Thanks to the Philosophy Job Market Blog for the link to Marc Bousquet’s series on faculty and grad students in higher ed. Here’s a sample:
Social Dominance Theory & Biased Practices September 30, 2008
It’s such fun to discover a theory! Here’s today’s find:
Social Dominance Theory is about hierarchical status within social groups. It describes a characteristic that many individuals within a structured social environment have. If recent research is correct, it may provide a clue about how to mitigate bias in hiring. Equally, it offers an explanation of an array of behaviors that can seem puzzling.
Social Dominance Theory describes social dominance orientation, a widely spread trait in structured social groups, which characterizes those
who will support the mechanisms that produce and maintain {the] group-based social hierarchies [which they are in].
SDO is defined as “…the degree to which individuals desire and support group-based hierarchy and the domination of `inferior’ groups by `superior’ groups” …. Individuals who are high in SDO are motivated to support and adhere to the traditional societal hierarchy such that they express more negative responses toward members of low-status groups than high-status groups. Thus, no matter the basis of group formation (e.g., race, gender) those higher in SDO will tend to support the hierarchy evident among these groups. Consistent with this notion, measures of SDO have been shown to correlate highly with prejudice and negative reactions toward a variety of low-status groups…
The authors present data that supports the effectiveness of a particular mitigating measure: If someone in authority tells a person high in SDO to hire a (very qualified) low status person, then they are more likely to do so.
If this research is on the right track, you can increase the chances of hiring women and other minorities into your department by getting your dean to advocate such hiring, given your dean has authority with your department.
Does this just say that people higher up in a social hierarchy tend to work to support the hierarchy? I think it goes beyond that. It might offer an explanation of a lot of attitudes and tendencies to behavior that self-interest alone does not. Of course, one might try to amplify an explanation in terms of self-interest with appeals to other things, so I can’t claim that SDT wins out.
But here’s one thing it might explain: The demeaning language that Leiter uses to describe specialities that he thinks are not main stream. What’s going on with “pander,” “pet” and “mafia,” for example? (See here and comment 8 on it.) SDT would say: He’s really keen on the philosophical hierarchy and is promoting it, not just describing it.
If this diagnosis is correct, then you’d expect to find other behaviors that can seem very puzzling in philosophers: The persons high in SDO are awfully good at obeying those above them. And one can expect them to adopt without much judgment the deliverances in assessments the hierarchy issues or embodies.
Since the hierarchy is so often white male, the women who are high in SDO can seem to be even worse sell-outs, but that might not be quite what is going on. Rather, they might well support women in a hierarchy, if there were such.
So if you have a hire coming up, see if you can get your dean to support diversity. If not, try getting the provost to work on the dean. Etc.
Science and the US Election September 30, 2008
The distinguished science journal, Nature, asked Obama and McCain to answer 18 questions about science and science policy. Obama responded, McCain did not. You can see the answers here, along with what Nature could unearth of McCain’s views.
Just remember, if Palin ends up as president, things get pretty scary on this front too. Stem cell research out, creationism in, and so on.
-Brian Leiter reveals vast knowledge of feminist philosophy September 29, 2008
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This review has now been completed, and because we’re sick to death of debates over the acceptability of comments on this particular post, we’ve unapproved all previous ones, even the mildest. Comments are now open again, but do observe our new policies.
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Thom Brooks (Newcastle) compiles a list of the A*, A, and B journals from the [Australian Philosophical Association] exercise. The A* list isn’t bad, apart from some dubious inclusions (probably meant to pander to this-or-that interest group) like Hypatia, Political Theory, and Philosophy East and West. (The best work in feminist philosophy, for example, has surely appeared in many of the other A* journals, not in Hypatia, and important work in political philosophy–the kind that engages philosophers–rarely appears in Political Theory.)
Surely the best work in feminist philosophy is published in top mainstream journals all the time! Surely! Mere introspection reveals this. Sadly, however, very little feminist philosophy makes it into mainstream journals, as we’ve often discussed here. (Seeking confirmation? Check out Sally Haslanger’s paper.) Many feminist philosophers who work in multiple areas of the subject have reported that their feminist work (unlike their other work) is regularly refused without even going to a referee. And when it does go to a referee, the reports often fail to engage it at all, sometimes simply insisting that nobody could possibly care about such issues.
It’s fantastic that the Australian list is giving Hypatia the recognition it deserves. Now if we can just get others to stop dismissing it. (Thanks to Cynthia for the heads-up!)
Comments on this post have led to a re-evaluation of our commenting policy. Until that is completed, comments for this post are closed.
