Few male university press directors have similar credentials to Crewe’s, so why did it take women three hundred years of work in publishing to break the ceiling of first Ivy League university press director in 2014? The length of time women have waited for this news depends on the terms used. If the words are given loose definitions, the first press founded in America was an Ivy League university press, and it was directed by a woman. Upon Reverend Joseph Glover’s death in 1638, his widow, Mrs. Glover, took over a press he imported into the New World in 1638. She then married Henry Dunster, the president of Harvard College, who took the press under Harvard’s umbrella. Mrs. Glover was British by origin, and this is why the record of first American publisher goes to Elizabeth Timothy in 1739. Women have been involved in publishing since nearly the creation of the printing press, so women’s rights in publishing have regressed since the 1600s and 1700s, until this past decade when women have retaken more leading positions. Corporate culture contributed to the suppression of women in publishing, whereas they were freer to ascend in the days of small independent presses, as I explain in the book I am currently finalizing on the history of author-publishers.
Crewe’s predecessor at CUP, James D. Jordan, became the President and Director of CUP with 31 years of publishing experience, while Crewe received the job with 36. Before his CUP appointment, Jordan started serving as the Director of The Johns Hopkins University Press in 1998, only 20 years into his career. Henry faired a bit better at Chicago. Henry’s predecessor, Peter J. Dougherty, became the Director of Princeton University Press with 33 years of publishing experience, while Henry got the job with only 24 years at the University of Chicago Press. So, it seems there has been progress in the decade between the start of Crewe’s and Henry’s careers. Given these statistics, I asked Crewe if she has seen evidence of unfairness in promotions even as she was steadily climbing up the ladder. “I was the ‘inside’ candidate when Jim Jordan was hired. For various reasons I think the committee felt that someone from outside the Press was needed to run it at that time. That said, there still exists an ‘old boy’ network, and women have a more difficult time getting promoted or placed into top positions. That was certainly a factor in the decision about the three directors at the Press before me. On the other hand, I felt better prepared and more confident about what needed to be done once I did get the job.” Well, no male director could have been humble enough to see a lack of earlier promotion as a cause for celebration. Women’s stereotypically cooperative and peace-making nature is the reason they make great leaders, but this lack of power-hungry aggression might be what men in publishing have been using to keep them from advancing.
When asked about how sexism festers in publishing, Crewe explained: “Women are in lower-level jobs and middle management in publishing and, until recently, rarely at the top. Now we have 57 women directors out of 143 university press directors.” These are better odds than a few decades ago, but the male sex still has double-chances. The chances are much better at CUP, as in addition to having a female director: “We are very careful at CUP to compensate employees equitably. Our staff of 59 people includes 30 women and 29 men.”
Thinking about inequality can be discouraging, so I asked if it might be better for women in publishing to just focus on doing a great job: “Women should focus on working around the obstacles they face, drawing attention to sexism and misogynistic behavior in the workplace, which is often unconscious, and taking every opportunity to show what they are capable of, to voice their ideas as much as men do, and to demonstrate their ambition to move up.”
Crewe Speaking with Christie Henry at an AAUP Reception