Feminist Reader: December 2014

Each month, the Rhodes Project publishes a selection of articles that approach issues of gender and feminism from informed, opinionated and novel angles.  Visit the Feminist Reader to find out about women’s responses to current challenges and catch up on gender-related news from around the world.

On the Rhodes Project Blog:

Nowhere to throw a wrench: 2012 Scholar Mary-Dan Johnston explores Oxford's treatment of women in a poetic, powerful piece.

Feminist spaces in unlikely places: Rhodes Scholar Joanne Cave reflects on leading a feminist reading group in Oxford.

From elsewhere:

A survey of Harvard Business School graduates sheds new light on what happens to women and men after business school. 

The New Yorker profiles Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany and the "most powerful woman in the world."

An article in the New Statesman asks: why is ageism such an entrenched characteristic of feminist movements?

Now that women bishops are permitted in the Church of England for the first time, here are five more glass ceilings to smash.

Rhodes Scholar Lois Quam talks about some of the strategies she has used to balance commitments to her work and her family.

Our 'mommy' problem: how motherhood has been elevated to the realm of lifestyle, to the detriment of women's other priorities.  

The UK drops to 26th in the world in gender equality, and life for women is getting tougher.

For most parents, being a "helicopter" is no longer sustainable: how the baby boomers ruined parenting.

New Arrival at the Rhodes Project: Joanne Cave

We are pleased to announce that Joanne Cave (Alberta & St John's 2013) has joined the Rhodes Project as Profile Coordinator. She will be managing the Project's Profile Series, which was launched in 2013 and includes brief interviews with nearly 200 Rhodes women. 

Joanne recently completed an MSc in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (Prairies & St. John’s 2013), and is currently pursuing a Master in Public Policy at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.

We are looking forward to having Joanne on board and seeing the Profile Series thrive under her direction! 

To find out more about the Profile Series, click here. 

Video Series: Rhodes Women on Mentoring

At the 110th Rhodes Reunion in September 2013, we sat down with a group of women Rhodes Scholars and asked them about some of the topics that are important to the Rhodes Project and to the equality of women in general. 

In our second instalment, we asked the Scholars: what role should mentorship play in a woman's life? Check out their responses below. 

Feminist Reader: November 2014

Each month the Rhodes Project publishes a selection of articles that approach issues of gender and feminism from informed, opinionated and novel angles.  Visit the Feminist Reader each month to find out about women’s responses to current challenges and catch up on gender-related news from around the world.

Here is this month's selection:

Welcome to the new normal: a 41 year-old single mother-to-be explores changing trends in motherhood.

Slate's Amanda Hess analyses the response to Renee Zellweger's changed appearance.

Rhodes Scholar and clinical embryologist Nicole Krzys criticises the decision of Facebook and Apple to offer egg freezing as an employee benefit.

British artist Grayson Perry takes a closer look at "default man" - the middle class, white men that dominate British life.

Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay argues that we run into trouble when we embrace celebrity feminists while avoiding the real work of feminism.

The US government has historically been biased in favour of men. Read what Rebecca Traister has to say about what this means for women. 

In a series of articles about childcare provision around the world, Slate takes a look at what it's like to be a mother in Greece.  

One female academic refuses to wear the male uniform.   

Rhodes Project Director's Research Featured in New Book

The Rhodes Project's Director, Professor Susan Rudy, has authored a chapter in a recently published book, titled Regenerations: Canadian Women's Writing / Ecriture des des femmes au Canada. The volume was edited by Marie Carrière and Patricia Demers, and is published by the University of Alberta Press.

Professor Rudy's article is entitled 'Women Who Invite Collaboration: Caroline Bergvall, Erìn Moure et al.' The focus of the chapter is on alternative collaboration modes in innovative women's writing communities. She focuses on Caroline Bergvall, a multilingual artist and poet who has published four books and mounted exhibitions in museums around the world, and Erìn Moure, an award-winning Canadian poet. The chapter explores how these women, and others, practise collaboration with each other, with writers from the past, or with fictional co-authors.     

To find out more about Regenerations, visit the UAP website.  

To find out more about Professor Rudy's research, visit our Publications page.

To find out more about Caroline Bergvall, and her work celebrating women Rhodes Scholars, see her website. 

Feminist Reader: October 2014

Each month the Rhodes Project publishes a selection of articles that approach issues of gender and feminism from informed, opinionated and novel angles.  Visit the Feminist Reader each month to find out about women’s responses to current challenges and catch up on gender-related news from around the world.

Here is this month's selection:  

Two writers for the New Republic debate the question: are we living in a golden age of feminism?

Does Emma Watson's privilege limit her usefulness as a UN ambassador?

Which college at Oxford celebrates 40 years of co-education with portraits of women?

Was Wonder Woman an early feminist icon?  Read Jill Lepore’s article on her symbolic importance.

Being a woman in a male-dominated job: confessions of a lady lumberjane.           

What transgender people know about the gender gap in leadership.

The troll slayer: classics professor Mary Beard takes on her sexist detractors.

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard talks about sexism in politics on BBC Woman's Hour. 

Rhodes Project Director Susan Rudy elected Visiting Scholar, University of Oxford

We are pleased to announce that the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford has elected Rhodes Project Director Susan Rudy as a Visiting Scholar (see profile here).  Her appointment has been granted in recognition of the valuable work she and Dr Kate Blackmon are undertaking on the gender gap in leadership. Since 2012, they have been studying women who have held Rhodes Scholarships at the University of Oxford. Their data are taken from the Rhodes Project, which has conducted over 120 extended interviews with women Rhodes Scholars, and has collected over 300 responses to two different surveys. 

Because women and men are selected for the scholarships specifically based on their leadership potential, not just academic achievement, the Rhodes Scholars provide a compelling sample of women who start with equal leadership potential and aspirations to men. Women have made great advances towards the workforce and public life since the 1970s, and now make up nearly half the workforce and hold 40% of managerial positions. Across the board, however, women are less likely to be promoted than equally qualified men, and stereotypes of leadership are still largely male-dominated. Why does this ‘gender gap’ persist in leadership? Blackmon and Rudy are exploring this question in academic papers, executive briefings, presentations and a book under contract to Oxford University Press for 2015.

Kate Blackmon becomes first woman Senior Proctor elected from Merton

Photo Credit: Oxford Student Online 

We are delighted to announce that on 19 March 2014 Kate Blackmon was admitted to the post of Senior Proctor at the University of Oxford.  To find out more about the post and to read Kate’s views on what taking on the role of Senior Proctor will mean for her in the coming year, click here.

Since Kate is the first woman to have been elected from Merton College in its 750-year history and the first woman to have been elected to the post at all since 1994, we would like to take this opportunity to recognise Kate and the other three women who have served as Senior Proctors at Oxford.

In 1985, Baroness Ruth Deech was elected from St Anne's. She is a former principal of St Anne's College.

In 1990, Ms Joanna Innes was elected from Somerville. She is a Fellow in History, specialising in the history of ideas.

In 1994, Professor Judith Pallot was elected from Christ Church. She is a Professor of Geography, specialising in the geography of post-Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe.

In 2014, Kate Blackmon was elected from Merton College.  Kate is the Tutor in Management Studies at Merton College and a University Lecturer at the Said School of Business. She specializes in gender and diversity in organizations as well as operations management. 

Since 2012, Kate Blackmon has been providing her expertise to the Rhodes Project and is the co-author (with Susan Rudy) of articles, executive briefings, presentations and a forthcoming book on women Rhodes Scholars.