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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> How it's done at a 1st Class school!
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Gnome Watcher

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How it's done at a 1st Class school!
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From "The Harvard Crimson" . . .


SUMMERS TO FACE FACULTY STORM

By WILLIAM C. MARRA and SARA E. POLSKY
Crimson Staff Writers


University President Lawrence H. Summers will face the full Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) today for the first time since his controversial remarks on women in science last month, and many professors predict it will be the toughest meeting of his three-and-a-half year tenure.

“There’s no question that this will be the most important Faculty meeting of his presidency to date,” said one senior professor, who asked to remain anonymous.

History Department Chair Andrew D. Gordon was one of many professors who yesterday predicted unusually high attendance and a lively debate at this afternoon’s meeting, the first chance many faculty will have to confront Summers about his Jan. 14 statement suggesting that “innate differences” may help explain the scarcity of female scientists at top universities.

“The buzz is that this is going to be an unusually interesting meeting because of the follow-up to President Summers’ remarks,” he said.

Summers yesterday declined to speculate on the content of the meeting, saying he would rather “respond to issues as they come up at the meeting.”

At today’s meeting, professors anticipate that Summers will officially present two task forces focused on the hiring and the integration of female professors into the Faculty-—both formed in the midst of the media frenzy surrounding Summers’ comments.

But faculty members say that these task forces will not be enough to satisfy his critics.

While the monthly Faculty meetings are usually dedicated to hashing out FAS policy—Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby’s Annual Letter to the Faculty and a report on the progress of the Curricular Review are the two items officially on the agenda—professors predict that today’s meeting will likely shift towards a discussion of Summers’ controversial tenure.

Professors across the departments say they plan to voice their criticisms of Summers’ leadership, particularly in light of his recent remarks.

Professors also say that Summers’ comments last month have highlighted longer-standing concerns among the Faculty over the declining proportion of tenure offers made to women since Summers arrived in Cambridge.

Conflict with professors has characterized much of Summers’ tenure.

In late 2001, only months after Summers took office, a dispute with former Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 made national headlines and ended with West’s departure for Princeton University.

The president’s remarks last month reignited some of the animosity generated during the West dispute that caused difficulties with other members of the African-American Studies department.

Summers’ comments last month also aggravated critics who have clashed with his general leadership style.

“Summers squelches debate at faculty meetings and ensures that major issues are not brought up: issues such as the massive transfers of funds from FAS to the Central Administration for Allston and its consequences for other activities,” Professor of Physics and of Applied Sciences Daniel S. Fisher wrote in an e-mail.

Fisher, who also led the planning for the interdisciplinary Center for Brain Science, additionally wrote that Summers “has systematically suppressed open discussion on issues vital to the future of Harvard.”

One senior professor said yesterday that some faculty may even ask for a vote to force Summers from his post as chair of Faculty meetings.

The senior faculty member, who wished to remain anonymous, said such a vote is not likely at today’s meeting, but could be scheduled for a future Faculty meeting.

But it is unlikely that such a motion would go through the Faculty unpposed.

“If you don’t agree with somebody, the first resort is not to kick him out,” said Chair of the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department Philip A. Kuhn. “Everybody makes mistakes. If you look at what [Summers has] actually done, he hasn’t done too badly. This kind of institutional violence is not particularly called for,” he said.

-—Staff writer William C. Marra can be reached at wmarra@fas.harvard.edu.-- —Staff writer Sara E. Polsky can be reached at polsky@fas.harvard.edu.

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LVN

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There's an interesting editorial in today's HA about the difference in response to Summers vs. Churchill.

But the point is well made, that there is an underlying expectation that the President is answerable to faculty to a certain degree.

(But I think Summers is getting a bad rap, based on the circumstances surrounding his remarks. This harks back to one of our earlier discussions about true academic freedom.)

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Gnome Watcher

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Thank you, LVN. That was my point, that the President is, to a greater or lesser degree, answerable to the faculty and vice versa.

