Panel explores gender role in career, social choices

Simply the presence of the female speakers yesterday in the Class of 1947 room of Houston Hall -- a building that at one time had not allowed women within its walls -- showed that advances have been made in the realm of gender equity. However, the four distinguished panelists -- sponsored by Penn's Women in Thought group -- shed light on the "invisible factors" that still work against women in both their professional and social lives. The panelists included Penn Women's Center Associate Director Gloria Gay, Political Science Professor Nancy Hirschmann, Biochemistry Professor Phoebe Leboy and Hunter College Professor and Chair Vita Rabinowitz. Rabinowitz, who has devoted her efforts toward improving gender equity at Hunter College, has found that "many women these days start out professionally equal to men, but over time women start lagging behind." She is currently trying to determine the factors that contribute to this tendency. Rabinowitz pointed out that people employ "cognitive shortcuts to understand the world around them," which leads them to unconsciously think about men and women in certain terms. Such a thought process, or "gender schema" as she called it, "leads men and women to overvalue men and undervalue women." Leboy commented that women tend not to apply for positions at Ivy League institutions. "This is made worse by the fact that we have a reputation for not hiring women," Leboy said. Leboy also noted that Penn has difficulty retaining women due to institutional policies that conflict with the demands of family life, such as a "short tenure clock" and a work ethic that "emphasizes quantity of scholarship." Gay discussed the additional burdens placed on black women, illustrating the lack of diversity she sees among Penn faculty by asking students to raise their hands if they had taken a course with a black professor -- out of the 20 students in attendance, no hands were raised. "In certain disciplines, you don't find any African Americans," Gay said, adding that the situation inhibits blacks from forming professional relationships. Hirschmann, who joined Penn's faculty in the fall, expressed that even as women such as National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice gain prominent positions, "bodies aren't enough." She urged women in such positions to remain committed to the issue of gender equity. As students began to question the speakers about ways to change the demographics of Penn's faculty, Leboy turned the question back on her audience. Leboy challenged students to do something that she hasn't seen in her past 30 years of fighting for gender equity -- protest the lack of women and minorities on Penn's faculty. College senior and Women in Thought Co-President Helen Kim was very happy with the discussion. "Hopefully, people will start talking to their friends and family about these issues. That is the first step," she said. College senior Rebecca Zisserson was surprised by some of the panelists' remarks. "I didn't realize how being a woman might affect my career choice," she said. Although there were a couple men at the event, women were in the majority. Instructor of Women's Studies Felicity Paxton told panelists that there was a similar male-to-female ratio in her classroom. "All the guys are being left behind," she said. College senior Arshad Hasan speculated that many males might be discouraged from taking Women's Studies courses because of a "stigma associated with feminism." However, according to Leboy, Women's Studies courses are ideal for those men who have "the intention of living with a woman some day." Women in Thought will be holding several more events in the upcoming weeks in recognition of Women's History Month.

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