York University
Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
School of Administrative Studies

Course Syllabus
M Louise Ripley, M.B.A., Ph.D.

 

AP/ADMS3120 3.0 A
Gender Issues in Management
Fall 2013 (Blended)
(for Pure Online Course Click Here)
Two people rushing madly clock in background
Updated 08/05/15
Ground Rules Communicating Grades Tests Warranty FAQ

This is the set of web pages I used for teaching this course in a blended format, before my retirement as of July 1, 2015. You may be using these pages with another professor.
                        -- 
Louise Ripley


Welcome to Gender Issues in Management, Blended Version:

Some weeks in the classroom, some  online

See Learning Units for Schedules
We use a Moodle Discussion Group (not active until the first day of classes)
To reach me personally and privately email me at lripley@yorku.ca, rather than through the Discussion Board or mail system
This syllabus is not official until the first day of classes
Frequently Used Links
Due Dates for Assignments and Tests
Other Important Dates
Learning Units
Getting Started and Completing This Course
Final Exam Substitute
Waving Hand Exercises Explained
Your Professor
PowerPoint Lecture slide
To see the PowerPoint slides
from my introductory lecture click
on the image abovet, blue and orange.
Everything there is also here in the Course Syllabus.
Course/Professor Information

Calendar Description Uses feminist principles and pedagogy to examine gender issues relevant to managing career and life, including for example pay equity, harassment, stereotyping, power and assertiveness, diversity, mentoring, self-care and balance, with the goal of understanding issues and effecting change. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusions: AP/ADMS 3120 3.00, AP/ADMS 3130G 3.00 (prior to Summer 1993).

Prerequisites No courses, but you must be willing to participate in an online Discussion Group and your Team project which serves as a Final Exam Substitute, and you must know how to and be able to write an essay.

Course Director: Professor M Louise Ripley, MBA, PhD
Office: Atkinson Faculty 268C
EMail Address: lripley@yorku.ca (no telephone)
Course Time and Location: Mondays 7:00-10:00 p.m. in TEL 0005
Course Consultation Hours: By Email or email me to set a time in person

Catalogue Number: Y03R01

Organization of the Course
Course Structure This blended course is taught half on the Internet and half in a traditional classroom. We will meet together in the classroom on the weeks specified below. You will use the weeks between on-campus meetings to work through Learning Units developed by Professor M Louise Ripley for this course, These, along with the required text, Leaning In, also form the basis of some assignments.
Course Kit The Course Kit for this course is entirely online, including this Course Syllabus and anything linked from it, and the Learning Units. The web pages are colour coded, each with its own colour. In addition to the ground rules and information about communicating, grades and tests, there is a page of frequently asked questions in courses, and a warranty page that tells you that after completing a course with me you have a life-long invitation to return, either to ask for help or to give it, or just to chat. At the top of this syllabus page are links to pages that tell you about my teaching, research, and service, some more about me, a page of important other links, and a general alphabetical index to my website. When you enrol, you are automatically added to the Moodle platform for this course and you should see your course when you type in http://moodle.yorku.ca. See the Students' Guide to Moodle.This Course Kit/Syllabus is designed as an on-line facility, not to be printed in its entirety.
Hand waving to be called onWaving Hand Exercises
Posting to the Discussion Group

There are roughly15 Waving Hand Exercises in each of the first four Learning Units. You should plan to spend about two-three weeks on each of the four units. The last Unit has only one webpage in it, and only three Waving Hand Exercises. It is mainly a wrapping-up summary unit, which you should plan to do in the last weeks while you are studying for the test and finishing up your Final Exam Substitute Group Project.

Recognize a Waving Hand Exercise by the picture of a hand waving, waiting to be called on. Please don't be afraid of the Waving Hand! Several people have told me it scares them, a guy in Germany wrote to say the dismembered hand spooked him, and a student told me he had dropped the course the year before because of the Waving Hand. It is simply a picture to mark that "here is a question about the material to answer on the Moodle Discussion Group". It represents someone waving a hand as in a classroom, saying, "I know! I know!". It doesn't mean anything else and it doesn't do anything else. Just read the question beside it, think about your answer, and click on the blue link to Moodle to post your answer to the Discussion Group.

