Respectful Academic Writing.

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
'RESPECT'

I wrote my conference paper a couple of weeks ago. Timed it, trimmed the word-count, timed it again. (Repeat that a few times!) And then today, something occurred to me. Not all at once, no. In stages, let’s say. To start with, it was just a question of technology: wouldn’t it be better, I mused, if I used the tablet rather than a wad of paper? On went the tablet. And (not that I noticed at first) off again. I eventually realised that it needed charging – it’s ages since I last used it. Whilst I waited for it to become functional again, I looked at my paper one last time, thinking I’d just make sure it was absolutely perfect before I looked at it on a different gadget.

And that’s when I spotted it – I could call it a major faux pas, or I could blame it on my generation.  Well, that’s a cheap excuse, isn’t it? Not acceptable. If I want to be accepted as a scholar who is still on the ball, still at the top of her game, then I can’t lamely whimper that I didn’t realise what I was doing was disrespectful …

Equality

It’s a relatively recent academic writing protocol, and one that was long overdue: men and women should be written about with equal respect. By that, I mean that if you wouldn’t refer to Elgar as Edward, then you can’t justify calling Mary Wollstonecraft, just Mary.  Elgar is Elgar, and Wollstonecraft is Wollstonecraft.  Otherwise, it’s not only disrespectful, but diminishes the woman’s standing.

Mary-Anne Smith, Rose B. Smith, Jane Sillars, Flora Woodman …

Now, in my paper, I’m not talking about big names like Elgar or Wollstonecraft.  But I realised that I’d fallen into the trap. Mary-Anne, Rose, Jane and Flora deserved better. They needed their last names.  So I got stuck in.

It’s just a bit more complex than you’d think, especially when you are not only writing about the women, but are also mentioning their menfolk. You can’t refer to three different Smiths as plain, ‘Smith’. But ‘Mr, Mrs and Miss Smith’ doesn’t work, especially when Miss Smith kept her ‘Smith’ professionally after marriage. 

Then there’s the unmarried mother who identified as ‘a widow’ in at least one official document – but married some years later. At which point her daughter’s name changed. (Had she actually got married another time before the marriage I know about, wouldn’t her daughter’s name have changed then, too? But it didn’t, so I’m taking it that ‘widow’ was being used diplomatically. We’re talking of the Edwardian era.)  In any case, her marital status is of absolutely no concern to me, but I am concerned that she and her daughter are called the right names at the right time!

Need I continue? 

And, grammatically, if two individuals with the same last name get mentioned in the same sentence, then either you need to use first names as well, or rephrase for clarity. ‘Her daughter’ and ‘her mother’ are very useful substitutes!

Sometimes it’s just a question of being pragmatic. I haven’t, indeed I couldn’t excise all stand-alone first names.  But I think I’ve improved it. I’ve shown due respect to all the individuals I’ve written about – most of them women.

I do believe I’ve finished my revisions!

Retrospective 2021 Part 2: Stuff the Patriarchy!

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I wrote my research retrospective. Published it, then (as I always do) thought of a bit more I wanted to add this morning. This is what I added:-

It was crazy to start another qualification in another discipline before finishing the [first attempt at a] doctorate. In my own defence, I wanted an occupational pension plan. And everyone (male – I hardly knew any women academics) said it was hard to get a job in academia. In the early eighties. (Aw, bless! How could it have been harder than it is today?)

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And then I went for a shower, and it was there (unsurprisingly) that I had my lightbulb moment. What had I just written? “I hardly knew any women academics.”

When I was an undergraduate in Durham (1976-79), there was only one woman lecturer, a doctoral candidate in composition. I believe she went to join the BBC – so, that would have been a move out of academia.

Off I went to Exeter for my first attempt at a doctorate. (As I explained in the last blogpost, I didn’t finish that attempt because I changed direction too soon. In fact, I wrote up a Master’s thesis and changed topic for my PhD, which is why I ran out of funded time, resulting in my second change of direction to librarianship, before I had actually written my thesis.) Were there any women academics in the music department at Exeter? I don’t recall any. I was the only female doctoral candidate. (1979-1982). I couldn’t imagine myself in front of a class of undergraduates, and was offered no teaching opportunities, though I can’t say whether I was giving off “Don’t you dare ask me” vibes at the time! I don’t know if any of the guys got teaching opportunities – I suspect not, to be honest. Another missed opportunity to try out the role, in any case.

Then, people were saying that it was virtually impossible to get an academic post in a British university in any case. My guess it that it was easier than it is today! But who were the ‘people’ who were saying? Male people, in all probability. I didn’t know that many women doctoral candidates, apart from those I shared accomodation with, who were in different disciplines. We didn’t talk about our research.

I listened to ‘people’ and decided that actually, the librarianship idea wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I could still be scholarly, but not be a lecturer, and that sounded fine. In fact, even at CLW (College of Librarianship Wales) for my postgraduate diploma, I don’t remember there being many female lecturers, though there may have been one or two. I’m surprised that this has only just dawned on me. I had been to a girls’ school where the majority of teachers were women, and now here I was in yet another higher education institution, where there were barely any women lecturing at all! Where were my women role models? Conspicuous by their absence!

So here I am. I did get a PhD eventually. I understand that when I wanted to study for that second attempt at a doctorate, someone in my present institution was heard to declare, “What does a librarian want with a PhD anyway?” Well, I funded myself and studied in my spare time, and I like to think I’ve proved the answer to that, at any rate. I have published quite a bit, and I have done some lecturing, on a small scale – spasmodically. I could have done more of it, given different circumstances – of course I could. But I could definitely have done with a push in the right direction when I was in my 20s.

So what is the point of this diatribe? Girls need role-models, and they need encouragement. Despite my early 1970s education in a ‘girls can do anything’ environment, this didn’t carry through to higher education. I had the same educational opportunities, but I definitely could have done with a nudge to fulfil my potential. To tell me that I could, when I didn’t believe myself. And I wish there had been role models to act as mentors.

I’m here where I am, approaching retirement as a librarian. Not next year or the year after, but it’s approaching. What can we do to help the next generation of girls get their equal share of self-belief and opportunities? Because nothing else will do!