Women’s refusal of racial patriarchy in South African academia
Autor/in:
Raymond, Zaakira; Canham, Hugo
Quelle: Gender and Education, (2022) , S 1–18
Inhalt: This paper explores the career experiences of women academics at three South African universities. To understand the experiences of women academics, we conducted an intersectional interrogation of the politics and practices of belonging in departmental cultures. The sample consisted of thirty women academics whose interviews were analysed through a discursive thematic frame. We found that while all participants experienced gender-based discrimination which hinders academic progression, the barriers experienced by black women academics are compounded by the intersections of race, gender, and motherhood. Patriarchal and racist institutional, disciplinary and departmental cultures served as further challenges to belonging. On the other hand, through counter storytelling and refusal, women created alternative spaces of sociality where suffering co-exists with pleasure, refusal and survival. Ultimately, the paper suggests refusal as a generative theoretical lens to surface the complexity of women academics.
Sexism in the silences at Australian Universities: Parental leave in name, but not in practice
Autor/in:
Duffy, Sarah; O’Shea, Michelle; Bowyer, Dorothea; van Esch, Patrick
Quelle: Gend Work Organ (Gender, Work and Organization), (2022)
Inhalt: Unequal distribution of child rearing and domestic responsibilities between parents contributes to gender inequity, a wicked problem in Australia. Inequitable parental leave policies at Australian public Universities place the burden of care squarely on the mother, diminishing or absenting the father. We examine how the gendered nature of the existing policies are constructed in ways that create inequities and discourage their uptake. A post-structural feminist lens provides us with a theoretical vantage point from which this wicked problem can be problematized. We present three recommendations for enabling more equitable outcomes for parents. The first is to eradicate the punitive approach and support flexibility; second, the policies must be parental leave in name, provision and practice; and finally we recommend a minimum parental leave standard for Australian universities nationally. These findings have policy-level significance for redressing parental leave inequity within the Australian university context. The paper concludes with theoretical contributions, practical implications, and suggestions for future research.
Athena SWAN: “Institutional peacocking” in the neoliberal university
Autor/in:
Yarrow, Emily; Johnston, Karen
Quelle: Gend Work Organ (Gender, Work and Organization), (2022)
Inhalt: This paper contributes to understandings of how Athena SWAN (AS) is shaping contemporary equality work in the context of the neoliberal university, and whether it is contributing to performative ways of doing equality work. We center our research on the exploration of the question of how the gender-agenda is being captured by the neoliberal agenda, drawing on 35 in-depth qualitative interviews with AS champions across the UK and Republic of Ireland. The core aim of the study is to explore how AS has been co-opted and mobilized as a vehicle for contemporary (neoliberal) equality work. We argue that rather than contributing to transformational change, AS serves as an effective tool for institutional reputation gains and (extended) virtue signaling, conceptualized and coined here as “institutional peacocking.” This in turn, functions and is implemented in diverse institutional settings, with primarily institutional benefit, at the cost of AS champions who carry out gender equality work. We contribute empirically and conceptually to theorizations and current understandings of gender equality work in higher education, especially through AS champions' experience and the institutional benefits that present opportunity costs for some individuals, potentially serving to further entrench stereotyped perceptions of who should be doing equality work in universities, and critically, how institutions benefit.
International migration of researchers and gender imbalance in academia—the case of Norway
Autor/in:
Wendt, Kaja; Gunnes, Hebe; Aksnes, Dag W.
Quelle: Scientometrics (Scientometrics), 127 (2022) 12, S 7575–7591
Inhalt: Female representation among students and graduates in higher education is growing internationally. This is a promising trend for achieving gender balance in top positions in academia. But there is still a long way to go, as women accounted for 26 per cent in top positions at European higher education institutions in 2018. In this article, we examine the influence of international recruitment of researchers on the gender balance—or the lack of gender balance—in Norwegian academia. We draw on data from the Norwegian Register of Research personnel, linked with population statistics from Statistics Norway. These data show that 38 per cent of the researchers at Norwegian higher education institutions in 2018 were born abroad. The share of foreign full professors has increased from 16 per cent in 2001 to 27 per cent in 2018, while for postdocs there has been an increase from 31 to 69 per cent. In terms of overall gender composition, a higher percentage of the foreign-born researchers are male compared with the native Norwegians. The incidence of international recruitment differs significantly across academic fields and is particularly prevalent in engineering. This is also the field where the gender balance is most skewed generally. Taking these variables into account, we conclude that international migration is not among the factors contributing to the gender imbalance in Norwegian academia. In fact, international recruitment has contributed positively to the gender balance in Norway in the majority of the fields analysed.
