Clayman Institute for Gender Research

Contact

589 Capistrano Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8640
Ph. (650) 723-1994
Fx. (650) 725-0374
http://gender.stanford.edu/
gender-email@stanford.edu


The Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University was founded in 1974. It supports interdisciplinary research on women's changing economic and social roles, and wider issues of gender. The Institute sponsors annual lectures and seminars. In 2000, the Institute embarked on a new academic initiative entitled, "The Difficult Dialogues Program," which brings together distinguished Stanford faculty, eminent visiting scholars, and policy makers to consider critical social issues facing our nation that influence and are influenced by issues of gender and ethnicity. The findings of the first Dialogue, "Aging in the 21st century," were summarized in a white paper in 2002. The second Dialogue, "The Changing Structure of the Modern American Family" ran from 2002 to 2004, and its findings will be published shortly. The Institute has recently embarked on its third Dialogue, on the "Dual Career Couples in the Academy". This reflects the Institute's new focus on women in the workplace. The Institute is also concerned with women's progress and experiences in science, technology, math and engineering, which is reflected in its other new in-house research project, on the position of technical women in Silicon Valley companies.

Recently Posted

Principal Staff

Shelley J. Correll, Director
Ph. (650) 723-1994
E-mail: scorrell@stanford.edu

Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, Associate Director
E-mail: Lorim@stanford.edu

Jane Gruba-Chevalier, Program Manager
E-mail: jmgruba@stanford.edu

Ann Enthoven, Events Manager
E-mail: ann.enthoven@stanford.edu

Cindi Trost, Director of Development
E-mail: cjtrost@stanford.edu

Areas of Expertise:

Awareness & Education, Barriers & Opportunities, Disparities, Higher Education, Women in STEM, Title IX, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Education & Education Reform, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)

Member Experts:


Projects & Campaigns

"The Changing Structure of the Modern American Family". The focus of this forum was to consider myths surrounding the modern family, to consider the different structures which modern families take and the pressures under which they exist, and to provide practical suggestions to policy makers on ways to support the family, in all its diverse forms. Conclusions will be published in 2006.

"Dual Career Couples in the Academy". The focus of this research, which began in fall 2005, is to tease out the problems facing dual career couples, and to offer practical suggestions to universities which face difficulties in recruiting and retaining high quality faculty. The study is planned to continue till 2008.

Science, math, engineering and technology

Technical Women in Silicon Valley. This study aims to discover why relatively few technical women make it to the highest ranks of Silicon Valley's technology industries. The object is to develop proposals for the industry as a whole to help recruit and retain women in technical roles. This research began in fall 2005, and is planned to continue till 2008.

Science and Engineering Graduate Women's Association. The Institute sponsors this umbrella group which provides social and profession support to female graduate students in science and engineering disciplines at Stanford University.

Gendered Innovations in Science and Engineering. In April 2005, the Institute hosted an international conference on how the tools of gender analysis, when turned to science, medicine, and engineering, can profoundly alter human knowledge. This two-day conference focused on specific ways in which gender analysis has brought spark and creativity to particular fields of science. Examples of the success of gender analysis come from fields such as medicine, biology, and archaeology. It was the goal of this conference to highlight and analyze these successes. Questions remain concerning whether gender analysis has anything to offer physics, mathematics, computer science, or chemistry - issues we also addressed. The question is how can an understanding of how gender operates in science and engineering open new vistas for future research. Co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Provost Office Gabilan Fund . Video: The DVDs of conference sessions are available through Stanford's libraries for educational use. They are also available through Interlibrary Loan. The call numbers are: ZDVD 10246 c.1, 2: Gendered innovations in science & engineering [7 discs set]: April 15-16, 2005 / Institute for Research on Women & Gender.

 

 

Wed 3/17/2010 9:00 AM ~ Thu 3/18/2010 1:00 PM

Serra House Conference Room

589 Capistrano Way

Stanford, CA

Projects:  

Difficult Dialogues "Aging in the 21 st Century".. The focus of this forum concerned cultural and social policy changes that would enable older adults to maximize their contributions to society. The consensus report was published in 2002: copies are available from the Institute.

