Author meets Critics: Misconceiving Merit

Thu 24 August at 15.00 (UTC+3)

Misconceiving Merit. Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering

is an incisive study showing how cultural ideas of merit in academic science produce unfair and unequal outcomes. In the book, sociologists Mary Blair-Loy and Erin A. Cech uncover the cultural foundations of a paradox. On one hand, academic science, engineering, and math revere meritocracy, a system that recognizes and rewards those with the greatest talent and dedication. At the same time, women and some racial and sexual minorities remain underrepresented and often feel unwelcome and devalued in STEM.

Authors 

Mary Blair-Loy

Professor, Co-Director, Center for Research on Gender in STEMM
UC San Diego, US

Mary Blair-Loy is professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Research on Gender in STEMM at the University of California San Diego. She is the author of Competing Devotions: Career and Family among Women Executives.

Read more on Blair-Loy’s research and expertise on her faculty profile page.

Erin A. Cech

Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies
University of Michigan, US

Erin A. Cech is associate professor of sociology and mechanical engineering (by courtesy) at the University of Michigan. She is also the author of The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality. 

Read more on Cech’s research and expertise on her faculty profile page.

Panelists

Jerry A. Jacobs

Professor of Sociology
University of Pennsylvania, US

Jerry A. Jacobs is a professor of sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Jacobs’ research interests cover themes such as technology and the future of work, aging and carework, work and family, women’s careers and  international dimensions of social problems.

Read more on professor Jacobs’ expertise and research interests on his faculty profile page.

Professor Jacobs chairs the session.

Izabela Wagner

Associate Professor of Sociology
Collegium Civitas, University in Warsaw, PL

Izabela Wagner is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Warsaw. She is also a member of the research group “Center for Social Movements” at the EHESS in Paris, and a member of the board of Qualitative Network Section – ESA (European Sociological Association). Wagner’s research interests include e.g. women in science, academic careers and refugee phenomenon.

Read more on associate professor Wagner’s expertise and research interests on her website. 

Linda Rafnsdóttir

Vice-Rector of Research
Professor of Sociology
University of Island, IS

Linda Rafnsdóttir is a Vice-Rector of Research and Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics at the University of Island. She has taken part in a wide range of Icelandic and international research projects and is an affiliate of the Center for Research on Gender in STEMM at the University of California San Diego. Rafnsdottir’s research spans a broad field within the sociology of work, well-being and gender. 

Read more on professor Rafnsdóttir’s expertise and research interests on her faculty profile page.