Schlagwörter:academia; full professor; gender inequality; higher education; international academic mobility; Migration; Norway; Norwegen; recruitment; Rekrutierung
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Inhalt: The objective of this study is to present the development of a framework for assessing gender inequality in higher education institutions (HEIs) which reveals how this academic environment is progressing in terms of gender balance. It proposes a multi-dimension-based index comprised by five dimensions—Empowerment, Education, Health, Violence, and Time. The mathematical model used enables the user to assign a weight value to each dimension, customizing the results according to the institution addressed. The paper is based on a post-doctoral research project which analyzed six globally recognized indexes (Gender Inequality Index; Global Gender Gap Index; Women, Business, and Law Index; Gender Equality Index; Social Institutions Global Index; Women Empowerment Principles) to construct a new framework for gender inequality evaluation tailored for HEIs. It used a Laplace–Gauss-based scale. The research included an experiment of concrete application to two instiutions, one in Europe and the other in South America. While the first one had a Gender Equality Plan, the second had not. The analysis was successfully conducted in both institutions. The two institutions presented general results above 60%. These results need to be read in the specific context of each university. The Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutions Index (GEHEI) provides a user-friendly way of checking the existence of gender inequality, summarized into a single number but able to be detailed in several levels and to provide insight into progression over time. The handling of the GEHEI tool is also very straightforward. The proposal is designed to be used in different HEIs; it is recommended that researchers customize the weights of the dimensions according to their relevance in the specific organization. This paper provides a new methodological model to measure gender inequality in HEIs based on easy-to-obtain data, distinguishing itself from global indexes by its ease of application and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Gender, Power and Higher Education in a Globalised World
Herausgeber/in:
O'Connor, Pat; White, Kate
Quelle: Cham: Springer International Publishing; Imprint Palgrave Macmillan (Springer eBook Collection), 2021, 1.0. 226 S
Inhalt: This book examines persistent gender inequality in higher education, and asks what is preventing change from occurring. The editors and contributors argue that organizational resistance to gender equality is the key explanation; reflected in the endorsement of discourses such as excellence, choice, distorted intersectionality, revitalized biological essentialism and gender neutrality. These discourses implicitly and explicitly depict the status quo as appropriate, reasonable and fair: ultimately impeding efforts and attempts to promote gender equality. Drawing on research from around the world, this book explores the limits and possibilities of challenging these harmful discourses, focusing on the state and universities themselves as levers for change. It stresses the importance of institutional transformation, the vital contribution of feminist activists and the importance of women’s deceptively ‘small victories’ in the academy
The volume is a must-read for anyone interested in fairness and justice around gender". Professor Patricia Yancey Martin, Florida State University, USA
This book examines persistent gender inequality in higher education, and asks what is preventing change from occurring. The editors and contributors argue that organizational resistance to gender equality is the key explanation; reflected in the endorsement of discourses such as excellence, choice, distorted intersectionality, revitalized biological essentialism and gender neutrality. These discourses implicitly and explicitly depict the status quo as appropriate, reasonable and fair: ultimately impeding attempts to promote gender equality. Drawing on research from around the world, this book explores the limits and possibilities of challenging these misleading discourses, focusing on the state and universities themselves as levers for change. It stresses the importance of institutional transformation, the vital contribution of feminist activists and the importance of women’s deceptively ‘small victories’ in the academy.
Pat O’Connor is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and Visiting Professor at the Geary Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland. She is a sociologist with a focus on gender equality in higher education institutions: particularly leadership, excellence, micropolitics, gender-based violence, equality related interventions and women’s academic careers. Kate White is Adjunct Associate Professor at Federation University Australia and Director of the Women in Higher Education Management Network. Her research focuses on gender equality and leadership in higher education, women’s academic careers and women in science.