As I have always understood it, the Administration / Faculty relationship was supposed to be a partnership. The President was not the King of the university, able to do as he/she pleased, and answerable only to a state board of education (or higher education) that was not really concerned or involved with the day-to-day operations of the university. The President and the Faculty work together for the betterment of the school as a team, not as rivals.

Not so in NitChampBurg.

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Mason & Dixon

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President Summers of Harvard should not have made that controversial remark about women in the sciences. I note that his remark made the "Harvard Crimson." Had that remark been made by a president of a school located in the deep south, there is little doubt but what it would have made the New York Times first - and very fast.



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Perspective, Please

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quote:
Originally posted by: Mason & Dixon
"President Summers of Harvard should not have made that controversial remark about women in the sciences. I note that his remark made the "Harvard Crimson." Had that remark been made by a president of a school located in the deep south, there is little doubt but what it would have made the New York Times first - and very fast. "


Summers' only crime was violating political correctness. There is a substantial achievement gap that has been identified between males and females with respect to science and math. The gap has been observed in many studies and is fact, not opinion or perception. Summers was dumb for telling the truth to a group that doesn't want to hear it; like many blanket statements that are generally true, those who are exceptions to the rule usually cannot bear to have it pointed out. Tell a male nurse that men aren't nurturing and caring, and he'll probably tell you to f**k off. Tell a female scientist that women aren't good at science and she'll probably tell you the same thing, though it is probably as true that males are less nurturing than women as it is true that women are less adept at science than men.

You're right, though...if the president of LSU had said this, the NY Times would probably read "Crazy Redneck Bashes Females: Inbred Southerner Shows Sexism OK in LA"

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Mason & Dixon

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quote:
Originally posted by: Perspective, Please
" Summers' only crime was violating political correctness. There is a substantial achievement gap that has been identified between males and females with respect to science and math. The gap has been observed in many studies and is fact, not opinion or perception. Summers was dumb for telling the truth to a group that doesn't want to hear it; like many blanket statements that are generally true, those who are exceptions to the rule usually cannot bear to have it pointed out. Tell a male nurse that men aren't nurturing and caring, and he'll probably tell you to f**k off. Tell a female scientist that women aren't good at science and she'll probably tell you the same thing, though it is probably as true that males are less nurturing than women as it is true that women are less adept at science than men. You're right, though...if the president of LSU had said this, the NY Times would probably read "Crazy Redneck Bashes Females: Inbred Southerner Shows Sexism OK in LA""
Gender differences do exist. There was a time when researchers used only males in their research. Federal guidelines now require otherwise unless the researcher can provide clear evidence that only one gender should be used in the study. Even college sophomores employ simple 2X2 (Male/Female) experimental designs in their research at USM. But I don't know whether or not the gender differences to which the Harvard president referred exist. It will be interesting to read his defense (if I can find a copy of the Harvard Crimson. I doubt that the New York Times will pick up on that story).

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Left (formerly Leaving Soon)

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quote:
Originally posted by: Perspective, Please

"There is a substantial achievement gap that has been identified between males and females with respect to science and math. The gap has been observed in many studies and is fact, not opinion or perception."


Would you care to cite your sources for such "fact"?

As Mason & Dixon notes, "Gender differences do exist." (This is obvious and undeniable fact, and "vive la difference" -- life would be very dull without it!) But do "gender differences" necessarily translate into "a substantial achievement gap"? And if there is such a gap, is it the fault of women (who for generations have been marginalized in fields such as math and science)? And shouldn't we be regretting such gaps rather than pontificating upon their supposed existence?

Anyway, please forgive my digression from the point of this thread, which is, I think, that at first class schools there may be, as LVN notes, "an underlying expectation that the President is answerable to faculty to a certain degree" -- an expectation of which SFT seems quite disdainful.

NO QUARTER!


