Discrimination

General Description:

The Discrimination Committee, both as a community of scholars and members of SWS, believes in the continued research regarding the institutional and individual manifestations of discrimination in society, especially in the realm of academia.  Not only does the Discrimination Committee organize sessions to inform the SWS Collective on issues regarding Discrimination in the Workplace at SWS Meetings, it also provides direct, individual support to SWS members in need.

The Discrimination Committee assists SWS members when they have experienced discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, religion, or other group characteristics, or when their academic freedom or other rights are violated. The Committee offers various types of support to members who are struggling with experiences of discrimination.

Please note:  The Discrimination Committee is not an investigative body.  Its purpose is not to investigate or judge whether and how discrimination occurred as perceived by the SWS member.

Getting Personal:  the Discrimination Committee as an Asset (to SWSers)

This committee exists to aid members by offering informational, institutional and/or financial assistances to members of SWS who believe they have been victims of discrimination based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, disability, religion or other group characteristics, or when their academic freedom or other rights have been violated at their institutions of employment. The Discrimination Committee is convinced that members should be supported through their experiences of discrimination regardless of background, while paying great attention to how gender intersects other advice on how to proceed.  Consequently, the committee will do its best to provide informal, emotional support to the person in trouble.

To achieve its goals, the Discrimination Committee acts on four principles:

1)       Trust

2)       Confidentiality

3)       Promptness

4)       Conviction

Firstly, the committee trusts that the claims of any SWS member who believes she may have been subject to discrimination in the workplace are honest.  Second, the Discrimination Committee keeps the identity members receiving assistance confidentially and carefully unless explicit consent to go public is established.  Realizing that a timely response is both important and a signifier of respect, the Discrimination Committee is committed to responding to the SWS member’s call promptly.  Lastly, the discrimination committee is informed by and believes in scholarly research devoted to the issues of discrimination in the workplace.

Institutionally, the Discrimination Committee can write a letter of support to an administrator at the member’s workplace. This letter of support is signed by the current SWS President, President Elect, and Discrimination Committee Chair.  The letter will state SWS' knowledge of the situation and encouragement towards a fair resolution.   Financial Support can be provided by recommending to allocate Natalie Allon funds to help defray the cost of legal advice or representation of the member in a discriminatory situation.   See current chair Roberta Villalon's article to learn more about the Natalie Allon Fund.

Need Help?

Contact the Chair for a confidential discussion of your case.  The Chair will gather all pertinent information.  The information will be anonymously shared among the Discrimination Committee members (and if necessary, SWS officers) and assessed on a case-by-case basis to consider what kind of support should be provided.

Resources

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:
  http://www.eeoc.gov/
• Directory of research on discrimination and pay equity issues in academia:
  http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/chillyclimate.html
• American Sociological Association
  • Code of Ethics
  • Status Committees

1. Status of Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Persons in Sociology
2. Status of Persons with Disabilities in Sociology
3. Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Sociology
4. Status of Women in Sociology

• Tenure Denied – AAUW
• Academic Freedom and TenureInvestigative Reports
• The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession
• The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets - Pager, D. & Shepherd
• Ending Sex and Race Discrimination in the Workplace: Legal Interventions that Push the Envelope – Ariane Hegewisch, Cynthia Deitch, Evelyn Murphy (IWPR)
• Inequality Regimes : Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations -  Joan Acker
• The Myth of Post-Feminism – Elaine. J. Hall and Marnie Salupo Rodriguez
• Race, Gender, the Wage Gap :  Comparing Faculty Salaries in Predominately White and Historically Black Colleges and Universities  - Linda A. Renzulli, Linda Grant and Sheetija Kathuria
• Passing on Faculty Roles, Cui Bono? - Helen Moore
• Practicing Intersectionality in Sociological Research: A Critical Analysis of Inclusions, Interactions, and Institutions in the Study of Inequalities – Myra Marx Ferree
• An Intersectional Analysis of Differential Opportunity Structures for Community-Based Anticrime Efforts – Sarah Becker
• An Intersectional Analysis of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People's Evaluations of Anti-Queer Violence – Doug Meyer
• Intersectionality and the Quality of the Gender Equality Architecture – Sylvia Walby, Jo Armstrong and Sofia Strid
• Poverty, education, gender and the Millennium Development Goals: Reflections on boundaries and intersectionality – Elaine Unterhalter
• Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power –Hather McLaughlin, Christopher Uggen and Amy Blackstone
• Intersectionality and the Study of Black, Sexual Minority Women – Mignon R. Moore
• Engendering Gendered Knowledge : Assessing the Academic Appropriation of Hegemonic Masculinity – James W. Messerschmidt
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of 'Comfortable Shoes' – Pamela Brand
• "Discrimination in the Twenty-First Century:  How Far Have We Come?" - Jo Grady

Contact The Committee 

Discrimination Committee Members

Chair: Roberta Villalon (  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Appointed Members:

Katja Guenther: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Carrie Lee Smith: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cynthia Deitch: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kumiko Nemoto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Christina Sneed: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Please contact us with suggestions or questions!

If you are a SWS member and want to know more about this committee, or read the meeting minutes, please log in to access the Members' section.