.
CSW NSF Session, Eastern Division 2000: This session was part of "Philosophical Explorations of Science, Technology and Diversity," an APA project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Speakers included Sandra Harding, Alison Wylie, and Naomi Zack, with Nancy Tuana as Chair. The session drew a large audience and resulted in a lively discussion of issues of science, race, and diversity.

Pacific Division 2001: "Diversity and Its Discontents," will include papers by Victoria Davion, Marilyn Friedman, Diana Tietjens Meyers, Naomi Zack, with Barbara Andrew as Chair.

CSW NSF Session, Pacific Division 2001: This session will be part of "Philosophical Explorations of Science, Technology and Diversity," an APA project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Speakers will include Lynn Hankinson Nelson and Nancy Tuana, with Linda Martín Alcoff as Chair.

Welcomes

I'd like to welcome Jane Kneller and Georgia Warnke who will officially join the Committee in July.

A Special Thanks and Farewell

Eva Feder Kittay, the outgoing Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women, deserves a special commendation for her vision and insight in directing the committee over the last three years. It was thanks to Eva that the Diversity Chairs began to meet together to discuss common concerns and ways to collaborate around our similarities and our differences. It was also her idea to have these meetings sponsored by the APA, an idea resulting in our regular meetings with the APA Executive Director and Chair of the Board of Officers. For all that she has done to support diversity in the profession, we thank her.
Very respectfully submitted,
Nancy Tuana

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APA Newsletters

Spring 2001 Volume 00, Number 2

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2