Fall Issue

If you use any material from articles that have appeared in the Working Paper series and need to cite it, please use the recommended citation which is at the bottom of the first page of each article in an issue. Please contact butler-advance@purdue.edu if you have any questions.

1. Editor’s Note- Thriving in Universities: Gender, Colorism, and Age
   Chris Sahley and Mangala Subramaniam

2. Underpinnings of Colorism and Gender in the Culture of 'Niceness' in Universities
   Mangala Subramaniam

   The author reflects on her experiences, and that of other women of color who traveled across borders to pursue a PhD and entered the academic work space. Discussing the intersections of colorism and gender, hypotheses related to bias faced by women of color, particularly because of non-conformance to the culture of niceness are developed for future research. The culture of ‘niceness’ is about undermining difference and cultural notions of what is appropriate, ranging from expressing emotion; being sympathetic; general expressions of seriousness; disagreements (such as in opinions); tone and volume of voice, including laughter among others. Using examples from experiences, key strategies for addressing such bias are suggested.

3. Cascaded Mentoring for Gender Inclusion in Computer Science
   Phil Sands and Brenda Capobianco

   Gender diversity in computer science is a continuing issue, with women participating at a lower rate than men in both professional and academic settings. A myriad of factors contribute to this imbalance, but in particular, there is a lack of role models available to help young women mediate the challenges they face in the classroom and in their early career. Mentorship programs at the university level have been shown to positively impact computer science identity, sense of belongingness, and student self-efficacy. Furthermore, there is evidence that young women benefit from participating in both aspects of the mentor-mentee relationship. Based on a cascaded mentorship model, we propose an approach to connecting women across multiple levels within computer science, with a specific focus on “celebrating” existing role models as “hidden heroes” in the local academic community.

4. Reflection: Late Entry into the Academic Workforce
   Malathi Raghavan

   The average age at attaining tenure and full professorship are 40 and 55 years, respectively. Yet anecdotes suggest that some successful individuals begin an academic career in their 40s or 50s. When at a cross roads in her own career, the author, a quantitative researcher, set out to understand proportional representation of aspiring academics in older cohorts and their success rates. As a literature search yielded few systematic studies on opportunities and challenges faced by older applicants, the author looked into her own network of late entrant academics to document characteristics and strategies underlying their successful academic careers.