Category: Sister Sirens

[Not] Looking Like a Professor

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The #ILookLikeAProfessor hashtag has been floating around the interwebs just in time for back-to-school season, and serves as a fresh breath for those of us in academia who might not look like we “belong.”

As Kelly J. Baker states in her article of the same title as the hashtag, “In popular culture and Google searches, professors are most often middle-aged, bespectacled, and bearded white men with a penchant for tweed.” But so many of us don’t fit that description.

This Girl Can: A Celebration of Women In Motion

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Back-to-school often means back-to-sports. It’s a time to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones while engaging and challenging the body and mind. We play sports for the challenge, for fun, to stay fit, and/or because we couldn’t imagine doing anything else. However, not all women feel comfortable enough with their own bodies to get moving.

On Gender Bias in Student Evaluations

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To continue our conversation about anonymous online professor rating systems, here’s a study on the massive sexist bias female academics must contend with. From the article “Female Academics Face Huge Sexist Bias – No Wonder There are So Few of Them” by Laura Bates: “Reviews of male professors are more likely to include the words ‘brilliant,’ ‘intelligent’ or ‘smart,’ and far more likely to contain the word ‘genius.’ Meanwhile, women are more likely to be described as ‘mean,’ ‘harsh,’ ‘unfair’ or ‘strict,’ and a lot more likely to be called ‘annoying’.”

Watch Out for Women Drivers

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The day starts with the alarm going off at the ridiculously unreasonable hour of 7 a.m. I drive my 2013 silver Boxster S to the Sebring International Speedway. It’s just over the bridge from the hotel so you have time for a quick breakfast sandwich. It’s always better to have something in your stomach if you have to throw up later.