Spring Issue

1. Allyship in the Academy
   Kelly L. LeMaire, Melissa L. Miller, Kim Skerven, and Gabriela A. Nagy
   
   
   Allies are individuals who consciously work in their personal or professional life to reduce and end oppression of particular group(s) and are vital to increasing inclusivity. Allyship comprises multiple levels which includes awareness, knowledge, skills, and action. Although many academics value diversity and inclusivity and may have some awareness of disparities, they  are often left unsure of how to most effectively act on these allied values. This paper focuses on practical and empirically supported strategies to effectively increase inclusivity and reduce prejudice, discrimination, and stigma with the ultimate goal of ending oppression within academia. The authors address allyship across the domains of research, teaching, mentoring, larger institutional roles, and in the community.
   
   
2. Building Relationships and Collaborating with Others to be Productive Scholars: What We Have Learned Thus Far
   Rachel Louise Geesa, Burcu Izci, Shiyi Chen, and Hyuksoon S. Song
   
   
   A research team of four scholars originally from China, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States and at four institutions in the United States share their personal experiences for navigating careers and raising productivity in higher education. Without mentors, a faculty member new to the expectations of institutions of higher education may feel lost, alone, stressed, and defeated. One may need a mentor, ally, or collaborator at different phases and for different purposes in their research productivity and career trajectory, in addition to having a professional, social, and emotional support system. It is important for people in the position of a graduate student or junior faculty to “find their tribe” as they navigate the path to success in their academic program and profession. The authors argue that it is possible to collaborate and be productive with others, despite the diverse locations and different academic positions others may be in.
   
   
3. "Motherhood Penalty?": Examining Gender, Work and Family among Science Professionals in India
   Debapriya Ray and Tannistha Samanta
   
   
   Contrary to the standard understanding of a “motherhood penalty” in terms of a gender-based wage-gap, the authors argue that penalties associated with motherhood exist in non-material terms in a context where professional women’s “productive” experience remains caught in the uneasy alliance between individual ambitions, compulsory motherhood, and the practice of middle-classness. Based on qualitative interviews with nineteen professionals in a top science research organization in Ahmedabad (India), the authors examine how gender roles and patrifocal prescriptive codes create unequal outcomes among middle class women and men in science careers. The authors contend that organizational factors such as the “glass ceiling” offer inadequate explanations for the empirical contradictions in higher education research contexts in India where gender scripts around marriage, motherhood and (women’s) productive labor remain immutable. In the process this article shows how scientific “merit” and academic worth are constructed resulting in gendered differentials in positions of power, funding decisions and post-maternity service.