Despite recent advances and a staggering increase in the accessibility of knowledge and teaching, academia still presents obstacles for under-represented scholars. As part of our commitment to both championing diversity, equity and inclusion, and to promoting critically important research and academics, we asked four biblical studies and theology authors about their experiences. They have generously shared their stories as women entering and embarking on careers in traditionally conservative and male-dominated disciplines. Here they recount the challenges they navigated, address gender stereotypes, and impart advice to those beginning their careers.
Ahreum Kim: I remember one conference in my first year of research in which I decided to attend Old Testament sessions in the morning and New Testament sessions in the afternoon. I was shocked by the difference. In the Old Testament sessions, there were some female speakers and an audience of about 60% women. When I went upstairs to the New Testament sessions, there was only myself and one other female PhD student in an audience of 30 men with no female speakers. I was appalled at the stark contrast. I realized that it likely had to do with the fact that there were no female NT lecturers at the time at my institution and that Pauline studies in particular tended to be spaces of aggressive and contentious scholarship, sometimes involving scripture passages that have been used to oppress women.
Rebecca Todd Peters: I remember an interview I had once with an older white male dean. I was early in my career, and he was interested in hiring someone to teach a course specific to my area of interest. When he asked about the scholars who had most influenced my thinking, I mentioned several feminist and womanist scholars, and he clearly didn’t like my answer. As we discussed the requirements of the position, I suggested some alternatives to the full-day Saturday option, and asked if there was flexibility in the scheduling. He ended the interview by commenting that it seemed clear that I was happy at my institution and that I had my hands full managing my family, and he didn’t think it would work out. While I had a husband and young children, this was not something we had discussed in the professional interview, nor was it necessarily the primary reason I didn’t want to give over my Saturdays to teaching!
Megan Warner: I didn’t experience any discrimination on the basis of my sex that I was aware of. If anything, it felt that being a woman was beneficial, as it got me invitations to speak on panels etc. that I may not have received had I been male. It is impossible to know whether my work might have been received differently had I been male.
Margaret D. Kamitsuka: Any woman whose research is deeply informed by feminism will face the challenge of having to justify continually this methodological point of departure. I find it necessary again and again in my writing to reiterate why gender is a vital analytical lens, why the personal is political, and why the creditability of one’s work depends on staying connected to the voices and experiences of women and other gender-marginalized groups.
Ahreum Kim: In spaces where I was the only female and only ethnic minority, I tried not to let my self-consciousness get the best of me and to have greater courage to speak up, especially when I felt that I had a rather different perspective to contribute. While challenging and exhausting at times, this ultimately influenced my writing and research for the better because of the conversations I had with other scholars. Those who were supportive pointed to helpful resources and further points of reflection, and those who were unfairly critical increased my resolve to publish excellent scholarship.
Rebecca Todd Peters: By pushing against them, exposing them, and working to hold people accountable.
Ahreum Kim: One of the best ways to challenge gender stereotypes is to be present at events and seminars and to contribute to the conversations because there are so few women in the first place. The conversation would otherwise be exclusively male. A second way is to correct assumptions that betray ignorance about how women think and experience culture and the world. This is much more challenging as it often takes patience and careful explanation so that others can understand, especially when they have no similar experiences themselves that help them relate.
Megan Warner: I would encourage women to choose their specialisms courageously and to follow the interests and foci that excite them, and not to feel limited in the avenues open to them.
Margaret D. Kamitsuka: Be yourself but be savvy. A career in religious studies is more precarious now than when I came up through the ranks. Religion departments are shrinking everywhere, and the job market is very competitive. Strive to secure the gold ring of a tenure-track position, if that is what you desire, but have a plan B.
Maintain a heart of compassion toward those less fortunate than you, but be willing to fight for your place in academia. In one of her novels, the French feminist Monique Wittig wrote “let those who want to change the world first seize all the rifles.” Wittig was going for shock effect. I read her metaphorically, but not less forcefully. Woman scholars will need a full complement of ammunition: strong scholarship, hard work, energy in the classroom, practice in making alliances, finding the right mentors, and a commitment to self-critique of one’s own biases.
Ahreum Kim: An increase in women’s networks and organizations has helped further the representation and recognition of women in biblical research. I would like to see more allyship and conversations with men so that women are not striving toward these changes alone.
Margaret D. Kamitsuka: Statistics for the US show that women are making significant inroads into doctoral programs, yet they finish their PhDs at a lower rate than men. The percentage of men outnumbering women in religion departments (approx.. 75% to 25%) has remained unchanged for over a decade. Statistics in the UK are comparable. The gender distribution for full professor rank is abysmal. I am not an administrator, but common sense says that gender equality will not just evolve. Institutions have to be pushed to change their practices or incorporate new practices.
It’s important that women understand what they are facing when they enter the field of religious studies. One way women can support each other is to take a page from a very old women’s rights playbook: share your stories with each other.
Megan Warner: My particular corner of the religion field – the study of the Pentateuch (with a healthy interest in the particularly male-dominated area of historical-critical approaches) – has remarkably few women participants, even today. The last conference I attended, in November 2023, featured a panel discussion about the persistent problem.
For me, the encouragement of women scholars to consider themselves to be on a par with their male colleagues, and to enter traditionally male-dominated fields, is at the heart of this.
Ahreum Kim is the author of The Countercultural Victory of 1 John in Greco-Roman Context and has recently completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Rebecca Todd Peters is an editor of T&T Clark Reader in Abortion and Religion and is Interim Chair and Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, USA.
Megan Warner is the author of Genesis: An Introduction and Study Guide and is Tutor in Old Testament Studies at Northern College, Manchester, UK and an Associate of the University of Exeter, UK.
Margaret D. Kamitsuka is an editor of T&T Clark Reader in Abortion and Religion and is Francis W. and Lydia L. Davis Professor Emeritus of Religion at Oberlin College, USA.
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