If someone already has answered this particular Waving Hand Exercise, add your comments below theirs as a reply. This keeps the strings of postings in some order and will make it easier when you come to your assignment. You are strongly advised to start posting your responses to the Waving Hand Exercises early, and to keep posting regularly and keep responding to the postings of other students. It is not possible to stress too strongly how important participation in the Discussion Group is for this course. This is where the majority of your learning will take place. You also will need exchanges of postings to write about for your assignment.

There is no posting date due for the WHEs, and there is no deadline. You may post right up to the end of the course. You should try to finish them all by the end of the course in order to get the most learning out of the course.  

Students frequently ask, "How much should I write?" A good rule of thumb from academic articles written about online courses suggests a minimum of one short paragraph and a maximum of two. Avoid postings that are limited to "I agree" or "Great idea!". If you write to say you agree, then tell us why you agree or disagree, and support your statement with concepts from the website or the book, or from readings you are doing for your final exam substitute project or from your own work experience.

A Note About Teamwork
This course requires group work for completion of the Final Exam Substitute Project. You should think of doing most of your group work electronically with very few meetings in person outside of the classroom. This is how much of the work is done today in the "real world" of business. If you have had a bad experience with teams in coursework in the past, put it behind you and resolve to have a good experience this time. Part of the curriculum of Business education is learning to work in teams; you cannot do the Final Exam Substitute Group Project alone Take a look now at the project and be sure that you are willing and able to commit to it the time and cooperation it requires. It is a term-long project, and is not to be left until the last week. Read more About Teamwork
Debunking a Myth

The course is mainly geared toward women looking for ways to succeed in the still largely male-dominated field of management (especially at the higher levels) from a feminist and interdisciplinary perspective, in a North American context. While men are welcome and have appeared to feel comfortable in the past, the course is woman-centered. Let's not allow discussion of women’s issues to be diverted into a moan about how tragic it is for a white man who now can't get a job because even though he holds a Ph.D. in business they gave the job to an unqualified black lesbian one-armed woman in a wheelchair with a minority surname who never finished high school. The statistics just don't support this myth, and it's not what Affirmative Action is about. 

Feminist Pedagogy

Feminist pedagogy means we employ methods of research and teaching that may be new to you, particularly if you are a Business major. A York professor dian marino, in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, and one of my mentors (who so detested hierarchies that she refused to capitalize her own name) insisted that although we still need to read what experts have written, our own experience and what we believe and feel are just as important and as educational. The academic practice of proving our point by lining up behind us all the published, (usually) dead, (usually) white, (usually) male authors who wrote material that supports what we want to say, dian referred to as "the epistemological showdown". Our own experience and beliefs show up in the "I" statements. Both are important. Be sure to read at these links for more detailed descriptions of these two important elements, both of which should appear in all your course work.

In feminist teaching, we also make an effort to combat the very real problem, documented in the pedagogical literature, that men generally talk more than women in classrooms and are called on more. There are ways to avoid this and recognizing that the problem exists is the first step. The Internet has proven to be a tremendous help in levelling the playing field.

Important Dates and Other Information

Start Date September 9, 2013
Last Day for me to Announce Grade Components
September 27, 2013
Last Day To Enrol Without Permission of the Professor
September 27, 2013
(Read here why no permission is given to enrol after this date or in a class that is full)
Groups are assigned right after the Last Day To Enrol Without Permission of the Professor
First Assignment and Due Dates, and In-Class Test Date
Click Here
Last Day to Drop Without a Grade November 8, 2013
L
ast Day of Classes December 2, 2013
Deferred Exam/Test/Work Dates
January 2014
Student Financial Services
   Academic Fees
  
Dates for Withdrawal and Return of Fees


Course Readings and Materials

Web Page materials, linked from this syllabus

Sandberg, Sheryl (2013) Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (You can purchase this from the York Bookstore, Amazon, or Kindle)

Supplementary Reading Regular reading of a good daily newspaper and some of the popular business magazines

Learning Units (Read about Getting Started)
 
Adam Lind, Blue Jay

Tell it to the Marines
Unit 1 Socialization

Readings
Web Site Learning Units

Early Women in Business Language Sports
Feminism Media The Military

Case: Heywood Securities: The Mentor

Date Location What Will Happen
September 9 Classroom Introductory Lecture
Week of Sept.16 Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 1 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group
Week of September 23 Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 1 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group
September 30 Classroom In-class work with Unit 1 material
Rosie the Riveter Unit 2 Power

