Dissertation

Abstract

Many more women than men in religious studies get through comprehensive exams but never finish the dissertation, a condition coyly referred to as “all but dissertation,” or ABD. Much of the explanation is economic and societal in nature, having nothing to do with competence. Writing a dissertation requires uninterrupted time, which is expensive, and it requires overcoming the social conditioning that women have nothing unique and meaningful to say. Happily, as a field we have come some distance on both accounts.