Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T20:46:26.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Academic Career Paths in Linguistics: A Report on the CLA Questionnaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Patricia Balcom
Affiliation:
Université de Moncton
Sandra Clarke
Affiliation:
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a survey conducted by the CLA in 1996-1997. Mail-in questionnaires were completed by 110 Canadian linguists from all regions of the country, 71 of whom (65%) were female, and 39 (35%) male. Following an overview of the literature dealing with women in academia in general and linguistics in particular, a summary of the background and status of the respondents is given. The results are presented thematically, exploring (i) the division between teaching, research and committee work; (ii) mentoring; (iii) financial support; (iv) the relative prestige of sub-disciplines. Of note is the fact that SPSS analyses show very few significant differences when sex was taken as a variable. The quantitative results provide a snapshot of linguistics in Canada in the late 1990s, and coupled with the numerous comments provided by respondents, point to issues that need to be addressed by the Canadian Linguistics Association. These are summarized in the Conclusion as a series of recommendations to the Association.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article présente les résultats d’un sondage effectué par l’ACL entre 1996 et 1997. 110 linguistes représentant toutes les régions du Canada ont complété un questionnaire postal, dont 71 (65%) femmes et 39 (35%) hommes. Après un recensement des écrits au sujet des femmes universitaires en général et les femmes en linguistique en particulier, un résumé des données démographiques des répondantes et des répondants est donné. Ensuite les résultats du questionnaire sont présentés thématiquement : (i) la répartition entre l’enseignement, la recherche et la service à la collectivité; (ii) le réseau d’appuis; (iii) le support financier; (iv) le prestige relatif des sous-disciplines. À noter est le fait que les analyses SPSS ont trouvé très peu de différences significatives en considérant le sexe comme variable. Ces résultats quantitatifs offrent un instantané de la linguistique au Canada à la fin des années 1990, et combinés avec les nombreux commentaires des répondants, donnent une indication des préoccupations auxquelles devrait s’adresser l’Association canadienne de linguistique. La Conclusion donne un résumé de ces questions en forme d’une série de recommandations à l’Association.

Type
Special Report/Rapport Spécial
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2004 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acker, Sandra, and Feuerverger, Grace. 1996. Doing good and feeling bad: The work of women university teachers. Cambridge Journal of Education 26:401–422.Google Scholar
Brooks, Ann, and Mackinnon, Alison, eds. 2001. Gender and the restructured university: Changing management and culture in higher education. Buckingham, U.K.: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.Google Scholar
Canada Research Chairs. 2003. Canada Research Chairs Media Room Statistics. Initially retrieved 19.02.03; URL verified 27.07.04: www.chairs.gc.ca/web/media/stats/gender-e.asp.Google Scholar
Cassell, Justine. 2003. A bibliography for women and other scientists. Initially retrieved 27.02.03; URL verified 27.07.04: web.media.mit.edu/~justine/biblio.html.Google Scholar
Clarke, Sandra. 1997. Summary of responses to CLA Questionnaire. Presentation to the meeting of the CLA’s Standing Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Linguistic Association, St. John’s, Newfoundland, May 31-June 3.Google Scholar
CAUT Almanac of post-secondary education in Canada. 2003. Ottawa: Canadian Association of University Teachers.Google Scholar
CAUT Almanac of post-secondary education in Canada. 2004. Ottawa: Canadian Association of University Teachers.Google Scholar
Currie, Jan, and Thiele, Bev. 2001. Globalization and gendered work cultures. In Gender and the restructured university: Changing management and culture in higher education, ed. Brooks, Ann and Mackinnon, Alison, 90–115. Buckingham, U.K.: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.Google Scholar
Dagg, Anne Innis. 1998. Hiring of women at Canadian universities: The subversion of equality. In The illusion of inclusion: Women in post-secondary education, ed. Stalker, Jacqueline and Prentice, Susan, 108–118. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Davison, Alice, Cichocki, Walter, and Silva, Donald. 1990. The representation of women in linguistics 1989. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Alice Davison and Penelope Eckert, 72–88. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Disterheft, Dorothy. 1990. Women in linguistics: Recent trends. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Davison, Alice and Eckert, Penelope, 89–110. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Donaldson, E. Lisbeth. 2001. Achieving gender equality. Review of Hard work in the academy: Research and interventions on gender inequalities in higher education. CAUT Bulletin Bookshelf, January 2001. Initially retrieved 01.08.03; URL verified 27.07.04: www.caut.ca/english/bulletin/2001.jan/bookshelf/book-gendereq.asp.Google Scholar
Donaldson, E. Lisbeth. 2002. Free but not equal, academic women study their reflections in the mirror. Ms. University of Calgary.Google Scholar
Donaldson, E. Lisbeth, and Ernes, Claudia G.. 2000. The challenge for women academics: Reaching a critical mass in research, teaching and service. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education 30:33–55.Google Scholar
