tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post7662643255983796842..comments2023-10-30T12:26:15.822+01:00Comments on Research as a Second Language: Scissors or Zipper?Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-82662244157183400772017-01-15T20:34:51.820+01:002017-01-15T20:34:51.820+01:00Yes, some people seem to think of encouraging a st...Yes, some people seem to think of encouraging a student as a political act. They think some students need it more than others, and that there's therefore a political economy to consider. As if confidence is a kind wealth that can be redistributed, and that white males have more of it than they deserve going into grad school. One imagines these people withholding praise from white males while going out of their way to praise members of other groups. One even imagines them withholding criticism of (so as not to discourage) less "privileged" students, and not the white males. This, of course, is especially unfortunate, since exposure to criticism generally makes students stronger, and unfounded praise fosters imposter syndrome. In any case, what they are obviously doing is <i>discriminating</i>.<br /><br />Sexual misconduct is sometimes a kind of violence and sometimes a kind of corruption. But in either case, you're right, it's not always part of an attempt to discriminate against women.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-13995018041590474932017-01-15T19:51:04.889+01:002017-01-15T19:51:04.889+01:00For example, where I teach the graduate rates for ...For example, where I teach the graduate rates for men are far below that of women, so objectively women are achieving higher levels of academic success that women are, by that particular measure at least. If blacks and Latinos have low graduation rates, as they do in fact, then we can say that is the effect of disadvantage, discrimination (past and present), but we cannot have an explanation for low rates of male success that points to their lack of privilege. So when a female colleague mentions how difficult it is for the underconfident women she mentors, I think the older paradigm is at work. She can still try to foster "equality" in the old feminist way by encouraging confidence in women. That seems a worthy goal. But in some sense we shouldn't see this in a zero sum sort of way, because more students of all kinds of gender identity should graduate. Her effort on behalf of women fosters inequality, since she will help even more women to succeed, and that's ultimately a good thing even if it increases the success of an already successful group. <br /><br />With Title IX, you could almost say that if women graduate at a higher rate, almost by definition discrimination is not taking place. Period. That's the odd thing about making sexual misconduct mostly a matter of discrimination. I think it should be punished appropriately, but that it should be in the category of physical violence, not discrimination. I'm not ignoring that violence can be used to deny people equal opportunity, but is this really what is happening? Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.com