Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe Bucknell University

The successful applicant will possess an outstanding record of scholarship focused on gender and public policy, and a strong capacity to lead efforts at policy engagement on these issues. Specific areas of focus may be domestic and/or international.

I am excited about the position because it provides an opportunity to focus my research on issues of gender inequality and public policy; and expand upon the success I have had creating and managing diversity initiatives and initiatives that support gender perspectives and ideological viewpoints. …, I have developed a body of research that focuses on pressing 21st century issues involving diversity, racial, ethnic and gender inequality. Therefore, I would bring a unique perspective to the ___ School on how to examine the interplay between social and economic forces, gender and race. This coupled with my administrative experience makes me the ideal candidate to lead the Center on ___ and for the faculty position.

}  How many of you say, “Yes”

}  How many of you agree that she is not a feminist researcher?

}  How many of you are thinking, “I need to read her body of work before making a decision”?

I am excited about the position because it provides an opportunity to focus my research on issues of gender inequality and public policy; and expand upon the success I have had creating and managing diversity initiatives and initiatives that support gender perspectives and ideological viewpoints. …, I have developed a body of research that focuses on pressing 21st century issues involving diversity, racial, ethnic and gender inequality. Therefore, I would bring a unique perspective to the ___ School on how to examine the interplay between social and economic forces, gender and race. This coupled with my administrative experience makes me the ideal candidate to lead the Center on ___ and for the faculty position.

}  Is being a feminist sufficient for being a feminist scholar? Feminist economist?

}  Why is seeing myself as a feminist scholar difficult? ◦  Associated disciplines – English, women and gender

studies: humanities ◦  Feminist theoretical framework ◦  I don’t know what a feminist scholar is!

The term “feminism” is layered with multiple meanings, interpretations and perspectives. In recent years, primarily due to research and writing emanating from and being conducted in the non-western world, and to the contribution of women of color in the western world, some scholars have begun to speak of feminism in the plural, as feminisms. Others have elected not to use the term feminism at all, but to coin other terms, such as womanist. Still others, as I have done elsewhere, have attempted to redefine feminist philosophy in a way in which women remain integral to it but that includes activity and thought aimed at eliminating structural inequalities, (racism, imperialism) that oppress both women and men. (Johnson-Odim, 1998, p. 77)

}  Does “feminist activity” also make me a feminist scholar?

}  I think not.

}  “Economics is the study of human beings and economic processes; feminist economics because it puts women at the center is somehow different.” (Barker, 2013)

}  What exactly does putting “women at the center” mean? ◦  Gender variable ◦  Personal experiences or observations �  “curiosity” – interesting question

�  Am I not a feminist economist?

}  stimulate dialogue and debate on feminist economic perspectives among diverse scholars worldwide

}  extend feminist theoretical and methodological insights into economics

}  promote a rethinking of theory and policy in diverse fields, including those not directly related to gender

}  provide insights into the relationship between gender and power relations in the economy

}  explore the construction and legitimation of economic knowledge, including cultural, institutional, and historical influences

}  advance inquiry into economic issues affecting the lives of all children, women, and men.

“Though their activity may have gone unnamed as feminism and unarticulated in ideological term, their modes of organization and their language of protest are transparent in their advocacy of women’s equal status with men and women’s right to power over their own lives and participation in the general political sphere.” (Johnson-Odim, 1998, p. 91)

}  Separation of gender inequality work as “gender work” or “feminist work”

}  Debate about whether African American women were doing “race work” or “feminist work” is a false dichotomy (Johnson-Odim,1998)

}  160 papers and sessions ◦  Approximately 70 “gender” titles versus 11 “feminist” titles

}  Van Staveren and Sent’s paper the “Building Blocks for a Feminist Behavioral Economics”

}  MacDonald’s’ statement “Clearly, both economic theory and methodology have to change if they are to serve feminist purposes, and the changes are interactive.”

}  If the title were “Building Blocks for a Gender Behavioral Economics”, would we think differently about the paper?

}  Ignorance ◦  body of literature that defines feminist scholarship

and thereby who is a feminist scholar }  Political ◦  Mentors – who introduce scholars to the feminist

literature as another theory to examine questions and discuss results ◦  Selection committees – who recognize that “gender

scholarship” and “feminist scholarship” are probably more entwined than mutually exclusive