Sociologists for Women in Society: supporting feminist scholarship.(IN THEIR OWN WORDS)

An important and illustrative feminist response to the gendered structure of the academy--and sociology in particular--has been the formation of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS).

At the 1969 meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in San Francisco, hundreds of radical women met in a church to discuss the status of women in the discipline. Many shared reports of discrimination, resulting in both relief and anger that these were common experiences.

At the ASA business meeting, Alice Rossi, representing the newly formed Women's Caucus, presented nine resolutions including hiring and promotion issues, child care support, the inclusion of courses about women and guidelines for research. The general membership approved the spirit of the resolutions; taking advantage of this climate, a number of these women became the "founding mothers" of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) in 1971.

The organization quickly became active in improving the situation of women in sociology specifically and in the academy by association. Both the representation of women (mostly Euro-American) in elite positions and as program participants at ASA meetings have increased fairly consistently since the formation of the Women's Caucus, the SWS and the Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession.

These organizations have changed the structure of the ASA itself and have improved the environment for women in the profession. While it is clear that feminists have impacted the academy, it is also apparent that they have not truly transformed the structure and practices of higher education.

Feminist sociologists continue to be uniquely situated to become leaders for change supporting women in higher education. We are more likely to be familiar with the research on gender in the workplace and gender in organizations than our colleagues in other disciplines like physics or fine arts. We also bring a sociological lens to the issues: We appreciate that the issues women face in academia are generally not individual problems requiring individual solutions, but are social, cultural and institutional problems that require structural change.

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