stereotyping on panels to a white interviewer, especially since, as was
true of most respondents, they did not know of my academic inter-
ests in comparative anti-racism. The same can be said about the
marginalization that panelists may have experienced due to their
lack of seniority. Nevertheless, the social psychology literature gives
us good reason to anticipate that both race and seniority affect how
much influence panelists exercise and the extent to which they are
the object of low expectations.^40
In contrast, a few interviewees did mention the effect of gender on
panelists’ level of influence. One woman scholar, an inexperienced
panelist, relates the advice she received from another, more experi-
enced panel member:
She said to me afterwards that the gender dynamic often in these
meetings can be difficult. She said, “You have to learn how to use
language in a way that is almost like a form of warfare, rather
than get at the issues. There is a drama to attack that has nothing
to do with talking specifically about the projects, but it’s how you
launch yourself.” She said I was just too nice...Ultimately my
takeonitis...reallythis whole committee meeting was a kind of
performance. You have to learn to perform in a more bombastic
manner to get your points across, and this has nothing to do with
reallywhatyousay,buthowyousayit...[Another woman] said
the same. She said, “You have to do things with a flourish and a
dramatic sort of [style]”... She said, “You’re altogether too nice
and diplomatic about it.”Other respondents also referred to gendered patterns of interac-
tion and self-presentation among panelists. For instance, a woman
says about another panelist, “He’s very bright and was in a perfor-
mance mode, like a lot of males get into, you know, they’re like bred
forit,Iswear,inacademia...Theyneed more women next year, to
Pragmatic Fairness / 149