Letter: Gender task force investigates genuine inequities

We would like to thank Bill English for his Oct. 7 column on women's issues and the gender initiative at Duke. We would like to clarify a few facts, however, that he may have overlooked with regard to gender discrepancies at Duke and in society at large, as well as illuminate the ultimate goals of the gender initiative this year.

First off, we must emphasize that the purpose of Duke Inquiries on Gender is to investigate the societal causes behind truths such as these:

1. The Healthy Devil reports that at least 20 percent of undergraduate students have an eating disorder; 90 percent of those cases are female.

2. Only 18 percent of all offers and 25 percent of all promotions are received by women in the departments of Arts and Sciences across the country, according to Harvard Magazine.

3. Virtually all cases of sexual assault reported on campus are reported by women.

4. Most women's failure to complete an engineering degree is not based on academic shortcomings but a lack of social support for women in sciences, according to the Goodman Research Group Inc.

In his pursuit of truth, English failed to understand that the mission of the DIG program is not to enforce Title IX in every arena, but rather to unmask the sources and implications of the above social realities. We thought we should provide clarification on the structure and goals of the initiative:

1. The purpose of the DIG program is to understand social and academic norms at Duke with relation to gender by collecting input through focus groups and forums that will include men and women.

2. The program seeks to hear many voices across a diverse base of people. In doing so, we (and others on the President's Steering Committee) are collecting data from men and women on the undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff and administrative levels.

3. This is not about "hostility between the sexes," to use English's words, but examining how gender may help determine our experiences and decisions. The task force is interested in norms of both femininity and masculinity.

Although we cannot predict DIG's ultimate impact, we cannot forego the opportunity to explore the implications of gender within our environment and possibly change it for the better.

Thank you, Bill English, for reaffirming and publicizing our cause.