Professor Robin Ely

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to expose students to critical perspectives on identity, focusing in particular on gender, race, and sexual identity, and to explore the implications of these perspectives for how we understand and think about creating workplaces that are both more equitable and more productive. The course begins with a discussion of the meaning of identity and introduces the notion of power as a central feature in the socially constructed meaning of different identities. We then take a brief foray into a series of narrative writings by people reflecting on the ways in which their identities as women, people of color, gays, lesbians, and/or bisexuals have shaped their experiences in the world. The purpose of these writings in the course is to provide a grounding, based in people's lived experiences as members of oppressed groups, for the theories introduced in the course.

The next segment of the course covers a range of theoretical perspectives on gender, sexual identity, and race. This part of the course draws heavily from modern and postmodern feminist perspectives and, to a lesser extent, critical race theory. In addition, there is a special emphasis on exploring how the dominant--and therefore typically invisible--experiences of masculinity and whiteness shape gender and race relations, respectively.

The final segment of the course applies the theories we've discussed to situations people encounter at work. First, we discuss the nature and quality of interpersonal relationships at work as a particularly poignant--and consequential--site for the expression of power asymmetries in gender, race, and sexual relations. We also explore different perspectives on and manifestations of inequities and inequalities in the workplace. Next, again applying the concepts of the course, we consider different positions on Affirmative Action as a potential remedy. Finally, we end with some thoughts on how, at the level of both theory and individual action, one might think about intervening to create organizations that are both more equitable and more effective.

Course Requirements

1. It is absolutely essential that students attend each class, having completed all assigned readings.

2. Students will hand in weekly discussion questions, based on the assigned readings. These will be due [the day or morning before the class meets].

3. Students will write a 20-page (maximum) final paper.

Course Grades

Course grades will be based on:

1. Weekly discussion questions (35 %)

Each week prior to class, each student will prepare 2 to 3 questions designed to stimulate class discussion. The questions should be related to topics and ideas raised in the readings. They will be graded on a three-point scale (excellent, good, unacceptable) based on the degree to which they are a) provocative, creative, and insightful, b) relevant to the topics of the week/course as a whole, and c) integrative.

2. The final paper (65 %)

Each student will write a final paper on a topic of her/his choosing. In the paper, students can explore further issues raised in the course; explore issues that are related to or suggested by the course, but not directly addressed; or apply learnings from the course to a particular organizational or public policy problem. Other possibilities for paper topics also exist, and students are encouraged to think creatively about how they would like to use this opportunity.

Readings

[Required texts to be determined, depending on SIPA system for producing "course packets," etc.]

Course Outline and Assigned Readings

Part I. Identity and Power

Class 1 Introduction

Jan. 26

The first class will be an introduction to the course, its purposes and its logic.

Class 2 Identity

Feb. 2

Gergen, Kenneth. The saturated self. [selected chapters to be determined for final draft of syllabus]

Scott, Joan. 1992. "Experience." In J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists theorize the political. London: Routledge, 22-40.

Scott, Joan. 1995. Multiculturalism and the politics of identity. In J. Rajchman (ed), The identity in question. London: Routledge, 3-12.

Class 3 Power

Feb. 9

Fiske, S. T. 1993. Controlling other people: The impact of power on stereotyping. American Psychologist, 48(6), 621-628.

Lips, H. 1991. Power: Its many faces. Chapter 1 in Women, men and power. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, ??.

Lips, H. 1991. Dominance: The structure of power. Chapter 6 in Women, men and power. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, ??.

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977. Industrial Supply Corporation: The setting. Chapter 2 in Men and women of the corporation. Basic Books, 29-43.

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977. Power. Chapter 7 in Men and women of the corporation. Basic Books, 164-205.

hooks, bell. 1984. Changing perspectives on power. Chapter 6 in Feminist theory: From margin to center. Boston, MA: South End Press, 83-93.

Kennedy, Duncan. 1993. Sexual abuse, sexy dressing, and the eroticization of domination. Chapter 4 in Sexy Dressing: Essays on the power and politics of cultural identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 126-213.

