Teaching and Professional Practice

M19 - Women's Caucus Micro-paper Roundtable: Gendered Differences and the Slow Movement in Academia

Date: Jun 1 | Time: 01:30pm to 03:00pm | Location: Classroom - CL 431 Room ID:15742

Chair/Président/Présidente : Nicole Wegner (University of Saskatchewan)

Women's Caucus Micro-paper Roundtable: Gendered Differences and the Slow Movement in Academia:

Nicole Wegner (University of Saskatchewan)
Georgette Morris (University of Ottawa)
Kelly Gordon (McGill University)
Fiona MacDonald (University of the Fraser Valley)
Alana Cattapan (University of Saskatchewan)
Dominique Bourque (University of Ottawa)
Laura Bisaillon (University of Toronto Scarborough)

Abstract: Berg and Seeber’s 2016 book The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy protests the “corporatization of the contemporary university” that has resulted in increased demand for speed, output, and efficiency from faculty regardless of the consequences for scholarship and education. This often has worked to the detriment of scholars who require time to carefully think through theoretical ideas, yet are required to meet institutional output standards for teaching and research. The “slow movement” includes other work such as Treanor’s Slow University: A Manifesto, which identifies unease with academic workloads at the expense of self-care and family priorities. However, the Slow Movement has also faced criticisms, being labelled a mark of privilege of those with tenure at the expense of a growing precariat workforce, but also the ways in which resistance to the corporatization and increased speed of university labour might have varying gendered consequences. While the need for resistance to contemporary academic culture has validity, this roundtable seeks to explore the ways that strategies for participation might be tempered or limited due to gender, precariousness, or family structures. In addition to a discussion of these considerations, the roundtable seeks to also provide potential strategies for achieving “slower”, or more balanced, academic scholarship and lifestyle.