“Lost in a Sea of White Male Faces”: a Round Table on the Glass Ceiling in Academia

A joint event organized by MWP, HEC, RSCAS, GRaSe Working Group
12 March 2014
14.00-18.00
MWP Common Room, Badia Fiesolana

 

The concept of the glass ceiling in academia is not a new one; the experience of such ceilings even less so. Evidence for the persistence of such ceilings abounds, and makes for depressing reading, particularly in light of concerted efforts on the part of determined individuals, second-wave feminist movements and (eventually) of the institutions themselves. It would seem that years of activism on this front have served merely to displace the frontiers rather than abolish them altogether. Our round table on March 12th will honour International Women’s Day by bringing together scholars and activists from across the disciplines in an effort to better understand the deep structures upholding such ceilings. From there we can begin to reflect on ways in which those structures might be changed in order for the academy to open out its embrace beyond the white males who continue to dominate its upper echelons. In so doing, we hope not only to raise awareness of the resistance of glass ceilings in academia; we seek also to provide a forum where younger scholars can discuss some of the challenges awaiting them as they progress in their academic careers.