Class 4 The Experience of Oppression

Feb 16

Mura, D. 1988. Strangers in the village. In R. Simonson and S. Walker (eds), Multicultural literacy. Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 135-153.

The readings in the list below preceded by an asterisk are REQUIRED and [are contained in your reading packet]. The other readings listed are on reserve. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you read those as well.

A. Experiences of Asian American Women:

*Mazumdar, S. 1989. General introduction: A woman-centered perspective on Asian American history. In Asian Women United of California (Ed.), Making waves: An anthology of writings by and about Asian women. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1-22.

Woo, D. 1989. The gap between striving and achieving: The case of Asian American women. In Asian Women United of California (Ed.), Making waves: An anthology of writings by and about Asian women. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 185-194.

Noda, K. E. 1989. Growing up Asian in America. In Asian Women United of California (Ed.), Making waves: An anthology of writings by and about Asian women. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 243-251.

Yamada, M. 1983. Invisibility is an unnatural disaster: Reflections of an Asian American woman. In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 35-40.

Yamada, M. 1983. Asian Pacific American women and feminism. In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 71-75.

B. Experiences of Latinas:

*Moraga, C. 1983. La guera. In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 27-34.

Moraga, C. 1983. We fight back with our families. Chapter in C. Moraga. Loving in the war years. Boston, MA: South End Press, 105-111.

Neumaier, D. 1990. (From an interview with the Chicana muralist Judy Baca) Judy Baca: Our people are the internal exiles. In G. Anzaldua (Ed.), Making face, making soul: Haciendo Caras. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation Books, 256-270.

C. Experiences of Native American Women:

*Shanley, K. 1988. Thoughts on Indian feminism. In B. Brant (Ed.), A gathering of spirit: A collection by North American Indian women. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 213-215.

Cameron, B. 1983. "Gee, you don't seem like an Indian from the reservation." In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 46-52.

Sanchez, C. L. 1988. Sex, class and race intersections: Visions of women of color. In B. Brant (Ed.), A gathering of spirit: A collection by North American Indian women. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 163-167.

Moschkovich, J. 1983. "--But I know you, American woman." In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 79-84.

D. Experiences of African American Women:

*Wallace, M. 1988. Invisibility blues. In R. Simonson and S. Walker (eds), Multicultural literacy. Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 161-172.

Lorde, A. 1983. The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 98-101.

Canaan, A. 1983. Brownness. In C. Moraga and G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 232-237.

The Combahee River Collective. 1982. A Black feminist statement. In G. T. Hull, P. B. Scott, and B. Smith (Eds.), All the women are White, all the Blacks are men, but some of us are brave. New York: The Feminist Press, 13-22.

E. Experiences of African American Men:

*Baldwin, J. 1963. My dungeon shook: Letter to my nephew on the one hundredth anniversary of the emancipation. In The fire next time. New York: The Dial Press, 13-22.

Baldwin, J. 1985. The black boy meets the white boy. From The price of a ticket. New York: St. Martin's, 289-303.

Gwaltney, J. L. 1981. Drylongso. New York: Vintage Books. Chapters:

Howard Roundtree, 59-63.

Porter Millington, 102-104.

Sims Patrick, 109-113.

F. Experiences of White Jewish Women:

* *Bulkin, E. 1988. Hard ground: Jewish identity, racism, and anti-semitism. In E. Bulkin, M. B. Pratt, and B. Smith (Eds.), Yours in struggle. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books. Any or all of Parts I - IX. (I recommend I, II, III, IV, VII, and/or IX.)

G. Experiences of Gay, Lesbian, and Bi-sexual People:

*Schuster, R. 1992. Bisexuality and the quest for principled loving. In E. R. Weise (Ed.), Closer to home: Bisexuality and feminism. Seattle, WA: The Seal Press, 147-154.

*Woods, J. D. 1993. Dimensions of the closet. Chapter 1 in The corporate closet: The professional lives of gay men in America. New York: Free Press, 1-30.