 

Reports & Resources

Forthcoming Publication:

Henderson, Andrea,  Justine Tinkler, Manwai Ku, and Londa Schiebinger, "Venture Capitalist Decision-Making: Gendered Assumptions about Technical Knowledge and Social Networks." (forthcoming)

 

Aging

Yalom, Marilyn & Carstensen, Laura (eds). Inside the American Couple. ( Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002>

Difficult Dialogues Program - Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Aging in the 21st Century consensus report. ( Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2002)

 

Economic and social status of women

Clayman Institute. 2008. Climbing The Tech Ladder; Obstacles and Solutions for Mid-Level Women in Information Technology. Written by A. Henderson, C. Simard, S. Gilmartin, L. Schiebinger, and T. Whitney.

Strober, Myra and Agnes Miling Keneko Chan. The Road Winds Uphill All the Way: Gender, Work, and Family in the United States and Japan. (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999)


Family

Clayman Institute. 2008. Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need To Know. Written by L. Schiebinger, A. Henderson, and S. Gilmartin.

Yalom, Marilyn. A History of the Wife. ( New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2001)

Yalom, Marilyn and Thorne, Barrie (eds). Rethinking the Family. (Albany, NY: State University New York Press, 1990)

 

Feminist Thought and Scholarship

Rhode, Deborah L. Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997)

Rhode, Deborah L. Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990)

Boxer, Marilyn Jacoby. When Women Ask the Questions: Creating Women's Studies in America. (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998)

Freedman, Estelle. No Turning Back. ( Westminster, MD: Ballantine Books, 2002)

 

Global Issues

Walker-Moffat, Wendy. The Other Side of the Asian American Success Story. (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995)

Mahadevi Varma. Translated by Neera Kuckerja Sohoni. Sketches from My Past: Encounters with India's Oppressed. (Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1997)

Mankekar, Purnima. Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: Television, Womanhood and Nation in Modern India. ( Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000)

Zheng, Wang. Women in the Chinese Enlightenment: Oral and Textual Histories. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, Berkeley, 1999)

 

Health and Health Care

Litt, Iris. Taking Our Pulse: The Health of America's Women. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997)


History

Freedman, Estelle. Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996)

Gelles, Edith. First Thoughts: Life and Letters of Abigail Adams. (New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, 1998)

Gelles, Edith. Portia: The World of Abigail Adams. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992)

McCurry, Stephanie. Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations and the Political Culture of Antebellum South Carolina Low Country. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995)

Offen, Karen. European Feminisms, 1700-1950: A Political History. ( Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000)

Schiebinger, Londa. Plants and Empire: Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World ( Harvard University Press, 2004)
Yalom, Marilyn. A History of the Breast. (New York, NY: Knopf, 1997)

 

Science

Schiebinger, L., (ed.). 2008. Gendered Innovations in Science and Engineering. Stanford University Press, 2008 was published on March 12, 2008.  

Schiebinger, Londa. Nature's Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science (Beacon Press, 1993; Rutgers University Press, 2004)

Schiebinger, Londa. Has Feminism Changed Science? (Harvard University Press, 1999)

Schiebinger, Londa. The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science (Harvard University Press, 1989)


Sexuality

Lewin, Ellen. Inventing Lesbian Cultures in America. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1996)

Mintz, Beth & Rothblum, Esther (eds). Lesbians in Academia: Degrees of Freedom. (New York, NY: Routledge, 1997)

 

 

Center News

Shelley J. Correll to lead Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - 11:46am

Shelley J. Correll, Associate Professor of Sociology, has been appointed as the Barbara D. Finberg Director of the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Stanford University. Correll brings research expertise, leadership experience, and passion for change to the Institute. Click here to read the full announcement.


Art Exhibition Featuring Heike Liss: "Home is When I Belong"
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:45am

"Home is When I Belong" is an exhibition that brings together photographs from two series of works by Heike Liss, a German born artist who spends her time living, working, and traveling in California and Europe with her husband and children.

