New initiatives on prostitution in the UK

News from the UK of government proposals to crack down on the clients of prostitutes, with the aim of protecting trafficked women. Some controversy over whether it will actually achieve that goal. See the Associated Press story.

Intersex Babies

Fascinating article in The Stanford Report, November 12, on "intersex babies": i.e. babies born without a clear sex. The Stanford Report story draws on a new book, Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority and Lived Experience (Duke University Press) by Katrina Karkazis. Intersex people used to be called hermaphrodites. Sometimes they have mostly male characteristics, sometimes mostly female; the intersex characteristics may be at the genetic, gonadal, or anatomic level.

Dr Karkazis talks about changes to the way doctors view these babies. They no longer tend to treat assigning a sex as essential. Being assigned to the male or female gender is necessary, for social and legal reasons; but surgery is no longer seen as the only or best option for children with ambiguous genitalia or other anatomical intersex characteristics. Dr Karkazis advocates for a more sympathetic view of intersex people, as whole individuals with unique stories, rather than as curious biological specimens. The Stanford Report article concludes with a quote:

'We need doctors, Karkazis said, who will tell...worried parents, "I've seen this before. It's OK. There's no reason your child cannot have a marvelous life." '

Leaving the Clayman Institute

I will be leaving the Clayman Institute on December 17, after more than three years as Associate Director. We are (obviously) looking for a replacement - go to the Institute's website at http://gender.stanford.edu to look for more details on the homepage. We'll also be looking for two part-time maternity cover posts for an events co-ordinator and a fellowship program manager, January to June 2009.

Silicon Valley research this week

Watch out for new research this week from the Clayman Institute at Stanford in collaboration with the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. It's called Climbing the Technical Ladder: Women in Mid-Level Positions in Silicon Valley High Tech. Based on survey and interviews at six leading Silicon Valley high tech companies, it examines why women drop out of the technical ladder, and why so few women make it past the difficult mid-level tier to senior management. It reveals that women want much the same as their male colleagues - and that to improve employee loyalty and retention, companies would be advised to approach all their employees with similar initiatives. Very revealing stuff.

Speak out!

I just spent the past two days in a seminar hosted by Catherine Orenstein, founder of the OpEd Project, on how to write and pitch an opinion piece. She has amazing experience of freelance writing to share, and a host of great ideas. Do you have something you want to say? Did you know that over 90% of op-ed pieces in newspapers are written by white men? Speak out! Take a look at the Op-Ed Project's website and see if they are hosting an event near you soon. You'll be surprised to learn that YOU are an expert too!

Dual-Career report update

Only 6 days to go till we launch our Dual-Career Academic Couples report. Watch out for a story in the Chronicle of Higher Education on August 20.

Dual-Careers report coming soon

It's been a busy time at the Clayman Institute as we prepare our new report, Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know, to go to press. It went off to the printers (at last!!) yesterday, and we will be launching the report on Wednesday August 20.

The report is based on over 9,000 responses to a survey we rolled out in the early months of 2006 at thirteen of the US's top research universities (all shall remain nameless). We have an incredible wealth of information on all kinds of aspects of academic life through this survey, from data on partnering patterns to who does the laundry. This new report is on just one aspect of the survey data: the extent to which academics partner with each other - including how that affects their view of their career, the career decisions they make, and the ways universities deal with the dual-career phenomenon in their role as employers. The report also makes suggestions based on current best practice for how they might deal with dual-career couples more effectively.