perpetuavix

My problem stems from the idea that both genders should be considered completely equal and anything that deviates from that is deemed gender discrimination or sexism. That's a dangerous path to go down if you want to continue to improve gender relations in society. 
 
The simple matter of the fact is that genders, and let's just keep it male and female for simplicity sake here, are different. Women and men are different both because of our biological makeups but also because of how were are conditioned in society and the general behaviour we are taught to follow. 
 
Studies have shown that women are more risk adverse, women are more passive, men are more aggressive, women are more organized, women talk and are more likely to express their emotions while men are not, ect. There are innate differences between those genders.
 
I think the study you pointed to is a good place to start for the discussion because it's interesting.
 
Looking through some of the words you will see that women TAs rank much higher in things like organization, 'niceness,' and helpfulness. This to me, is not surprising. Women in general are more organized and willing to go the extra mile to help others. And this is actually interesting because this could be why the OP was perceived, and perhaps backed up in her behaviour towards her students, as more helpful and organized and hence more likely to relay the absence excuse to her professor. 
 
On the other hand, men were perceived to be funnier, geekier, and boring. This does not surprise me as either. Men are less animated than women, hence perceived as boring in a classroom setting. Also, the way that mating has evolved in our culture, men are encouraged to be impressive in terms of their story telling and joke telling; one of the reasons why the vast majority of comedic stand-up actors are men today. 
 
These are all generalizations of course, but perceptions often result from behaviour that has been observed. Of course, any individual of either gender can cross either threshold of typical norms within their gender for sure, but the overall trends are fairly hashed out.
 
Now, things like people perceiving men as smarter, without any data or empirical experience to back this up is definitely a problem. Women getting passed over for certain things, whether positions or awards is definitely a problem. 
 
However, my beef comes with calling attention to every perceived discrimination under the sun as discrimination. This to me is more harmful than good because it results in backlash. Just because someone perceives someone as more helpful or organized, because they are a women and their behaviour has reinforced this, does not make it discriminatory. We need to understand the strengths of both women and men, protect those strengths and weaknesses, and work towards equality of opportunity for everyone, but that doesn't involve pointing out discrimination in every corner of the country when it may or may not exist.
 
Regardless...I realize I am curbing this thread towards more of a treatise than somewhere where someone, or others, can share their experiences or ask questions or whatever in comfort. And I also realize I didn't necessarily explain myself that well earlier either...so yeah, just wanted to state my opinion; take it or leave it.  

A+ 

Combining discussion of personal experiences with studies (and, as you say, there are many) that demonstrate the existence of gender discrimination in the sciences is extremely useful, especially on the internet  (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2015/feb/06/sharing-stories-of-sexism-on-social-media-is-21st-century-activism?CMP=share_btn_tw) where it feels less risky and where others are more likely to feel safe enough to speak up. 

I try to be as outspoken as possible at school, but it can be hard. Some friends and I had a blatantly sexist professor last semester who also happens to be in a position of some authority in the department. Warranted or not, a lot of the girls are afraid that he'll be able to ruin their careers if they say anything to make him angry. He's already gone out of his way to make things extremely difficult for one of the girls and it scared everyone else so much that a couple people wouldn't even write anonymous evaluations for fear that he'd be able to tell who they were. So, it's difficult for anything to be done about the problem because the voice of 1 student isn't really enough to make a difference against the voice of a distinguished professor. But we're not going to get to the point where others feel brave enough to add their voices officially to a situation like that if they're afraid to even discuss their experiences, casually. Knowing that others have been through similar things really helps soften the blow. My own advisor, who often side-steps conversations like that, finally told me some of her own experiences (I think she finally started to see what a hard time I'd been having with that professor) and it was terrifying, but also extremely refreshing. 

I don't think anyone here is suggesting that anecdotes are science or that there is no element of bias when women are adding their personal experiences to the discussion, but 1) where there's bias in women saying sexism exists, there is just as much bias in men saying it doesn't and 2) as mentioned above, a variety of studies have demonstrated the existence of sexism in science, so even if some of the personal anecdotes are not actually the result of sexism it seems likely that many of them are exactly that and knowing that there's at least a possibility that you're not just paranoid is an extremely positive thing. In fact, the paranoia itself is the result of sexism. Because we know sexism exists, we know it could be affecting us, but we can't always be sure that it is. So, people are sometimes afraid to speak up because they know there's a chance they're wrong and if nobody else is speaking up we have no way of recognizing when patterns emerge or any way of dealing with them.

And what would be an unbiased source, exactly? Maybe the study I linked to that clearly shows a gender bias in teaching evaluations? And lets not be naive, this bias also comes up during the semester, and it affects people's careers through hiring decisions and promotions, not just people's feelings (in case that isn't enough). I don't understand why people think it's acceptable to argue that "I am a man and this has happened to me too, so there is no problem of gender discrimination here." The study (and it's not the only one out there) clearly shows an overall trend, and that doesn't mean that there are no exceptions but there is something here that we should pay attention to.
 
People write about their own experiences as a way to share and to learn that they are not the only one that this has happened to. The OP specifically asks for these stories. It can be a lonely place to be in when you think you are being discriminated against but aren't sure. There aren't too many places where you can share this. As I already wrote, it's really hard to know, when you feel something like this is happening to you, why it is and whether it has to do with your gender or the color of your eyes or just that the student isn't sure how to pronounce your name, or a million other things. But the data shows that it happens, so I am inclined to believe that at least some of the "anecdotes and opinions" that you say come from "biased sources" are real. We should listen to people when they tell us they feel discriminated against. 

