A New Image in the Looking Glass: Faculty Mentoring, Invitational Rhetoric, and the Second-Class Status of Women in U.S. Academia

This article maintains that because Title VII alone does not have the ability to further the progress women have made in academic hiring, retention, and promotion, looking to remedies in addition to Title VII will be advantageous in helping to improve the status of women in U.S. academia. The article suggests as an additional remedy the implementation of faculty mentoring opportunities for junior female faculty members. A key way of initiating and furthering such mentoring opportunities is a type of discourse called invitational rhetoric, which is “an invitation to understanding as a means to create...relationship[s] rooted in equality, immanent value, and self-determination”. In presenting a case for such an approach, this article initially identifies the current problem by comparing women’s presence and their salaries in U.S. academia in the early 1970s with their presence and salaries in academia today. Next, the article evaluates the types of Title VII cases that the law allows plaintiffs to bring. In doing so, the article highlights the heavy burden of showing discriminatory intent and also will critique previous suggestions for modifying Title VII. Finally, this article justifies faculty mentoring opportunities and invitational rhetoric as an additional approach to addressing the present status of women in U.S. academia