LETTERS AND E-MAILS

Sexism crux of tenure gap

To the editor:

Thank you for Chris O'Connell's thoughtful and balanced article ("Gender gap for tenured profs wide, study says," April 29). I have one important reservation about the article: due to a small omission, an opinion attributed to me in the article is the exact opposite of my actual views.

The article characterizes me as believing "that the inequality is not the result of sexism" (the inequality in question is the fact that only 29 percent of SCU's tenured faculty are women). This is absolutely not true. The inequality is certainly due to sexism. Sexism is the primary and even the only reason for this inequality. Sexism, sexism, sexism. I'll say it again: Sexism is the reason for this inequality.

My remarks were intended to point out that there are many kinds of sexism. The sexism of individuals, who thwart or simply underestimate women, is certainly still with us â€" although men are less likely than women to admit this (see the August 2003 report of the Task Force on Gender Climate). This is not the only kind of sexism, though: this more overt sexism is accompanied by institutional discrimination. Our institutions, such as Santa Clara University, were established in a time of gross discrimination and, despite decades of commitment to change, often still bear the print of that history. Provost Carmody refers to this situation when she says in the article that "we are still playing catch up."

SCU â€" and our society â€" need to play more strenuously. In addition to the disparity in the number of tenured faculty, there are significant disparities in pay, in responsibilities accorded, and in perception of the gender climate. These disparities are not limited to tenured faculty, but include staff as well as untenured and non-tenure-line faculty (all this is documented in the report of the Task Force on Gender Climate). Sexism is the cause â€" historical sexism, individual sexism, institutional sexism. Sexism, sexism, sexism.

Jonathan Hunt

Lecturer, Department of English