No, it's a bunch of women coming into the thread giving their accounts. I am trying to point out that there are two sides to this coin which seems to the large devil in the room. These so called instances of "gender discrimination" (whether they were actual discrimination or due to a large number of other factors is irrelevant) seem to only matter when they are happening to women given the tone of this thread. And the post above me is a perfect example of that.

Is it any different in the case of male TAs?
 
I would be willing to wager that there are more girls using their looks to try manipulate a male TA than the other way around. 

No. 
 
I'm sorry, but that's not ok. It's exactly the kind of behavior that makes us feel like we are not being taken seriously. 

I dont know the situation, but If the TA was cute (and yes, being a women is required to be cute in this case) I would rather speak to her than the dude. But I'm guessing that kinda gender bias is more acceptable? 

THIS. I am female who studies biophysics. My current campus has the main campus and then within walking distance but still pretty separate is the "engineering" side of campus with engineering, comp sci, and physics buildings.
 
I swear that just yesterday, this guy came up to me and said "Are you sure you're on the right side campus?" Umm excuse me???  He seemed to mean it in a flirty way and then proceeded to explain that he doesn't see many women over here. Does he really think that I might be interested in dating him after he insults my gender? Why is this ok to say to women but a problem to say about ethnicity or socioeconomic status. I'm a girl and I do science/math. If a guy seriously is concerned about the lack of women in STEM then do some outreach and encourage young women to pursue science. If you don't care enough to do that then you really don't need to be insulting us.
 
I have totally noticed that unlike my male peers, I have to prove myself. Men don't seem to want to ask me to be in groups for projects or ask me questions they like do men in the class. It is only after I kick their butt on the midterm that they seem to take me seriously.

As a guy I've never experienced that while TA'ing. That being said our sections were optional. I did have more students come up to me during exams for help then my fellow TA's. They probably thought I would help them more with the exam than the other TA's. Honestly I don't think there's gender discrimination, the students may think you are the nicer TA and the students think they can get away with their lame excuses with you vs the other TA.

*bolded for emphasis*
 
It can actually be really hard to notice implicit bias when you're not the target of it. But, talk to most any woman and you'll hear plenty of stories.

How is that attitude justified given the actual evidence? 

Fair enough. The question would be precisely how strong one thinks the correlation is between placement and PGR ranking. I don't have any poll numbers, but I think it is generally overemphasized.

http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/10/11/Graduate-School-Philosophy-Placement-The-Leiter-Report.aspx

As mentioned elsewhere on the forums, be careful drawing a strong correlation between PGR rankings and placement. 
 
http://www.newappsblog.com/2014/07/job-placement-2011-2014-comparing-placement-rank-to-pgr-rank.html   "...the PGR aims to measure the collective reputation of a department's faculty, but faculty reputation does not necessarily predict the likelihood of placement by that department."   http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/10/02/Will-I-get-a-Job-Graduate-School-Philosophy-Placement-Records.aspx   "The Leiter Report at the Philosophical Gourmet... is extremely valuable in terms of knowing which departments rank best in this or that field of philosophy and which schools are best overall. However, it has very little to say about placement records."

I'm not sure I'd sign onto the claim that it's bullying, either. But he is the sole author of the most trafficked philosophy blog. And he allowed a nasty comment about an untenured, female faculty member on a thread about "issues in the profession". I don't think that's a good thing for the profession, and I don't think it's unreasonable for people to express their displeasure, especially when people see it as a part of a pattern. 

I'm not sure I'd sign onto the claim that it's bullying, either. But he is the sole author of the most trafficked philosophy blog. And he allowed a nasty comment about an untenured, female faculty member on a thread about "issues in the profession". I don't think that's a good thing for the profession, and I don't think it's unreasonable for people to express their displeasure, especially when people see it as a part of a pattern. 

I'm in! I'm in! Received an offer of admission from Boston College in the mail today. After having resolved to begin planning my apps for next year. I can't believe it! 
Not sure about financial aid situation yet, I'll figure it out when I can think straight.

Time for celebratory wine!!!

I actually have little knowledge of the recent hate. I've come across links to the issues in his and other blogs but nowadays I skip most of them because I simply don't care. As someone who is completely indifferent to (and ignorant of) the recent hate badwagon, all I wanted to say is that the guy has always done a good job of coming across as a complete asshole (based on the way he has written about his cyber-battles in the past). Frankly I'm really surprised an academic is so immersed in that kind of drama. 

I mean, the original author of the comment was clearly the one who is the most in the wrong. But why would a specific person's job trajectory be something fit for discussion in the context of "issues in the profession"?  

I mean, the original author of the comment was clearly the one who is the most in the wrong. But why would a specific person's job trajectory be something fit for discussion in the context of "issues in the profession"?  

That was my best guess. I'm just surprised that they took it as grounds for declining an offer ("Would have declined anyway"). 

Just received an offer from CUNY. So they are still sending them out, keep hope folks!

Programs are used to having people decline (even really good ones with amazing funding packages). Just tell them that you appreciate their offer, but you won't be accepting it. You can give more details about why, but you shouldn't feel obligated to do so. A polite, short email is fine. 

Programs are used to having people decline (even really good ones with amazing funding packages). Just tell them that you appreciate their offer, but you won't be accepting it. You can give more details about why, but you shouldn't feel obligated to do so. A polite, short email is fine. 

It means: "No, Nikolay, we're NOT going to read your Descartes paper."

As someone who did an alternative teaching program, please don't do TFA unless you really want to become a teacher for the rest of your life. TFA in particular has a lot of problems and essentially no longer serves the role it was created to fill. It also grossly underprepares you to do an immensely difficult job. Feel free to PM me about it.