The Gaposchkin Chandeliers is an ongoing project in response to the commitment toward gender equality in higher level education in Ireland. It takes it's name from Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin, the first female full professor in Harvard's faculty of arts and science and  the first female chair at Harvard – in astronomy.

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Today, in Irish universities, 74 per cent of senior academic positions are held by men. These figures are changing very slowly with women’s ‘chances’ of accessing a professorship improving from 1:16 in 2013-2015 to 1:13 in 2018 (HEA, 2017, 2019a).
 

When installed in a university, the percentage of full colour spectrum in the The Gaposchkin Chandelier, correlates with the percentage of female full professors. As these numbers increase, the percentage of full spectrum in the Chandelier will be added to accordingly.

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A speculative full colour spectrum  chandelier was originally exhibited in The Glucksman Gallery, Ireland, as part of Prism: The Art and Science of Light, curated by Fiona Kearney and Chris Clarke. It was commissioned by IPIC and is installed at The Tyndall National Institute in Cork. 

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The process involved in building a Gaposchkin Chandelier includes gathering signatures to the statement 'I can see a gender equal society', from members across governance, academic, student and staff sectors in the participating institutions. These are held in each of the test tubes. It also involves telling the story of Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin and The Harvard Computers through the exhibition of portraiture and related works.

 

The project began in 2017 with a commission  in the artist's alma mater, St. Raphaela's Secondary School in Dublin (see The Story of The Red Carpet Chandelier 3 min video). 

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The Gaposchkin Chandelier is part of the University College Cork Art Collection.

 

Reference

Are universities still male dominated? What can be done?

March 4, 2020

Pat O’Connor, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy University of Limerick and Visiting Professor, UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin

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