 
Date and Time: Tue 6/22/2010 10:00 AM ~ Fri 10/15/2010 4:00 PM
 
Location: The Clayman Institute - Serra House - 589 Capistrano Way (near Mayfield Avenue and Lomita Drive)Stanford, CA
 
For more information, click here 

Art Exhibition Featuring Heike Liss: "Home is When I Belong"
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:30am

"Home is When I Belong" is an exhibition that brings together photographs from two series of works by Heike Liss, a German born artist who spends her time living, working, and traveling in California and Europe with her husband and children.

 Date and Time: Tue 6/22/2010 10:00 AM ~ Fri 10/15/2010 4:00 PM
 
Location: The Clayman Institute - Serra House - 589 Capistrano Way (near Mayfield Avenue and Lomita Drive)Stanford, CA
 
For more information, click here 

Why Are There So Few Women in Science and Engineering? How Gender Stereotypes Influence Emerging Career Aspirations
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 3:01pm

Classes Without Quizzes (CWOQs) is a unique academic highlight of Reunion Homecoming Weekend. Get back into the classroom with thought-provoking seminars and exploratory walking tours; bring your kids along to share the Stanford experience.
Join Professor Shelley Correll for this amazing class.

Date and Time: Thu 10/21/2010 3:30 -- 4:30 PM
Read more here.

Stanford Researcher Urges Universities, Businesses to Offer Benefit To Pay For Housework
Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 3:30pm

by Adam Gorlick on 01/19/10

Originally posted in the Stanford Report January 19, 2010

Professor Londa SchiebingerLonda Schiebinger’s study shows academic scientists spend about 19 hours a week on basic household chores. If universities offered a benefit to pay someone else to do that work, scientists would have more time to spend on the jobs they’re trained for, she says.

Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Not only are they chores most people would rather avoid, they’re also enormous time drains.

Whether you realize it or not, all that nagging housework can be eating into your job productivity and getting in the way of you getting ahead in your career – especially if you’re a woman, says Londa Schiebinger, director of Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research.

So here’s her answer to that problem: Employers should offer benefits to help pay for someone to do your housework. Less time dusting and ironing means more time devoted to the job you’re actually paid for.

“We’re trying to get people more support in the household to lead to a better work-life balance,” Schiebinger said.

In a paper published in the Jan. 19 issue of Academe, Schiebinger and co-author Shannon Gilmartin, a Clayman Institute research consultant, say scientists at 13 leading U.S. research universities spend an average of 19 hours a week doing basic housework like cooking, cleaning and laundry. And women do much more of the work than men, 54 percent to 28 percent.

The findings, culled from a survey of 1,200 tenured and tenure-track faculty in the natural sciences, are a spinoff from a study released in 2008 addressing the issues universities face in hiring dual-career academic couples.

Housework as academic issue

“We argue that work done in the home is very much an academic issue – not peripheral in any way to scientists’ professional lives,” Schiebinger and Gilmartin write in their paper. “Understanding how housework relates to women’s careers is one new piece in the puzzle of how to attract more women to science.”

Schiebinger says the amount of time female scientists devote to their jobs – about 60 hours a week – combined with their disproportionate share of housework and childcare – make young women think twice before going into the field.

And those who are successful usually pay someone else to do at least some of their housework. Schiebinger’s study shows that despite their lower salaries, female assistant professors outsource as much housework as male full professors.

Creating a benefit to help offset cleaning costs would also help professionalize housework, a job that Schiebinger calls “invisible labor that isn’t counted in the gross domestic product.”

Outsourcing more of that work will create stronger, better paid jobs for professional housecleaners, much in the same way that childcare has been professionalized, she said.

While the study is focused on improving the work-life balance of female scientists working at universities, Schiebinger says housework benefits should become a standard perk for men and women in all professions.

She says employers need to think of housework benefits as “part of the structural cost of doing business,” with the payoff being more productive employees able to spend more time in the lab, for instance, than doing household chores.