Readings
Web Site Learning Units

Types of Power Sexual Harassment Assertiveness
Anger Affirmative Action  

Helgesen and Johnson: Chapter One - What Women See

Case: Haywood Securities: The Conference

Date Location What Will Happen
October 7  Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 2 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group
Week of October 14 Thanksgiving Turkey Week of Thanksgiving - get caught up
Week of October 21 Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 2 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group
October 28 Classroom
Guest Speaker
In-class work with Unit 2 material

GUEST SPEAKER: Marion Howell will join us; she is a former student in this class and comes back  each year to talk with us. She has excellent experience of the work world, and now runs her own Executive Coaching company, so come prepared with questions
Women Men and Mondy Unit 3 Discrimination and Fighting Back

Readings
Web Site Learning Units

Stereotypes Pay Equity: Louise's $ Story Networking Leadership
Diversity  The Glass Ceiling Mentoring  

Case:  Alligator River

Date Location What Will Happen
Week of November 4 Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 3 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group
November 11 Classroom Louise's Story/Fishbowl Exercise with Website Material for Unit 3
Balance - Meditation at Sea

Work Life Balance
Unit 4 Finishing up: Balance

Readings
Web Site Learning Units

Balancing Your Life

Case:  Presentations of Final Project Findings
(no specific marks FOR presenting but you lose marks if you are not there to present; presentations are very informal - no materials, just talk to us about what you've been working on)

Date Location What Will Happen
November 18 Classroom Test
Week of November 25 Internet Work individually with Internet materials for Unit 4 including answering the Waving Hand Exercises on the Discussion Group, finishing projects
December 2 Classroom Group Reports Due and to be Presented, Saying Goodbye

Getting Started and Completing This Course
You Need To be Registered and have regular access to:
    Computer
    Moodle Discussion Group - this comes with your enrolment
    Your yorku.ca student email account (or a substitute - let me know)
   The Web Page Learning Units
   Group discussions on Moodle, email, or MSN

Course Purpose/Learning Objectives

In additon to the basic Learning Objectives common to all courses taught by Professor Ripley, this course aims to develop an awareness of the gender discrimination that still exists in most jobs and professions, an understanding of what the underlying issues are (e.g.: sexual harassment is not about sex but about power), and a sense of what needs to be done, what is being done, and what could further be done to improve conditions of women working outside the home in most of North America. We will do this by examining, with an insistence on equality in gender, race, class, and sexual orientation, both alternative ways of managing and ways that women can confront established systemic bias, including new ways of structuring organizations to accommodate and profit from women's different ways of knowing and of leadership.

witch with cauldronold fashionied woman hanging laundrymodern business woman with cell phone and attache case

Expanded Course Description
This course asks you to keep your eyes and ears open and examine how women are treated in the world of business. There are still problems with gender bias in organizations. For each dollar that man earns, a woman can expect to earn 72 cents. For women of colour, that differential drops to 64 cents to a man's dollar. Not only do fewer than 3% of jobs in upper management go to women, but when they do, the wage disparity in the upper levels is even greater than at lower levels. Feminism has helped ensure that at least today a woman can sit in something approaching equality in a classroom with men, but there is a long way to go and the journey is not helped by those who would stick their heads in the sand and pretend everything is okay because they know a nice man. Men are nice, yes, sometimes they are even wonderful, and they have difficult work issues too, but it has been tougher on women for thousands of years, and still generally is. Male or female, in taking this course, be prepared to look at difficult issues of gender in management with woman's perspective as a priority. 


Evaluation Summary and Assignment Descriptions
Effective writing is one of the most important skills you can acquire in a university course, and one that you will use in your education, your career and your life; so too is the skill of following instructions. All work in this course requires you to write well and to submit work properly. Read carefully the full instructions on this web site on Writing Well for a Better Grade, on References, and on Format For Submitting Work Properly, and check out the Writing Department. Do not assume that because you have written papers before you have mastered the art; writing is something we continually work on to improve. Note that you may be asked to make reference in tests to any assignments and final projects. Read too about two important elements of writing that should appear in all your course work, the academic practice of proving our point by lining up behind us all the published, (usually) dead, (usually) white, (usually) male authors who wrote what supports what we want to say, what my mentor dian marino referred to as "the epistemological showdown" and the statement of our own beliefs and feelings that dian called "i statements."