Clark, D. 1987. The pleasures of being gay. In Loving someone gay. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 104-109.

Grahn, J. 1987. Flaming without burning: Some of the roles of gay people in society. In M. Thompson (Ed.), Gay spirit: Myth and meaning. New York: St. Martin's Press, 3-27.

Blasingame, B. M. 1992. The roots of biphobia: Racism and internalized heterosexism. In E. R. Weise (Ed.), Closer to home: Bisexuality and feminism. Seattle, WA: The Seal Press, 47-53.

Almaguer, T. Chicano men: A cartography of homosexual identity and behavior. In H. Abelove, M. A. Barale, D. M. Halperin (Eds.), The lesbian and gay studies reader. New York: Routledge, 1993, 255-273.

[NOTE: There may be some replacements above with more recent material, as well as some additions.]

Part II. Theories of Gender, Sexual Identity, and Race

Class 5 Modern Feminist Perspectives on Sex and Gender

Feb. 23

Gies, F. L. 1993. Self-fulfilling prophecies: A social-psychological view of gender. In A. Beall and R. Sternberg (eds.), The psychology of gender. New York: Guilford Press, 9-54. [Include??]

Epstein, Cynthia Fuchs. 1988. Deceptive distinctions: Sex, gender, and the social order. New York City: Russell Sage Foundation. [Selected chapters to be determined in final draft of syllabus.]

Gilligan, Carol. 1982. Images of relationship. Chapter 2 in In a different voice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 24-63.

Bem, Sandra L. 1993. The construction of gender identity. Chapter 5 in The lenses of gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 133-175.

Hartsock, Nancy. 1983. Money, sex, and power. Boston: Northeastern University Press. [Selected chapters to be determined in final draft of syllabus.]

Dinnerstein, Dorothy. 1976. The ruling of the world. Chapter 8 in The mermaid and the minotaur. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 160-197.

Class 6 Postmodern Perspectives on Sex and Gender

March 2

Flax, Jane. 1990. Feminisms: Stories of gender. Chapter 5 in Thinking fragments: Psychoanalysis, feminism, and postmodernism in the contemporary west. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 135-183.

Fraser, Nancy and Nicholson, Linda F. 1990. Social criticism without philosophy: An encounter between feminism and postmodernism. In L. Nicholson (ed), Feminism/postmodernism. London: Routledge, 19-38.

Flax, Jane. 1990. Postmodernism and gender relations in feminist theory. In L. Nicholson (ed), Feminism/postmodernism. London: Routledge, 39-62.

Di Stefano, Christine. 1990. Dilemmas of difference. In L. Nicholson (ed), Feminism/postmodernism. London: Routledge, 63-82.

Bordo, Susan. 1990. Feminism, postmodernism, and gender skepticism. In L. Nicholson (ed), Feminism/postmodernism. London: Routledge, 133-156.

Class 7 On Masculinity

March 9

Astrachan, Anthony. 1988. Why this book. Chapter 1 in How men feel. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 3-13.

Astrachan, Anthony. 1988. A framework of ideas. Chapter 2 in How men feel. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 14-35.

Stoltenberg, John. 1989. How men have (a) sex. In Refusing to be a man: Essays on sex and justice. Portland, OR: Breitenbush Books, Inc., 25-39.

Stoltenberg, John. 1989. Sexual objectification and male supremacy. In Refusing to be a man: Essays on sex and justice. Portland, OR: Breitenbush Books, Inc., 41-56.

Herek, Gregory M. On heterosexual masculinity: Some psychical consequences of the social construction of gender and sexuality. In M. Kimmel (ed), Changing men. Sage Publications, 68-82.

[NOTE: I may add or update here with readings from some newer research and more recently edited volumes.]

Spring Break March 16-March 20

Class 8 The Social Construction of Sexual Identity

March 23

Rich, Adrienne. 1980. Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence. Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 5 (4), 631-660.

Chodorow, Nancy. Masculinities, Femininities, Sexualities. [Get full cite]

Class 9 Race and Race Relations

March 30

Essed, Philomena. 1990. Racism in today's societies. Chapter 1 in Everyday racism. Sage Publications, 7-37.

