CoGEA Surveys
Work Climate, Gender, and the Status of Practicing Anthropologists
Prepared for the American Anthropological Association, 18 February, 2009
COSWA is committed to equal opportunity for anthropologists in all work settings. Recognizing that a significant number of anthropology PhDs and nearly all alumni from Master's programs are employed in positions other than as full-time university and college professors, in 2004 COSWA expanded its mission to become more inclusive of and to seek ways to connect to practicing anthropologists. To this end, COSWA designed and administered two work climate surveys to assess the gendered dimensions of anthropological work practice. This report contains the findings from COSWA's 2007 survey to assess the work climate of non-university and college-based practicing anthropologists.
The COSWA Academic Climate Report 2008 addresses topics such as work environment and work-family issues as they relate to gender equity and the experiences of faculty in US anthropology departments.
Click here to read the report, "We've Come a Long Way, Maybe: Academic Climate Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in Anthropology." (PDF)
If you have questions or comments, please send an email to Christina Wasson.
Materials of Interest
Resources of Interest
- The Academic Job Search Handbook (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996, second edition), by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick. ISBN: 0-8122-1595-8.
A comprehensive guide that starts with planning a job search and continues through the tenure process. A large section on written materials includes sample correspondence, professional vitas, and statements of teaching philosophy. A two-year timetable helps plan the search.
- Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower(Academic Press, 1998), edited by Cynthia Robbins-Roth. ISBN: 0-12-589375-2.
Cynthia Robbins-Roth left an academic biochemistry career in the 1980s for the biotechnology industry and later founded a newsletter and a consulting business. This guide covers 22 alternative careers for scientists, including journalism, publishing, business development, sales and marketing, technology transfer, and public policy.
- The Curriculum Vitae Handbook: How to Present and Promote Your Academic Career (Rudi Publishing, 1998), by Rebecca Anthony and Gerald Roe. ISBN: 0-945213-26-3.
This revised edition includes samples of C.V.'s for different stages of academic careers and information on how to create an electronic C.V.
- Finding an Academic Job (Sage Publishers, 1998), by Karen M. Sowers-Hoag and Dianne F. Harrison. ISBN: 0-7619-0401-8.
Two deans of social-work schools offer advice on what colleges and universities look for in new faculty members, how to match your credentials to the job market, and how to negotiate a job offer. One section deals with employment issues affecting academic couples.
- Lifting A Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World, by Paula J. Caplan (University of Toronto Press, 1993). ISBN: 0-8020-7411-1.
Based on interviews with hundreds of academic women, this handbook includes suggestions for the job hunt, preparing your C.V., interviewing, handling job offers, and applying for contract renewals and tenure. It also includes a checklist for "woman-positive" institutions.
- Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), by Emily Toth. ISBN: 0-8122-1566-4.
Ms. Mentor was born in 1992 as an advice columnist for woman professors, graduate students, recovering academics, and those who love them. In this question-and-answer guide, she dispenses wisdom on surviving graduate school, landing a job and earning tenure in "pale-male" fields, and what to wear to academic conventions.
- On the Market: Surviving the Academic Job Search (Riverhead Books, 1997), edited by Christina Boufis and Victoria C. Olsen. ISBN: 1-57322-626-2.
Based on the assumption that hearing people's stories is therapeutic and empowering, this book collects the accounts of graduate students in many fields who have recently braved the market, some successfully. More than two dozen essays explore such issues as dealing with rejection, the treatment of feminist scholars by hiring committees, relocating, making a living as a full-time adjunct, and leaving the academy and finding alternative careers.
- A Ph.D. Is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993), by Peter J. Feibelman. ISBN: 0-201-62663-2.
Should you ask that prominent scientist to be your thesis adviser? How do you go about writing a compelling scientific paper? These and other topics are covered in a guide designed to ease the transition from graduate school to professional researcher.
- re:gender (formerly the National Council for Research on Women)
The facilitates cooperative exchange among its member centers and research affiliates, and promotes visibility for feminist research and analysis to build stronger links between research, policy, and action.
Society for American Archaeology
- Editions of the SAA Bulletin contain articles from the Chair of the SAA Committee on the Status of Women in Archaeology
Listserv/Discussion Groups