Assignment
Type
% of Grade Due Date Description
Individual Work  

Assignment
40% November 1, Noon
Read about Good Writing

Upload to eServices Office Website
or hand deliver to 2120 TEL
Assignment for Contribution to Discussion Group
In-Class Test 40% Monday November 18, 7:00 -  9:00 pm THIS TEST IS NOT THE FINAL EXAM Open Book In-Class EssayTest
(on all course materials)
Test Examples
(See all previous tests)
Group Participation   At various times Your share of the group mark may be lowered if you are not pulling your weight in your group project
Group Work You will be placed in groups after the Last Day to Enrol Without Permission date  
Proposal 5 marks off final grade if not submitted 21 October, 12:00 Noon
Send to lripley@yorku.ca
(one submission per group)
Project Proposal
Final Exam Substitute 20% December 2, 7:00 p.m.
Bring to the on-campus class on this date
(Do not upload this; bring it to me in the classroom on the date specified)

THIS PROJECT IS THE FINAL EXAM SUBSTITUTE; EVERYONE DOES THE TEST AND THE PROJECT
Final Exam Substitute Group Project
Term-long assignment - do not leave till the end

NOTE: A student's final course grade is not necessarily confined to a compilation of marks earned on individual course components. Final course grades may be adjusted to conform to Programme or Faculty grades distribution profiles. The average mark in this course is usually C+.


Grading, Assignment Submission, Lateness Penalties, and Missed Tests

Grading The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in undergraduate programmes at York. For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate Calendar. Students may take a limited number of courses for degree credit on an ungraded (pass/fail) basis. For full information on this option see Alternative Grading Option and scroll down to "Grading." 

Assignment Submission To be submitted in the classroom, by email, or through the Upload Site of the Office of Computing Technology and e-Learning Services, as described in the course syllabus.

Lateness Penalty/Missed Tests: Proper academic performance depends on students doing their work not only well, but on time. Accordingly assignments for this course must be received on the due date specified for the assignment. With the exception of the Final Exam Substitute, you may submit any assignment up to one week late for a grade of not more than the lowest mark earned by anyone who handed it in on time. For the Final Exam Substitute, you may hand it in up to one DAY late with the same arrangement. In either case, you do not have to request the extension, just send the late paper to my personal email: lripley@yorku.ca. Due to large class sizes, we can no longer make informal arrangements for exceptions to the lateness penalty or for missing a test. If you must defer work or miss a test for any reason, and wish to obtain full credit for it, you must do it by petitioning for a Deferred Standing Agreement. The one exception to this is if you are registered with the Office for Persons with Disabilities or a York Counseling Centre, in which case, please contact me directly as early in the course as possible either in person or by email at lripley@yorku.ca.


About Your Professor

picture of Louise Ripley

Photograph by Timothy Hudson

I'm your professor, Louise Ripley. My office is 268C Atkinson. I am in the office at various times so my office hours will be by appointment (email me). But always try email first; most questions can be answered most easily by email (lripley@yorku.ca) or the Discussion Group. Reach me by email at any time; I'm pretty quick on responding. Email me; I don't use my phone but I'm always on the email. For personal messages use my email instead of trying to reach me on the Moodle mail. I don't get there as often as I do the email. Call me "Louise" or address me as "Dr. Ripley" if you have to. The name Ripley belonged to my labour-union-organizer father and I carry it proudly. 

I am a great believer in multi-disciplinary studies. I once had three papers accepted in a two-week period, one in Philosophy, one in Women's Studies, and one in Cybernetics! I am a Professor of Marketing and in Women's Studies. For many years I supervised students in the Masters in Environmental Studies programme at York but am now restricting my cross-appointment to only two schools. I have earned a PhD in Management Studies (major in Marketing, minor in Finance) from University of Toronto, an MBA in Finance from Loyola University of Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree from Shimer, one of the world's finest (and smallest) liberal arts undergraduate schools. I worked in Finance and Marketing Research in Chicago and have taught at York for more than thirty years. Click here to read more about me professionally and personally.

I love teaching on the Internet but I haven't always done it or even wanted to do it. I had my "first time" too. For a number of years I said I wouldn't do it because I thought I wouldn't get to know my students as I do in on-campus courses and it wouldn't be any fun, but I found that this is not the case. A while ago I published a paper on Internet Teaching which, although written for fellow professors, may give you insight into my teaching philosophy in this medium.

