Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Women's & Gender Studies

Engagingly written and rich in formal data and telling anecdote, this sociologically smart collection will be an important tool for graduate students and faculty confronting what remains a male-biased system of higher education.  The editors draw on their own interviews with women in many academic disciplines and enlist other researchers and activists to provide a rich and deep look at gendered experiences in academia today.  Commendably, the editors give strong representation to women of color, disabled women, and lesbians in defining how "women" experience (and overcome) diverse challenges.  Variation among disciplines and between institutions is also highlighted.  The beauty of the volume emerges most in its telling details: e.g., the problematic idea that "just say no" to service work is a feasible organizational strategy; the value in changing policy rather than seeking ad hoc accommodations; the self-contradictory advice about when in an academic career to have a baby.  Excellent bibliography and list of disciplinary and other extra-university resources for change make this book an invaluable resource for all faculty or students looking for insight into strategies for real inclusivity.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.