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Ask for equal pay! September 29, 2008
In the run up to Equal Pay Day on the 30th Oct, Fawcett Society have an open letter to John Hutton MP (in the UK), Sec state for business enterprise and regulatory reform. In it, there are recommendations for closing the 17% gender pay gap, such as regular checks to monitor for inequalities (which would presumably help address other inequalities too, such as those Jender writes of here).
You can sign the letter here!
More info on Fawcett’s campaign here.
McCain: Campaign over Country? Never!! September 28, 2008
Well, hardly ever.
Let’s just hope the London Times has this wrong:
Inside John McCain’s campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. “It would be fantastic,” said a McCain insider. “You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week.”
It's just all gotten to be too much!
Thanks to KW for the pic!
Palin-Couric: Part Four from Saturday Night Live September 28, 2008
Some nice moments. Enjoy it here:
Palin and Planned Parenthood: Big Success! September 28, 2008
H/T to Rogue Rebel Ridiculous for letting me know what a big success the Palin/Planned Parenthood Donation Campaign has been. According to the New York Times,
So far, the scheme seems to be getting a strong response. As of Friday, Planned Parenthood had taken in $802,678 in donations from 31,313 people, said a spokesman for the organization, Tait Sye. More than two-thirds of the individuals are first-time donors to Planned Parenthood, Mr. Sye said, and money came in from all 50 states.
So, congratulations to all of you who have helped make this such a success!
SGRP Pornography Symposium September 28, 2008
Symposia in Gender, Race and Philosophy has a new symposium up, on Anne Eaton’s “A Sensible Anti-Porn Feminism”, and I urge you to check it out. (You have to register, but that’s easy.) Eaton’s paper is an exceptionally careful exploration of what a sensible anti-porn feminism should look like: how such a view should define ‘pornography’, what conception of causation it should use, what sorts of causal claims it should make/explore, what sorts of rigorous testing would be needed to actually establish these claims, and what sorts of remedies it should advocate (not necessarily legal ones). It’s well worth reading even for feminists who are not anti-pornography, partly because it provides a new and interesting foil, but mostly because it raises so many fascinating and important methodological points. (And, in fact, Eaton’s anti-pornography feminism might not be characterised as anti-pornography by everyone.) It’s followed by an excellent series of commentaries by Patrick Hopkins, Rae Langton, Ishani Maitra and Laurie Shrage; and a reply by Eaton with lots of great original material in it. Go check it out! (It’s the Spring (No.2) Symposium.
Sunday cat rescue II September 27, 2008
by Herbert Hofer
From CNN, 9/25/08 (or 25/9/08): The cats finally prevail at the Hemingway museum on Key West.
They are all descendants of Snowball, a cat with six toes Hemingway was given in 1935. The US Department of Agriculture has been challenging the cats’ residency for years, and threatening fines of $200 a day per each of the 50 cats.
Finally, about a year ago, Morawski [President and CEO of the museum] and a USDA deputy administrator agreed to hire an independent animal behaviorist to make recommendations. Dr. Terry Curtis, from the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said in a report that the cats appeared “well-cared for, healthy and content” and suggested the special fence that was installed.
“We’re excited we found a solution that protects the health and welfare of the cats while preserving the historical integrity of the Hemingway Home and Museum,” Morawski said. “That’s been our whole goal since we were notified by the USDA in 2003.”
What's not to love?
For the earlier cat rescue, see here.
The Doc Marten Vote (masculinity & feminism) September 26, 2008
“I know that I don’t look like everybody else on television,” she recently told The Washington Post. “Women on television are over-the-top beauty-pageant gorgeous. That’s not the grounds on which I am competing.” – Rachel Maddow (pictured below)
Originally I was going to write about this older article in which MSNBC and Air America pundit Rachel Maddow talks about surrendering to wearing “lady clothes.” But in doing a Google search today on her, I came across another article, “The High Heel Vote,” in The Independent on how the US election is is “really all about women.” (The connection is the quote at the top, to which I’ll get in a moment.) (more…)
Wage Gap Re-think? September 26, 2008
The Kitchen Chick sent me this fascinating article, on a new study which claims to show that the most significant pay gap is between men with traditional views on gender roles and *everybody else*, including men with non-traditional views. My first thought about how to explain this was that men with non-traditional views are more likely to be putting in substantial amounts of time on childcare– so they might work in lower-paid, more family-friendly work, or work fewer hours. But these possibilities have been ruled out: The authors have carefully compared people working in the same jobs, for the same hours and the same length of time. The explanations they suggest are that traditional men might be tougher salary negotiators, or that employers discriminate against those without traditional views. If the latter, then maybe there needs to be a new protected category for discrimination law? Other thoughts?