West, Cornel. 1992. Black leadership and the pitfalls of racial reasoning. In T. Morrison (Ed.), Race-ing justice, en-gendering power: Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the construction of social reality. New York: Pantheon Books, 390-401.

Steele, S. 1990. I'm Black, you're White, who's innocent. Chapter 1 in The content of our character. New York: St. Martin Press, 1-20.

Lawrence, Charles. 1987. The id, the ego, and equal protection: Reckoning with unconscious racism, Stanford Law Review, 317-324.

[NOTE: There will be several additional readings here on the social construction of race and racial identity.]

Class 10 On Being White

April 6

McIntosh, P. 1990. White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Independent School, Winter, 31-34.

Steele, S. 1990. White guilt. Chapter 5 in The content of our character. New York: St. Martin Press, 77-92.

Pratt, M. B. 1988. Identity: Skin, blood, heart. In E. Bulkin, M. B. Pratt, and B. Smith (Eds.), Yours in struggle. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 11-57.

Frankenberg, R. 1993. White women, race matters: The social construction of whiteness. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. [Selected chapters to be determined in final draft of syllabus.]

Part III. Applications to the Workplace

Class 11 Relationships at the Intersections of Sex, Gender, and/or Race

April 13

Hurtado, Aida. 1989. Relating to privilege: Seduction and rejection in the subordination of white women and women of color. Signs, 14, 833-855.

Thomas, David A. 1989. Mentoring and irrationality: The role of racial taboos. Human Resource Management, 28 (2), 279-290.

Ely, Robin J. 1994. Effects of organizational demographics and social identity on relationships among profession women. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 203-238.

Richter, J. 1990. Crossing boundaries between professional and personal life. In H. Y. Grossman and N. L. Chester (eds.), The experience and meaning of work in women's lives. Hillsdale, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 143-164.

Kolb, Deborah. Peace-making in organizations [Get full cite.]

Fletcher, Joyce. [Get full cite.]

Class 12 Inequality/Inequity

April 20

Acker, Joan. 1992. Gendering organization theory. In A. J. Mills and P. Tancred (eds.), Gendering organizational analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishers, 248-261.

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977. Numbers: Minorities and majorities. Chapter 8 in Men and women of the corporation. Basic Books, 206-242.

Schultz, Vicki. 1992. Women "before" the law: Judicial stories about women, work, and sex segregation on the job. In J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists theorize the political. London: Routledge, 297-338.

McKinnon, Catherine. 1979. Sexual harassment of working women. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [Selected chapters to be determined in final draft of syllabus.]

Freeman, Alan. 1988. Racism, rights, and the quest for equality of opportunity: A critical legal essay. Harvard Law Review, 23.

Class 13 Making Change I

April 27

Fish, Stanley. 1994. You can only fight discrimination with discrimination. Chapter 5 in There's no such thing as free speech. New York: Oxford University Press, 70-79.

Kennedy, Randall. 1989. Racial critiques of legal academia. Harvard Law Review.

Kennedy, Duncan. 1993. A cultural pluralist case for affirmative action in legal academia. Chapter 2 in Sexy Dressing: Essays on the power and politics of cultural identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 34-82.

Class 14 Making Change II

May 4

Thomas, David A. and Ely, Robin J. 1996. Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity. Harvard Business Review, September-October.

Meyerson, Debra and Scully, Maureen. 1996. Tempered radicalism and the politics of ambivalence: Personal alignment and change. Organization Science. [Need to get exact cite.]

Flax, Jane. No conclusions: Gender, knowledge, self, and power in transition. Chapter 7 in Thinking fragments: Psychoanalysis, feminism, and postmodernism in the contemporary west. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 222-236.

Van Nostrom, Katherine Herr. Readings from Gender-responsible leadership [Get full cite.]

Martin, Patricia Yancy. Feminist management techniques. In E. Fagenson (ed.), Women and work [Get full cite.]

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