|
Volume CXXXII, Number 16 |
 |
Kirsch advocates ethics, respect
HANNAH DEAN
STAFF WRITER
Authorship and authority are words that are closely linked - both by root word and by the implications they have in the academic world. Unfortunately, the legitimacy of both women and other minority groups in the power scheme has traditionally been under scrutiny. As a result, establishing themselves in positions of authority remains a difficulty for minority individuals and most often for women. The process can often be like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Gesa E. Kirsch, the Professor of English and Research Fellow at the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College, presented some approaches to this daunting task and some remedies for the situation in her lecture.
The most important part of establishing authority in the academic world is taking on a voice of authority in the realm of scholarly literature. However, Kirsch noted that "learning to write is a complex process" and "establishing authority [in writing] is further complicated by being a woman." Those who try to gain authority must fit in with preexisting notions of authority. "Male voices," said Kirsch "have been closely associated…with authority" and, therefore, female voices are often in danger of being blatantly overlooked and trivialized.
Kirsch also noted a distinction between having authority versus being perceived as having authority. In a study of successful women writers, Kirsch found that the more years of experience a given individual had, the more confident that woman was. For example, one female professor who participated in the study commented, "I think having tenure…gives you a certain amount of freedom." On the other hand, successful female writers-no matter how long they had been in the academic world-generally commented they could never take their authority for granted. Thus, female academics often found themselves in the position of constantly proving their authority before taking risks in terms of the actual academic material with which they were working.
In order to remedy the present problems with authority and authorship, Kirsch suggested that it is up to the academic institutions to create space where minority voices can carry authority. "It is important for students to be able to think of themselves as scholars and intellectuals," said Kirsch. Thus, as students, women must be allowed to begin to develop voices of authority.
Some suggest that it is the argumentative and competitive nature of scholarly writing that has kept women from establishing their authority. Often, a scholar must first "shoot down" opponents in order to have the authority to make their own claim. Thus, institutions should teach a wider range of writing styles that caters more to the supposedly female tendency towards non-confrontational interaction.
Kirsch suggested, however, that the gender lines concerning methods of argument are often overblown. In light of this observation, the argumentative style should not be wholly abandoned. Rather, women should be taught to deal with the conflict that they will inevitably confront in the world of scholarly writing. "We can educate women about the challenges they will face," said Kirsch. "It is better to teach women to add new work to the scholarly body of knowledge rather than teaching them to constantly challenge the current academic power structure."
Kirsch's research focuses on ethics, feminism, qualitative research, composition theory, and women's roles in higher education. Her publications include Ethical Dilemmas in Feminist Research: The Politics of Location, Interpretation, and Publication (SUNY 1999); Women Writing the Academy: Audience, Authority, and Transformation (SIUP, 1994); and several other co-edited collections.
|
FastCounter by bCentral |