Intimidating

Someone I know, an Ivy-league educated and published scholar, was recently denied tenure at a prestigious liberal arts college because it was reported that the students found this person to be "intimidating". This word conjures a person of large physical stature whose manner of speaking or behavior frightens people, an intellectual bully who shames students, grandstands and routinely flunks a good portion of the class. And I can imagine that an exclusive college, which prides itself on a low student: teacher ratio, would not want to have such intimidating bullies scaring the pants off many students in, say, a large survey class that is required for graduation.

But this person teaches relatively small classes in rather esoteric subjects and stands just over five feet tall. And for years this person has looked young enough to frequently be confused for a student.

Intimidating?

No.

Intellectually rigorous, expecting a great deal from students, unwilling to lower academic standards?

Yes.

So, why have these characteristics, usually lauded in elite academic institutions, been conflated with intimidating? Possibly because this person is female and students expected or wanted her to nurture their emotions as well as their scholarly ambitions. It is difficult to imagine an equally qualified male tenure candidate being turned down because he was strict yet fair about assignments and deadlines and held students to high standards.

While I don't and can't know the whole story, apparently enough people on this campus were stunned by the tenure denial and the foul odor of gender bias to protest the decision. The whole episode is yet another sad reminder that in our world being a woman of substance is not always enough. Softness is required, too.