Eckert, Penelope. 1990. Personal and professional networks. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Davison, Alice and Eckert, Penelope, 142–154. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Fogelberg, Paul, Hearn, Jeff, Husu, Liisa, and Mankkinen, Teija, eds. 1999. Hard work in the academy: Research and interventions on gender inequalities in higher education. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press.Google Scholar
Heap, David. 1999. Rapport sur le genre et les emplois dans les programmes de linguistique au Canada. Communication présentée au Comité permanent sur le statut des femmes en linguistique de l’Association canadienne de linguistique, Congrès annuel de l’Association canadienne de linguistique, Sherbrooke, Quebec, June 4–6.Google Scholar
Hewlett, Sylvia Ann. 2002. Executive women and the myth of having it all. Harvard Business Review, April, 5–11. [Reprint R0204E.]Google Scholar
Hornosty, Jennie M. 1998. Balancing child care and work: The need for a “woman-friendly” university. In The illusion of inclusion: Women in post-secondary education, ed. Stalker, Jacqueline and Prentice, Susan, 180–193. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Kinman, Gail. 1998. Pressure points: Occupational stress in academic and related staff. London: Association of University Teachers. Initially retrieved 20.02.03 (original title: Pressure points: A survey into the causes and consequences of occupational stress in UK academic and related staff); URL verified 27.07.04: www.aut.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=179.Google Scholar
McElhinny, Bonnie, Hols, Marijke, Holtzkener, Jeff, Unger, Susanne, and Hicks, Claire. 2003. Gender, publication and citation in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology: The construction of a scholarly canon. Language in Society 32:299–327.Google Scholar
Menzies, Heather with Newson, Janice. 2001. The over-extended academic in the global corporate economy. CAUT-ACPPU Bulletin Online. Initially retrieved 20.02.03; URL verified 13.07.04: www.caut.ca/english/bulletin/2001_jan/comment.asp.Google Scholar
Morgan, Rosemary. 2002. Pay equity by law: Is there a better way to equality of result for female faculty? In Ivory towers, feminist issues: Selected papers from the WIN symposia, 2000–2001, ed. Heald, Susan, 58–68. Ottawa: Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Initially retrieved 30.07.03; URL verified 13.07.04: www.fedcan.ca/english/policyandadvocacy/win/ivorytwrmorgan.cfm.Google Scholar
Munford, Robin, and Rumball, Sylvia. 2001. Managing innovatively. In Gender and the restructured university: Changing management and culture in higher education, ed. Brooks, Ann and Mackinnon, Alison, 136–150. Buckingham, U.K.: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.Google Scholar
Newmeyer, Frederick J. 1980. Linguistic theory in America: The first quarter-century of transformational generative grammar. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Newmeyer, Frederick J. 1990. The structure of the field and its consequences for women. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Davison, Alice and Eckert, Penelope, 43–54. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Price, Pattie Jo. 1990. The status of women in linguistics. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Davison, Alice and Eckert, Penelope, 55–71. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Rajagopal, Indhu. 2002. Hidden academics: Contract faculty in Canadian universities. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Redmond, Chris. 2002. University steps up efforts to attract and keep women profs. University of Waterloo Gazette 43(7): 1.Google Scholar
Reimer, Marilee, Cassin, Marguerite, Eyre, Linda, and Gordon, Jane. 2002. The new rule/s, the university and the consequences for women. In Ivory towers, feminist issues: Selected papers from the WIN symposia, 2000-2001, ed. Heald, Susan, 28–36. Ottawa:Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Initially retrieved 19.02.03; URL verified 13.07.04: www.fedcan.ca/english/policyandadvocacy/win/ivorytwrcontents.cfm.Google Scholar
Saunders, Mary, Thérrien, Margaret, and Williams, Linda. 1998. Creating the “woman-friendly” university: A summary of the CFUW [Canadian Federation of University Women] report. In The illusion of inclusion: Women in post-secondary education, ed. Stalker, Jacqueline and Prentice, Susan, 216–230. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Silva, David James. 1996. Women in linguistics in the mid 1990’s: A preliminary report. Paper presented at the Linguistic Society of America 1996 Annual Meeting, San Diego, Calif., January 4–7.Google Scholar
Smith, Carlotta S. 1990. From graduate school to tenure. In The Cornell Lectures: Women in the linguistics profession, ed. Davison, Alice and Eckert, Penelope, 239–244. Washington, D.C.: The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics of the Linguistic Society of America.Google Scholar
Sokoloff, Heather. 2003. Ottawa biased against female profs: Group. The National Post, March 29, A17.Google Scholar
Stanley, Judy, Robbins, Wendy, and Morgan, Rosemary. 2002. Ivory Tower: Feminist Audits. Initially retrieved 27.03.03; URL verified 27.07.04: www.fedcan.ca/english/policyandadvocacy/win/publications.cfmGoogle Scholar
Stark(-Adamec), Cannie. 1995. Women’s ways of working: Rocking the boat and the cradle in academia. Research-based policy recommendations. In WINning Edge 2 (special issue I), 1–29. Initially retrieved 15.06.04; URL verified 27.07.04: uregina.ca/~starkc/women’s_ways_of_working.html.Google Scholar
Tamburri, Rosanna. 2003. Women professors file complaint about research chairs program. University Affairs, April, 25.Google Scholar
Tamburri, Rosanna. 2004. A delicate balance. University Affairs, January, 22–25.Google Scholar
Walker, Douglas. 1996. Letter to CLA members from the President of the Canadian Linguistic Association, April 25.Google Scholar
Wyn, Johanna, Acker, Sandra, and Richards, Elizabeth. 2000. Making a difference: Women in management in Australian and Canadian faculties of education. Gender and Education 12:435–447.Google Scholar