Poor use of resources

Professor Londa Schiebinger presenting Gendered Innovations in Berlin

Professor Londa Schiebinger presenting Gendered Innovations in Berlin

“It doesn’t seem like a good use of resources to be training people in science and then having them do laundry,” Schiebinger said in reference to Carol Greider of Johns Hopkins University, who was doing laundry when she got the call in October that she won the Nobel Prize in medicine.

Stanford offers faculty and staff a variety of benefits to help pay for health insurance, retirement plans, childcare, housing and college tuition. And workshops are held for junior faculty on how to balance their careers and their lives outside of work.

While Schiebinger’s paper sheds more light on the demands faced by faculty, the university is not likely to implement her recommendations anytime soon, said Patricia Jones, vice provost for faculty development and diversity.

“The current challenge is that with universities under the financial pressures that they now have, this is a difficult time to add new benefits to what Stanford already provides,” said Jones, who is also a biology professor and has relied on hired help to do housework throughout her career.

And when more money is available, university officials will have to discuss whether they should increase salaries or benefits, she said.

Schiebinger recognizes the difficulty universities and businesses would have in offering housework benefits right now. But just as healthcare, childcare and retirement benefits have worked their way into employee compensation packages, the idea of helping pay for household labor needs to be seriously considered to attract the best employees, she said.

“I wouldn’t imagine that in a downturn you would start offering something like this,” she said. “But this is thinking for the long term. If you ask what the United States workplace will look like in the next 20 years, benefits for housework should be part of the picture.”


Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships

Grants and Prizes

The Clayman Institute offers the following awards and prizes for individual members of the Stanford community:

 

For more information, visit: http://www.stanford.edu/group/gender/FundingOpportunities/index.html.

 

Faculty Research Fellowship Program

 

Call for Applications: 2010-2011

Deadline: December 15, 2009

The Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University invites applications for residential fellowships for the academic year 2010-2011 from tenured and tenure-track faculty (or the equivalent), and postdoctoral scholars, from the U.S. and international universities.>

Applications for one, two or three quarters will be considered. Fellows must remain on faculty and be in residence at the Clayman Institute for the duration of their fellowship. Fellowships will be non-stipendiary in 2010-2011, except for the postdoctoral appointment where stipend and benefits will be set and adjusted in accordance with Stanford University rules.

 

Fellows are provided with faculty-equivalent privileges for using Stanford's library and other facilities, an office at the Institute, and the collegiality of a diverse community of gender scholars from across the spectrum of academic disciplines and ranks.

 

Thematic Focus: "Reinvigorating the Revolution: Advancing Gender Equality in the Twenty-first Century"

 

Projects are supported in all disciplines including the humanities, social sciences, science and engineering, business, law, and medicine, among others, so long as they focus centrally on gender. Possible sub-topics include (but are not limited to):

 

• The gender division of household labor • Families and women's careers: the 2nd shift, opting out, on-ramping, and flexible schedules • Representations of women in culture and history • Gender stereotyping and bias in the workplace • Gendered meanings and practices at work and home • Women's experiences in male-dominated fields, such as science and engineering • Gendered innovations in knowledge: Bringing gender analysis into the practice of science • Gender and culture in history or literature • Advancing women's progress in the professions of business, medicine, and law • Historical and cross-national comparisons of women's educational and occupational progress • Effects of legal mandates (such a Title IX and FMLA) on women's careers • National policies, organizational polices, and work-family balance: what works? • Men's involvement in gender equality movements • Gender, leadership, and entrepreneurship

 

How to Apply: Applications are to be received in our office by 5:00pm (PST) on Tuesday, December 15, 2009. Instructions and detailed information are available at http://gender.stanford.edu under “Fellowships.”

 


Multimedia

Video

Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine and Engineering
Professor Londa Schiebinger looks at new solutions in science, medicine and engineering. These solutions move beyond looking at gender bias to understanding how gender functions during the creation process.