Women, Gender, and the Histories of American Geography

Abstract

Histories of American geography have tended to concentrate on geographic thought and on the men who have been seen as major figures in research. In contrast, I examine the careers of women geographers and of professional practices in American geography in the 20th century. My approach reflects thinking in feminist studies and the social studies of science, which acknowledge the existence of multiple histories and the importance of paying attention to contexts. Before 1950, values linking prestige and masculinity resulted in the exclusion of women geographers from university professorships though they found opportunities in teacher education and outside academia. In the post-World War II era, even as higher education expanded rapidly, women's representation in the profession declined substantially, influenced by the social climate that promoted women's domesticity and priorities for recruiting men. Academic practices and the consciousness of the few women graduate students reflected this gendered culture. Whether women geographers have valued particular aspects of their work and created distinctive knowledge pose questions for further exploration. A brief look at the practices and meanings of field education over the century suggests that such experience has been important to women, even when attempts have been made to exclude their participation. There are also indications that women geographers disproportionately bring social concerns to the discipline. The paper calls for reflection on the implications of our histories for the profession's future, especially for graduate education.

Rethinking the PhD in geography: overview and introduction

“…PhD programs recruit students too narrowly and reproduce elitism, and class, gender, racial, ableist and other bias within the academy Doctoral education remains the domain of privileged groups even after decades of effort to diversify both the undergraduate and graduate communities, faculty and the professoriate (Monk 2004;Monk et al 2004;Sanders 2006). Moves to broaden the demographic profile of applicants and registered students have been mediated by debates over definitions and concepts, funding cut backs, the rise of more flexible programs, and internationalization.…”

Review Essays on: Key Thinkers on Space and Place

“…Indeed, such questions about the representativeness of the individuals profiled in our text are not simply questions about our own positionality and editorial authority, but rather pose wider questions as to whether it is possible to write histories of geography that do justice to the rich diversity of geographical traditions that exist both within and without hegemonic Anglo-American geography. As these questions are being considered more fully elsewhere (Garcia-Ramon, 2003;Lorimer, 2003;Monk, 2004;, here we will merely recount our motivation for editing this book, by way of justifying why we think a book like Key Thinkers was worth publishing, despite the obvious dangers of it being read as a uncritical hagiography.…”

The ties that bind: Soil surveyor William Edgar Tharp and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp

“…However, World War II provided a significant, if sometimes temporary, boost to opportunities for women in science in the United States (Rossiter, 1995); this was particularly true in cartography (Monk, 2004). Things would change more slowly in soil science (Levin, 2002).…”