Cecilia E. Ford & Karen Johnson Mathews Gender and Language in/as/on Academic Science:
Combining Research with a Commitment to Institutional Change Click here to download Cecilia Ford's paper in pdf format.

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of English
600 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53706
ceford@wisc.edu

Abstract

Our work is one initiative of the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI), an NSF-funded project at the University of Wisconsin, promoting the advancement of women in science and engineering. Our initial charge has been to investigate the experience women report of having their "ideas ignored." By sharing our on-going study of interactional contexts for women in academic science, we address challenges in embracing feminist goals while representing a form of "objective" science. As we combine a commitment to gender and language research with a commitment to institutional change, we find ourselves needing to embrace the complexities inherent in our enterprise - e.g., positing vs. discovering relevant identities, attending to intra- and intergroup differences. We work to address the representation of ourselves as researchers, of the participants in our research, and of the field of gender and language studies.

Given that, as part of WISELI's mission, our study must feed into workshops for women in science and engineering , we need to address such questions as - How do we accessibly represent this field while avoiding oversimplification and reinforcement stereotypes? How do we adequately represent nuances of categorization and representation while aiming to empower women as they choose ways of representing themselves in their professional lives.

At this conference, by sharing our methods, findings, and practical plans for application, we hope engender discussion of balancing intellectual, personal, and political commitments in doing feminist language and gender research. We look forward to receiving feedback from a diverse community of scholars and activists.

Poster Materials

Click here to download Cecilia Ford's paper in pdf format.



home invited speakers workshops posters contact