Couric-Palin Interview: Surprise quiz question September 25, 2008
Question: In what ways does this interview reflect white privilege? (For help with the concept, see the immediately preceding post.)
Also, I’d love to hear how this interview strikes others, maybe especially those who teach. From my professorial perspective, I’m tempted to say that she looks as though she’s gobbled down a lot of material, but hasn’t yet thought about it.
For the second part, see:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/eveningnews/main4479062.shtml
White Privilege and the Election September 25, 2008
From Tim Wise at Buzzflash (Thanks Rebecca):
For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you’ll “kick their fuckin’ ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
For more, go here.
And I might also add, white privilege means your pastor can say nutty things (like affirming a belief in witchcraft, in your presence, on camera, while blessing you) without it running round the clock on the news.
Bees do it September 24, 2008
Another blow to a traditional conception of “the man of reason.”
Honey bees can count up to four. Truly. See below. So much for Descartes’ idea that using numbers requires an immaterial substance…or, alternatively, bees may have souls??
Evidence for counting in insects, Animal Cognition, May, 2008, by Marie Dacke and Mandyam V. Srinivasan.
Abstract Here we investigate the counting ability in honeybees by training them to receive a food reward after they have passed a specific number of landmarks. The distance to the food reward is varied frequently and randomly, whilst keeping the number of intervening landmarks constant. Thus, the bees cannot identify the food reward in terms of its distance from the hive. We find that bees can count up to four objects, when they are encountered sequentially during flight. Furthermore, bees trained in this way are able count novel objects, which they have never previously encountered, thus demonstrating that they are capable of object-independent counting. A further experiment reveals that the counting ability that the bees display in our experiments is primarily sequential in nature. It appears that bees can navigate to food sources by maintaining a running count of prominent landmarks that are passed en route, provided this number does not exceed four.
Bitch Video Appeal September 24, 2008
This is the featured video on youtube just now. See Jender’s earlier post or go here for the donation site. As you will see, the next issue is safe, but more donations will mean the magazine can devise better strategies.
Men Advance, women retreat September 24, 2008
As Scientific American remarks, this is a case where we have experimental results waiting for an explanation. It’s very tempting to make some up, but I’ll have to have more coffee before I can do that.
A group from the Southern Cross University in Australia published a fascinating result in the journal Current Biology, after they manipulated the light points of walkers, making figures appear more feminine or masculine.
If they made the point-form body appear male, subjects perceived that figure as walking toward them—regardless of its actual direction. If the walker seemed female, the subjects reported it was walking away from them.
Curiously, gender-neutral figures tended to appear to be moving toward the viewer. “It was only when walkers had characteristics consistent with being female did the observers begin to perceive them more often as facing away,” the researchers reported.
And the article’s abstract:
[Correlated changes in perceptions of the gender and orientation of ambiguous biological motion figures
Pages R728-R729
Anna Brooks, Ben Schouten, Nikolaus F. Troje, Karl Verfaillie, Olaf Blanke, Rick van der Zwan. Current Biology, Volume 18, Issue 17, Pages 1269-1354 (9 September 2008)]
The sensitivity of the mammalian visual system to biological motion cues has been shown to be general and acute. Human observers, in particular, can deduce higher-order information, such as the orientation of a figure (which way it is facing), its gender, emotional state, and even personality traits, on the basis only of sparse motion cues. Even when the stimulus information is confined to point lights attached to the major joints of an actor (so-called point-light figures), observers can use information about the way the actor is moving to tell what they are doing, whether they are a male or female, and how they are feeling. Here we report the novel finding that stimulus manipulations that made such walkers appear more female also had the effect of making the walkers appear more often as if they were walking away from rather than towards observers. Using frontal-view (or rear-view) point-light displays of human walkers, we asked observers to judge whether they seemed to be walking towards or away from the viewing position. Independent of their own gender, observers reliably reported those figures they perceived to be male as looking like they were approaching, but those they perceived to be female as walking away. Furthermore, figures perceived to be gender-neutral also appeared more often, although not exclusively, to be walking towards observers.
Free Sarah Palin September 24, 2008
A plea to the McCain campaign to stop their sexist treatment of Sarah Palin: to let her do the same things that the male candidates are doing: having press conference, talking to reporters, etc. From CNN’s Campbell Brown.