I am a feminist. My definition of that word is simple: A belief that women's ways of knowing and doing are just as valuable as men's and that women are to be valued just as highly as men. My feminism does NOT mean hating men. I am happily married to one, have three treasured sons, good male friends and have had more male mentors than female in my career. Like many women's studies professors of a certain age, I don't have formal qualifications in the field because there were no programmes in Women's Studies when I was going to school. I earned my Women's Studies degrees in the School of Hard Knocks. I have taught this course more than twenty years (the first ten under the title "Women and Business") and it is one of my favourite courses to teach. We recently decided to change the title and the emphasis slightly to "Gender Issues in Management", and especially to welcome nurses, who do not work in "business".


Important York Policies (the fine print)


Academic Honesty and Integrity York students are required to maintain high standards of academic integrity and are subject to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty. By staying in this course, you agree to abide by these rules. Students should also review materials on the Academic Integrity Website.

All work submitted by individuals or groups will be the work of only that individual or group, for only this course, not having been done for any other course in any way, by the current members or any one else. You are welcome to talk with anyone you like while preparing for any part of this course, but what you put together and hand in must be your own work and original to this course. Violation of these premises is grounds for prosecution under the rules of the Faculty and the University. 

Read here York's new booklet, "Beware! Says Who? Avoiding Plagiarism"

Accommodation Procedures:

Deferred Standing: If you feel you must defer work, you must petition. See School Policy on Deferred Exams.
Students with Special Needs
York University is committed to making reasonable accommodations and adaptations in order to make equitable the educational experience of students with special needs and to promote their full integration into the campus community. If you require special accommodations, alert the Course Director as soon as possible. Failure to notify the course director of your needs in a timely manner may jeopardize the opportunity to arrange for academic accommodation. Visit the Counselling Centre and Disability Services for more information.

Ethics Review Process York students are subject to the York University Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. In particular, students proposing to undertake research which involves human subjects such as interviewing the director of a company or government agency or having people complete a questionnaire, are required to submit an Application for Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants at least one month before you plan to begin the research. If you are in doubt as to whether this requirement applies to you, contact your Course Director immediately.

Grade Component Deadline
The course assignment structure and grading scheme (i.e. kinds and weights of assignments, essays, exams, etc.) must be announced and be available in writing to students within the first two weeks of classes. Please see Evauation Summary

Graded Feedback Rule
Under normal circumstances, students should receive some graded feedback worth at least 15% per cent of the final grade for Fall, Winter or Summer term, and 30% for full-year courses in the Fall/Winter term prior to the final date for withdrawal from a course without receiving a grade, with the following exceptions:

  • graduate or upper level undergraduate courses where course work typically, or at the instructor's discretion, consists of a single piece of work and/or is based predominantly or solely on student presentations;

  • practicum courses;

  • ungraded courses;

  • courses in Faculties where the drop date occurs within the first three weeks of classes;

  • courses which run on a compressed schedule, e.g.: a course which accomplishes its academic credits of work at a rate of one credit hour per two calendar weeks or faster.

Note: Under unusual and/or unforeseeable circumstances which disrupt the academic norm, instructors are expected to provide grading schemes and academic feedback in the spirit of these regulations as soon as possible.

Reappraisals
For reappraisal procedures and information, see
Reappraisal Policies

Religious Observance Days York University is committed to respecting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of the community and making accommodations for observances of special significance to adherents. Should any of the dates specified in this syllabus for in-class test or examination, or for any scheduled lab, practicum, workshop or other assignment pose a conflict for you, contact the Course Director within the first three weeks of class and obviously before the date that is a problem; you cannot do this after-the-fact. To arrange an alternative date or time for an examination scheduled in the formal examination periods (December and April/May), students must complete an Online Examination Accommodation Form or pick one up from the Student Client Services in the Student Services Centre.

Student Conduct Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. It is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom, and the responsibility of the student to cooperate in that endeavour. The instructor is the best person to decide, in the first instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. Read the full Policy on Disruptive and/or Harassing Behaviour.

Twenty Percent (20%) Rule No examination or test worth more than 20% of the final grade will be given during the last two weeks of classes in a term, with the exception of classes which regularly meet Friday evenings or any time on Saturday or Sunday. 


Questions? Try:
Comprehensive Index to the website
Teaching Policies links (Ground Rules, etc.)
Links to Other Information at the Top of this Page
email me: lripley@yorku.ca 

AP/ADMS/WMST3120 3.0 Gender Issues in Management
York University, Toronto
© M Louise Ripley, M.B.A., Ph.D.