Greetings: Contrary to old research and stereotypes--the young women in my management classes are the brighter of the genders and express themselves very clearly--with a little encouragement from me. Maybe it's the "steel magnolia" thing!
Dr. Bonnie Garson
Associate Professor
McCamish School of Business
Reinhardt College
Waleska, Ga 30183.
>
> From: George M Munchus III <
munchus@UAB.EDU>
> Date: 2005/10/21 Fri PM 02:51:22 EDT
> To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Gender of the list - classroom behavior & instructors part in/against it
>
> Hello:
>
> As one long time very pushy for positive change type African American
> male I find this discussion on point.
>
>
> Peace,George Munchus,UAB
> Professor of Management
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Management Education and Development Discussion
> [mailto:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU]On Behalf Of Jay Warner
> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 7:35 PM
> To:
MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Gender of the list - classroom behavior & instructors part
> in/against it
>
>
> I suspect that there is no way a person can participate in this
> discussion without firmly hitting someone's hackles - with or without
> validity of participation or hackles. Nonetheless:
>
> The greater participation of males in a class, compared to the
> females in the same classroom, is noted at a very early age.
> Somewhere around 6th grade it starts to be reinforced by the more
> vocal boys, as they let the girls know that when girls demand to be
> heard they are being 'pushy,' and hence undesirable. Why should this
> effect cease at the undergraduate and graduate level?
>
> Similar behavior by White students serves to reinforce cultural
> expectations of how 'retiring' African-Americans (and other persons
> of color?) are supposed to behave. Everywhere in the USA there are
> ways for reining in those African-Americans who get 'pushy.'
>
> Males, or White people, don't have to believe and agree with these
> deductions from observations in order to be 'sexist,' or 'racist.'
>
> They just have to go along.
>
> (I'm using Beverly Tatum's definition: Tatum, Beverly Daniel;
> ?Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?? And
> Other Conversations About Race , Revised Edition, 2003 ,
> Basic Books)
>
> I can understand why students might reinforce intellectually or
> socially undesirable attitudes. My concern is for the instructor.
> Since the instructor is nominally in charge of the class activities,
> I'd like to know what the instructor might do to reduce the imbalance
> caused by prior cultural indoctrination.
>
> I know that in the thick of a class discussion it is quite difficult
> for an instructor to both guide/lead a discussion and monitor the
> subtleties of participant subgroups. Nonetheless, even my thick head
> is able to see some cases. I believe it incumbent upon us, the
> intellectual leaders of the class (I trust), to assure that the
> students have enough insight to understand the fact of their
> behavior, some inkling of the implications and consequences, and
> perhaps the wisdom to let them decide if they really want to continue
> through life as such barbaric miscreants.
>
> After all, folks in this group are training/teaching the future
> managers. How effective a manager is someone likely to be if they
> ignore input from females, or discount anything from a person of
> color, or for that matter dismiss any suggestions for improvement
> from an hourly worker? If we instructors fail to awaken students to
> their own negative behaviors we provide a less than optimum/
> successful/complete education - and that's _our_ product.
>
> We're all in this together. We need help from all quarters. It's
> high time we act like it.
>
> Jay
>
>
> On Oct 19, 2005, at 10:25 AM, Godar, Susan wrote:
>
> > I'd like to respond to the question about the "gender" of the list.
> > It's very important, I think, that all kinds of voices be heard.
> > One of
> > the advantages of this type of sharing, via elists, should be the
> > opportunity to hear a variety of ideas, not just a few people. And
> > not
> > just people of one sex or from one background.
> >
> > I've just finished observing some classes and noted that much of the
> > participation in classes is coming from the males in the class. To me
> > that means a less-effective learning environment for everyone as (a)
> > women are disenfranchised from the class and (b) men are not learning
> > from them. (In another class only the white students were responding
> > and I found that equally disturbing, by the way.) If you're teaching
> > today, I encourage you to pay attention to who's participating in the
> > discussions - and make room for all voices.
> >
> > Sue Godar
>
> Jay Warner
> Principal Scientist
> Warner Consulting, Inc.
> 4444 North Green Bay Road
> Racine, WI 53404-1216
> USA
>
> Ph: 262.634.9100
> FAX: 262.681.1133
> email:
quality@a2q.com
> web:
www.a2q.com
>
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