ABSTRACT MYRICK, CAROLINE MARIE. Language and Gender
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ABSTRACT MYRICK, CAROLINE MARIE. Language and Gender Ideologies in Higher Education: An Examination of Faculty Discourses. (Under the direction of Dr. Martha Crowley and Dr. Walt Wolfram). Gender inequality persists in workplaces across the country despite growing convictions of gender egalitarianism (Charles and Grusky 2007; Ridgeway 2011). In addition to inequality at the structural level, everyday verbal interactions reproduce gender inequality within institutions as well (Lester 2008; Ridgeway 2011; Schwalbe et al. 2000). Language itself is variable for gender discrimination, with women being disproportionately sanctioned for their speech at work (Carli 1990). Research on language and gender at work, however, has focused on corporate sector, leaving unanswered questions about other workplaces. Universities are important sites for investigation, because they are not only workplaces but also training grounds for students. While we know that language ideologies can reproduce ethnic and class-based inequalities in the university setting (Dunstan 2013; McBride 2006; Scott 2008), we know little about language and gender in higher education. What linguistic pressures or obstacles do women faculty face? How do linguistic practices of faculty reflect men’s and women’s status within the university? What differences do faculty perceive between the language of men and women students, and what do these observations tell us about their conceptualizations of gender? To answer these questions, this dissertation investigates the language and gender ideologies—or the beliefs and values related to men’s and women’s language use (Cameron 2014)—that university faculty subscribe to, through multiple mixed-methods analyses of faculty discourse. First, I examine women faculty’s descriptions of experiences with language in higher education, including linguistic pressures they perceive in the university and behaviors of adaptation or resistance enacted as a result. Second, I analyze men and women faculty’s workplace narratives about faculty language as manifested in meetings, at conferences, and in the classroom. Third, I examine faculty perceptions of men and women students’ language, including their rationales for differences they do or do not observe. Data come from interviews carried out with faculty members at a research university in the southeast. Using a mixed methods approach, I use quantitative content analysis to illustrate broad and categorical trends in the data, and discourse analysis to explore the ways in which faculty frame their observations. Results suggest that there may be important work to be done within the university related to gender inequality as it presents itself linguistically. Overall, faculty perceive academia as favoring masculinity and men in many arenas. Women feel pressured to sound masculine more than any other linguistic pressure, and report altering their speech in order to sound more competent at work. Men and women respondents describe men faculty dominating women faculty linguistically; they also highlight the linguistic privilege of men faculty, and the language-related double-standards faced by women faculty. Faculty descriptions of students’ linguistic behaviors reflect gender essentialist discourses documented in previous studies of K-12 teachers. Most professors reported observing no differences between men and women students’ language—which could suggest a failure to notice gender inequalities in the classroom, or may be evidence of university classrooms becoming more gender egalitarian. Studies of faculty discourses are important because many educators are unaware of their gender biases, including gender biases they hold with their students (Lundeberg 1997). Furthermore, with the persistent “glass-ceiling” (or “leaky-pipeline”) effect in academia, examinations of faculty experiences and narratives are needed to identify obstacles of linguistic bias or discrimination. As universities continue to search for ways to create more equitable workplaces for women faculty and ensuring fair treatment and assessment of students, my dissertation and future research can provide important building blocks for institutional initiatives to build upon. © Copyright 2019 by Caroline Myrick All Rights Reserved Language and Gender Ideologies in Higher Education: An Examination of Faculty Discourses by Caroline Marie Myrick A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology Raleigh, North Carolina 2019 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Martha Crowley Walt Wolfram Committee Co-Chair Committee Co-Chair _______________________________ _______________________________ Stefano Longo Jeffrey Reaser ii DEDICATION For my grandmothers. iii BIOGRAPHY Caroline Myrick was born and raised in Prince William County, Virginia. After completing high school in Wilmington, North Carolina, she attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Communication Studies, with minors in English and Spanish. In 2013, she received her master’s degree in English Linguistics from North Carolina State University. She continued at NCSU to receive a doctoral degree in Sociology, specializing in Inequality and Sociolinguistics. Her graduate research has examined language and gender; dialects of the U.S. and Caribbean; and language, ethnicity, and inequality. Caroline resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and cat. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the end of this long and grueling journey, I have a number of giants to thank for letting me stand on their shoulders. First and foremost, I must thank the folks who have been by my side the longest. Thank you to my parents, Bob and Lynda, who nurtured my academic curiosities from a very young age. You encouraged me to read (which I hated), write (which I loved), and ask questions (which I was going to do either way). Thank you for the constant wisdom, which seems to flow from an endless well, and for the agency you have given me in all of my educational decisions. Thank you to my brother, Scott, who—despite our childhood relationship consisting almost exclusively of nagging and arguing—has discretely become one of my biggest cheerleaders. And thank you to my childhood best friend, Audra. As I desperately tried (unsuccessfully) to be cool, you showed me that being a nerd was even better. This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of my dissertation committee: Martha Crowley, Walt Wolfram, Stefano Longo, and Jeffrey Reaser. To Martha, especially: I appreciate your openness to such an interdisciplinary dissertation, and your flexibility as the project evolved. I feel so lucky to have had four committee members who are not only experts in their fields, but also incredible readers, writers, and proofreaders. You all made my dissertation so much stronger. Looking back at the start of my graduate experience, I must thank the many Linguistics faculty members who took a wide-eyed 23-year-old and turned her into a budding scholar. The biggest of thankyous to Walt Wolfram, my advisor, professor, co-author, co-editor, mentor, and lunch buddy. Every idea I’ve brought to you has been met with “Let’s make it happen”—from doing fieldwork in the Caribbean, to co-authoring books. Over the past eight years, you have v modeled for me (and countless others) what it looks like to be a researcher, teacher, advocate for social justice, and kind person. Working with you has been a pleasure. The majority of my dissertation was written in a broom closet, and I must thank my closet-mate, Jon Forest. You brought such an energy to our office that some days I forgot we didn’t have windows. Many friends outside of the broom closet brought light to my life throughout the dissertation process as well, including Abby, Joel, Kelly, Michelle, and Scott. A special thankyou to Kelly, who brainstormed dissertation ideas with me during car rides, walks in the park, coffee, and Scrabble. You have pushed me to think critically and grow emotionally, while showing patience, grace, empathy, and humor. Graduate school was an amazing experience, but also intellectually, psychologically, and physically tolling. I am thus indebted to the folks at the Student Health Center who helped keep my body and mind healthy. You know who you are. Also crucial to my mental health were KK, who was always a call or text away, and Jess, who was not only like an unofficial dissertation advisor, but also a model of a strong female scholar. Finally, I thank my partner and husband, Aaron. You encouraged me when I doubted myself, celebrated with me when I was proud of myself, humbled me when I was full of myself, and gave me perspective me when I couldn't see beyond myself. You didn’t complain (too much) when I worked on my dissertation on weekends or during vacations. You knew when to suggest I put down the laptop and take a break. You consoled me after difficult writing days. You celebrated all the little milestones. And most importantly, you never let me forget that there is life after graduate school. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................