#GAReads | Women Are Invited to Give Fewer Talks Than Men at Top U.S. Universities
Mae Jemison. photo credit: TED Conference [CC BY-NC 2.0], via Flickr
"Women Are Invited to Give Fewer Talks Than Men at Top U.S. Universities":
A few years ago, Michelle Hebl attended the latest in a series of talks hosted by her department at Rice Univeristy. The speaker was a man, and Hebl realized that she hadn’t heard any female speakers in that series for a while. “Maybe I’m just not thinking about them,” she thought. “Or maybe it’s something we should look at.”*
Colloquium talks, where academics are invited to discuss their research, give speakers a chance to publicize their work, build collaborations with new colleagues, and boost their reputations. The talks can lead to promotions or job offers. They are big opportunities. But as Hebl’s student Christine Nittrouer eventually found, they are opportunities that are predominantly extended to men.