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Robert Campbell

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Mason & Dixon,


Contrary to what you're saying, Summers' remarks about differences between men and women have gotten a lot of media coverage.


His remarks were discussed on both Liberty and Power and Cliopatria, where you can find pointers to a teeny fraction of what's been written about him in the print media.


It's yet to be demonstrated that as president of Harvard, Summers has much leverage personally over who gets tenured there.  A national university at which tenure decisions are effectively made by the president is a pretty rare commodity.  Usually presidents just sign off on the decision made by the provost.


Of the complaints about Summers mentioned above, I'd be most interested in his decision to pull money out of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and move it into the central administration.


Robert Campbell



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Mason & Dixon

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It may be that the "differences" to which the Harvard president referred, if they do exist,  are not "innate" at all. It is possible that any difference is due to cultural/societal/community factors. In other words, at one time women were drawn more into fields like elementary school teaching than were men. Their parents, teachers, and guidance counselors advised them to take that route in lieu of science. So maybe that is why the Harvard president see fewer women than men the sciences. Men were directed elsewhere. The answer is not a simple one. But we are digressing into a discussion more appropriate for the classroom than for this message board (I would, however, like to know about the data to which Perspective Please referred.

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Perspective, Please

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RE: RE: RE: RE: How it's done at a 1st Class schoo
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quote:
Originally posted by: Left (formerly Leaving Soon)
"

Would you care to cite your sources for such "fact"?

As Mason & Dixon notes, "Gender differences do exist." (This is obvious and undeniable fact, and "vive la difference" -- life would be very dull without it!) But do "gender differences" necessarily translate into "a substantial achievement gap"? And if there is such a gap, is it the fault of women (who for generations have been marginalized in fields such as math and science)? And shouldn't we be regretting such gaps rather than pontificating upon their supposed existence?

Anyway, please forgive my digression from the point of this thread, which is, I think, that at first class schools there may be, as LVN notes, "an underlying expectation that the President is answerable to faculty to a certain degree" -- an expectation of which SFT seems quite disdainful.

NO QUARTER!
"



ABC News Link

This was one article written by a math guy, but I am still looking for the original works that actually discuss the differences. The author of that one is an apologist (actually pretty unabashed) and is himself using dubious "facts," but I have read several academic studies that have addressed this problem. I will endeavor to find and link them.

The bottom line is: look at test scores. The average male outperforms the average female. The article, though, is pretty fair to Summers.

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Mason & Dixon

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RE: RE: How it's done at a 1st Class school!
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quote:

Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
"Mason & Dixon, Contrary to what you're saying, Summers' remarks about differences between men and women have gotten a lot of media coverage."


Robert - I didn't mean to imply that the Harvard controversy received no media coverage. What I said was "Had that remark been made by a president of a school located in the deep south, there is little doubt but what it would have made the New York Times first - and very fast. I intended to suggest that the New York Times coverage of the matter would be different if the president of a deep south university had made such gender-related remarks. Actually, the New York Times has covered the matter rather extensively and in a manner favorable to the Harvard president. A deep south president, I believe, would have been slam-dunked by the Times. Summers was not, at least in the Times articles I have read. Here is an exerpt of a mid-January rather sympathetic coverage by the New York Times:


"When Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard, suggested this month that one factor in women's lagging progress in science and mathematics might be innate differences between the sexes .... ..... Has science found compelling evidence of inherent sex disparities in the relevant skills, or perhaps in the drive to succeed at all costs, that could help account for the persistent paucity of women in science generally, and at the upper tiers of the profession in particular?


Researchers who have explored the subject of sex differences from every conceivable angle and organ say that yes, there are a host of discrepancies between men and women - in their average scores on tests of quantitative skills, in their attitudes toward math and science, in the architecture of their brains, in the way they metabolize medications, including those that affect the brain."


The Times article goes on to discuss research on differences in brain size between men and women.


 


 


 



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