Status of Women in the Profession Committee
The Status of Women in the Profession Committee (CSWP) supports and, when necessary, advocates for the female members of SBL by:
- Tracking the academic and professional situations of women in biblical studies and related fields
- Creating forums for women members to discuss academic and professional issues and conditions
- Providing mentoring and networking opportunities.
It seeks to open SBL to greater participation by women and to call attention to the various ways in which SBL speaks to and about women. Members of this committee serve a three-year term, renewable for a second term. CSWP advocates for:
- The development of programs and policies that support the full inclusion of women in the activities of SBL
- Information-gathering regarding women’s experiences within the academy at all career stages
- Women biblical scholars in contexts beyond SBL
- Developing policies and monitoring complaints of sexual harassment and ethical misconduct.
Members of the Committee:
| Name | Term | Years of Term |
| Julie Claassens | 1 | 2023–2025 |
| Rhiannon Graybill | 1 | 2023–2025 |
| Sophia Johnson (Student Rep) | 2 | 2025–2027 |
| Meira Kensky (Chair) | 2 | 2023–2025 |
| Vanessa Lovelace | 1 | 2023–2025 |
| Love Sechrest | 1 | 2025–2027 |
| Caroline Vander Stichele | 2 | 2025–2027 |
| Sonia Kwok Wong | 2 | 2025–2027 |
| Christine Yoder | 1 | 2023–2025 |
CSWP also has an active Facebook page that facilitates discussion.
Each year at the SBL Annual Meeting, CSWP honors women who have been excellent mentors to women in the field. Learn more about CSWP mentor awards.
The CSWP has gathered the following resources for teaching in consideration of race and gender in the classroom:
- Peterson, et al., “Mitigating gender bias in student evaluations of teaching” (2019)
- Burmeister, et al., “Weight Bias in Graduate School Admissions” (2012)
- Bohnet, et al., “When Performance Trumps Gender Bias” (2016)
- Chávez, et al., “Exploring Biases in Student Evaluations” (2019)
- COVID-19’s Impact on Inequality in the Academy: A Summary of Sociological Research Prepared by Christina Simko
- The Bias Interrupters Performance Review Toolkit
- Gender Bias Calculator (for letters of recommendation)
- Implicit Association Tests from Harvard’s Project Implicit