gender gap

Submitted by Liz Bellamy on June 11th, 2020
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Short Description: 

When writing a research paper, it can be easy to overlook the human side of scholarship – how being cited in a study (or not) can have real, material consequences, and how social structures can systematically exclude certain people from scholarship. This activity and lesson explores these ideas and gives students strategies for making their literature reviews more inclusive.

All told, this lesson takes about 50 minutes to an hour -- 20-30 minutes for the readings and pre-workshop activity, and 30 minutes of discussion. 

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Inclusive citations outline and lesson plan.docxdisplayed 1301 times20.47 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Students will be able to articular some of the material consequences of citation practices in scholarly and research fields.
  • Students will be able to identify baseline strategies for practicing inclusive citation in their fields of study.
  • Students will be able to consider alternative sources of authority in their fields of study.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This flipped-classroom workshop was first implemented in an extracurricular summer undergraduate workshop series. It was one of many topics offered in the series, and meant to complement topics such as "Finding Full-Text Articles" and "Writing a Literature Review." The workshop has been held virtually over Blackboard and Zoom, though it can certainly be adapted to an in-person setting. 

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Readings:

1: Maha Bali, Inclusive Citation: How Diverse Are Your References?

2: Rachel Pells, Understanding the Extent of Gender Gap in Citation 

Activity:

1. After finishing the readings, complete the following activity analyzing the citation practices of a research paper of your  choice. Choose either:

  1. your own literature review up to this point, or
  2. a scholarly article you’re considering for your literature review.

Your task is to briefly analyze the gender dynamics of your chosen research paper's works cited page (up to 20 sources, max). Based on what you can infer of the genders of the authors cited, what do you notice? Is there a balance or imbalance of gender among the authors cited? 

2. Respond to this discussion board post with what you noticed during your analysis and what any gender gap or lack thereof says to you about whose voices are valued in your field. 

Instructor's note: In order to remain manageable, this activity asked students to make assumptions about gender based on superficial characteristics and sort those genders largely into a binary. Some brief classroom time was spent unpacking how, in reality, gender is a complex spectrum. 

Suggested Citation: 
Bellamy, Liz . "Whose Shoulders Are You Standing On? Inclusive Citation Practices in Literature Reviews." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/whose-shoulders-are-you-standing-inclusive-citation-practices-literature-reviews.
Submitted by Katrina Stierholz on June 24th, 2018
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Short Description: 

A hybrid teaching module with two elements: an interactive online module for students to complete ahead of class and a face-to-face lesson plan that builds on the skills learned in the online lesson. The in-class session provides students with a critical exploration of the purchasing power of minimum wages across states and/or the earnings gap between men and women employed full time.

The pre-class online course is titled: “FRED Interactive: Information Literacy” available through www.econlowdown.org. In the online course, students review a FRED graph made in the course; define the concepts nominal, real, and inflation; and discuss basic strategies for establishing the reliability of a data source.

The in-person class lesson is titled: ACRL Information Literacy Frames as FRED-Integrated Abilities: The frames Research as Inquiry, Information Creation as a Process, Scholarship as Conversation, and Authority Is Constructed and Contextual are highlighted. The instructor has two possible tasks for students;
-Option A, students work in FRED and use the formula real = (nominal/CPI)*100 to plot inflation-adjusted minimum wage rates for two states and compare the results.
-Option B, students work in FRED to plot and compare nominal and real earnings differentials for men and woman.

The lesson includes a variety of in-class and out-of-class assessment activities and links to resources and a glossary of terms provide additional learning opportunities.

Attachments: 
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Keeping_It_Real.pdfdisplayed 1060 times281.15 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will:

Create
❏ New FRED® graphs

Define
❏ Minimum wage
❏ Nominal and real wages
❏ Consumer price inflation (CPI)

Identify
❏ Metadata in a FRED graph
❏ Additional questions for further research

Describe
❏ The frequency of data collection
❏ The components of a data citation
❏ The difference between data sources and aggregators
❏ The reasons for knowing how data are collected
❏ The difference between nominal and real wages
❏ The issues of authority regarding trustworthiness, reliability, and credibility of data sources

Individual or Group:

Suggested Citation: 
Stierholz, Katrina. "Keeping It Real: Teach ACRL Information Literacy Frames with FRED data ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/keeping-it-real-teach-acrl-information-literacy-frames-fred-data.
Submitted by Elisa Acosta on March 20th, 2017
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Short Description: 

Students in an introductory Women's and Gender Studies course are required to critically analyze and edit an article in Wikipedia. Through class discussion and an active learning exercise, students begin to understand how and why women and many racial groups and individuals are underrepresented or systematically marginalized in Wikipedia. Students learn how to use the "Talk" tab to evaluate Wikipedia articles and learn about authority and power structures within that community.

Attachments: 
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Lesson Plandisplayed 968 times28.96 KB
Worksheet #1 displayed 901 times14.86 KB
Worksheet #2 displayed 787 times14.79 KB
Worksheet #3 displayed 804 times15.01 KB
Worksheet #1 (short version)displayed 846 times14.48 KB
Worksheet #2 (short version)displayed 856 times14.42 KB
Worksheet #3 (short version)displayed 776 times14.67 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Identify voices missing or marginalized in Wikipedia Define "notability" Define "reliable sources" Explain how Wikipedia's policies and guidelines contribute to its gender gap in knowledge

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

One-shot library instruction. This exercise is a "warm up" for the Wikipedia edit-a-thon co-sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Department. http://librarynews.lmu.edu/2017/03/wikipedia-edit-thon-gender-race-sexua...

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Jackson, J. (2016, July 28). Building on Millions of Tiny Shoulders: Tips for Hosting a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. [Blog article]. Retrieved from http://programminglibrarian.org/blog/building-millions-tiny-shoulders-ti...

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

If taught Fall Semester, most first year students don't know what peer-review is yet.

Suggested Citation: 
Acosta, Elisa. "The Gender Gap in Wikipedia." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/gender-gap-wikipedia.