Russett challenges male-dominated academia

Professor Cynthia Russett, GRD '64, describes herself as a member of the "silent generation," which means she went to college in the '50s. And unlike most students of today, she did not have a particular career in mind after graduation. She went to school in Washington, D.C. and expected to work for the CIA or another government agency that hired students with liberal arts backgrounds at the onset of the Cold War.

"It was one of my history professors who told me to think about graduate school," Russett said. As a recipient of a prestigious Woodrow Wilson Scholarship, which paid for much of her graduate education, Russett came to Yale as one of only six women in a graduate class of 27. "Because of the intense masculinity of the graduate school, we women bonded fairly quickly," Russett said.

It was at Yale that Russett found her husband Bruce, GRD '61. When he was offered a position at M.I.T., the two left for Massachusetts. But they soon returned to Yale, where Russett began her teaching career as a part-time professor. She was granted tenure in 1989 and joined the ranks of Yale's senior faculty in the history department. This semester, Russett is teaching two courses concerning women's history.

While much has changed since the silent generation went to college, the number of tenured women professors at Ivy League schools remains low. Ivy institutions consistently rank below national averages for tenured female faculty, and Yale ranks at the bottom of the Ivies.

Russett points to many factors that explain Yale's small number of female faculty. One problem is that in the world of academia, it is not unusual for scholars to be courted by several universities. Russett explained that, traditionally, women were more likely to marry academic men than men were to marry academic women. As a result, wives are often forced to move away from their home university.

For Yale, geography can be a disadvantage. Unlike Harvard, Yale is not surrounded by a large number of other academic institutions that could provide jobs and more options for spouses.

Also, since Boston is a much larger city than New Haven, there are often job opportunities for spouses in different fields. Yale, therefore, has additional obstacles to overcome in establishing tenured positions for female faculty members.

Russett added that the disparity can also be traced to graduate schools, which serve as a supply line for the teaching community. When Russett attended Yale, fewer women than men pursued graduate education. This fact, coupled with the sexism of the period, helps to explain the discrepancy between the number of male and female tenured professors.

Currently, graduate schools admit more equal numbers of men and women to their programs. Thus, according to Russett, universities can no longer blame the past for the disproportionately high number of male senior faculty members. She claims, however, that past inequalities must be addressed. "We still need affirmative action practices, and Yale seems to have no quarrel with that. Though the University has made some effort, much more needs to be done."

Of particular relevance to the tenure debate is the case of Associate Professor Diane Kunz, GRD '89, who was denied tenure on Thurs., Oct. 17 by the Senior Appointments Committee despite having received the support of a majority of the faculty in her department.

"The Diane Kunz case was deeply disappointing, a real puzzlement. [Kunz] had letters of support from some of the strongest academics in the field," Russett said. While Russett said she does not know how the Senior Appointments Committee reached its decision, she believes there was only one historian on the committee--the only member who was familiar with the significance of Kunz's work in her own field.

While securing tenure has been a problem for female professors across the country, those few women who have achieved senior faculty status do find themselves frequently being asked to serve on civic and academic committees. Russett served on the Sledge Committee, which sought to construct new policies regarding sexual relationships between students and faculty. She is also on a committee searching for a new director of Teacher Training.

Women's tenure promises to be a controversial issue at Yale and elsewhere for some time. Though change and progress has come, it has come slowly.

"A provost can speak out for advancement, but before any real change is going to occur, change must be sought at all levels, from the individual departments to the Senior Appointments Committee," Russett said.

Photo by Liz Oliner.

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