A story exploded in Canada today, one that has shocked many Canadians who find it hard to believe that in this day and age in a democracy where women have full rights of citizenship and freedom, a man can request to not have to work with women because of religious beliefs and that request can be granted by, of all places, a university.
As a woman and as a mother of daughters - or the "unclean", in this case - it made me feel physically ill. I have to say that I am well and truly outraged.
There is a bigger story at play here, however, that needs consideration. This is really a story about the value of secure employment and how democracies are sustained.
Universities should be places where people are free to engage in the full exploration of ideas. This often requires entering uncomfortable territory. Dark and unpopular concepts need to be researched, examined and debated so that when conclusions are finally formed, they rest on solid foundations. To do this, professors must feel free to take risks and that is why we guarantee academic freedom through tenure, or what some like to refer to as "entitled professors with their jobs for life".
Full-time permanent professorships are not what they used to be, however. Many have been eliminated or replaced by contract instructors. I recently spoke with a college professor who shared that at his institution the ratio of professors to contract workers is now about 1:5. How does this relate to a man being excused from an assignment because he had to work with women? J. Paul Grayson, the professor who blew the whistle, has the luxury of tenure. His job is secure so when an unacceptable idea emerged, he was able to publicly challenge the validity of that idea without fear of being fired. I cannot imagine an instructor concerned that his or her contract might not be renewed taking a similar stance. I suspect that had a contract instructor been teaching the course, the public would never have found out about this appalling situation and it would have quietly become acceptable for men to refuse working with women for religious reasons at Canadian universities.
Democracies are not guaranteed. They require work and investment. They can be chipped away at until they disappear when citizens become unwilling to make investments in the institutions and infrastructure that sustain them. By allowing our institutions to become eroded through precarious employment we put our democracy and all that comes with it at risk.
As a woman and as a mother of daughters - or the "unclean", in this case - it made me feel physically ill. I have to say that I am well and truly outraged.
There is a bigger story at play here, however, that needs consideration. This is really a story about the value of secure employment and how democracies are sustained.
Universities should be places where people are free to engage in the full exploration of ideas. This often requires entering uncomfortable territory. Dark and unpopular concepts need to be researched, examined and debated so that when conclusions are finally formed, they rest on solid foundations. To do this, professors must feel free to take risks and that is why we guarantee academic freedom through tenure, or what some like to refer to as "entitled professors with their jobs for life".
Full-time permanent professorships are not what they used to be, however. Many have been eliminated or replaced by contract instructors. I recently spoke with a college professor who shared that at his institution the ratio of professors to contract workers is now about 1:5. How does this relate to a man being excused from an assignment because he had to work with women? J. Paul Grayson, the professor who blew the whistle, has the luxury of tenure. His job is secure so when an unacceptable idea emerged, he was able to publicly challenge the validity of that idea without fear of being fired. I cannot imagine an instructor concerned that his or her contract might not be renewed taking a similar stance. I suspect that had a contract instructor been teaching the course, the public would never have found out about this appalling situation and it would have quietly become acceptable for men to refuse working with women for religious reasons at Canadian universities.
Democracies are not guaranteed. They require work and investment. They can be chipped away at until they disappear when citizens become unwilling to make investments in the institutions and infrastructure that sustain them. By allowing our institutions to become eroded through precarious employment we put our democracy and all that comes with it at risk.
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