Drowning in a drip feed of molten glass
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 10/06/2015

Sarah May, UCL

All of the glass metaphors in the title of the session imply an invisible barrier delimiting a place in which women can move, and develop careers, freely.  The image is women, at some point in their career, bumping into this barrier. Surprise! All the power in archaeology rests with men”  While the truth of this fact, demonstrated by the stats and research in session abstract, may be a surprise to men, it is not a surprise to women. If getting to the top is a race women are constantly burdened with new weights to carry throughout their careers. Stereotype threat, double standards, judged on different qualities, different social responsibilities, all these simply make it more difficult for women to achieve the same influence and power as men. It’s this drip feed that creates the imbalance, not a clear barrier that can be identified and removed. While this is a society wide problem, it has particular challenges in archaeology, not least because career progression is so complex and poorly defined. As with all other diversity issues, the effects of the imbalance also have different consequences. If men control the discipline that constructs and maintains our heritage, our heritage will work against any change to that imbalance. Heritage is too powerful to be left in the hands of the few. Strategies to resist the drip feed will be different to those aimed at breaking a ceiling. We need to be honest about the circumstance so that people who are struggling don’t blame themselves. We need to understand how societal issues translate into specific problems for archaeology. We need to be more supportive to people throughout their careers.