Analytical Review: Structural Change for Gender Equality in Research and Innovation
Autor/in:
Ferguson, Lucy
Quelle: , 2021. 65 S
Inhalt: This report traces the evolution of the structural change approach to gender equality in research and innovation, critically engaging with lessons learned and emerging challenges. Drawing on documentary material and primary research, the report explores what has worked to date in EU-funded structural change projects. Building on the findings, a number of recommendations are presented: strengthen and further develop the structural change approach to gender equality in research and innovation, integrating an intersectional perspective; integrate structural change more systematically into policy-making; engage research funding organisations more substantively into the structural change framework; focus on process, not just outcomes, in order to increase ownership of structural change, increase the effectiveness of interventions; explore traditional notions of academic culture such as excellence and promotion, and make visible and valuable "academic care work"; develop support mechanisms and platforms for mutual learning on structural change; address the uneven implementation of structural change by integrating more substantively institutions and countries that are less advanced in gender equality in research and innovation; and increase accountability and ownership for gender equality in research and innovation by engaging a wider range of stakeholders from different sectors.
Schlagwörter:gender equality measures; higher education; intersectionality; Intersektionalität; research; research and innovation; university
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen
Fra visjon til praksis : En surveyundersøkelse om likestillings- og mangfoldsarbeidet ved forskningsinstitutter, høyskoler og universiteter
Autor/in:
Tica, Sabina
Quelle: Komité for kjønnsbalanse og mangfold i forskning; Oslo, 2021.
Inhalt: The report is a survey-based review (in Norwegian only) of how research institutes, universities and university colleges work to promote gender equality and diversity. It was authored by Sabina Tica and commissioned by the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research (KIF committee).
The report was presented via webinar. The KIF committee initiated the survey to obtain more data and review the current status of efforts to promote gender balance and diversity in research, for use in its future work.
The KIF committee designed and sent out the survey to a variety of research and higher education institutions. The responses form the empirical basis of the report.
The survey was sent to HR heads at 64 institutions, of whom 48 responded. The sample consists of 18 research institutes, 17 university colleges, 10 universities and 3 unspecified.
Some of the main findings:
The responding institutions dedicated relatively little resources to promoting gender equality and diversity.
The proportion of institutions that had drawn up an institution-wide action plan for gender equality and diversity: universities (80 per cent), university colleges (76.5) and research institutes (38.9).
Gender was the discrimination basis that was included in every institution’s action plan, but disability, ethnicity and sexual harassment were often incorporated as well.
Just 25 per cent of responding institutions with an action plan (7 of 28) had drawn up a department- or faculty-level action plan.
Roughly half of institutions (23 of 45) had a coordinating group for equality and diversity or a gender equality committee.
Expertise in gender equality and diversity is seldom a requirement in management hiring and leadership development at the institutions responding.
Analysis shows that among the respondents, the universities had institutionalized their gender and diversity efforts to a greater extent than the university colleges and research institutes.
No respondents from the universities characterized their efforts on ethnic diversity as ‘good’.
Institutions without an action plan more often assessed their work on ethnic diversity as ‘good’ compared to those with an action plan.
Only 10.2 per cent of respondents felt the pandemic had caused delays in planned efforts to promote gender equality and diversity at their institutions.
Among the institutions responding, the majority felt that international students and researchers were the most vulnerable group during the pandemic, followed by other at-risk groups. Respondents also expressed concern about the pandemic’s impact on women’s working conditions.
Quelle: The gender-sensitive university. A contradiction in terms? Eileen P. Drew (Hrsg.), Siobhán Canavan (Hrsg.), Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 2021, S 1–15
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Sammelwerksbeitrag
Oxford Understanding Relationships, Sex, Power, Abuse and Consent Experiences (OUR SPACE) cross-sectional survey: a study protocol
Autor/in:
Steele, Bridget; Degli Esposti, Michelle; Mandeville, Pete; Hamnett, Gillian; Nye, Elizabeth; Humphreys, David K.
Quelle: BMJ Open, 11 (2021) 11
Inhalt: INTRODUCTION
Sexual violence among higher education students is a public health concern, threatening the general safety of students, often with significant physical and mental health implications for victims. Establishing the prevalence estimates of sexual violence at higher education institutions (HEIs) is essential for designing and resourcing responses to sexual violence, including monitoring the effectiveness of prevention initiatives and institutional programmes. Yet, to date, there have been no rigorous studies assessing prevalence of sexual violence at HEIs in the UK.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
Informed by guidance from Universities UK, the University of Oxford administration and the related student advocacy groups working within the University, Oxford Understanding Relationships, Sex, Power, Abuse and Consent Experiences is a cross-sectional survey of all undergraduate and graduate students over the age of 18 enrolled at the University of Oxford, UK. The survey design uses a complete sampling approach and measures adapted from previous campus climate surveys in the USA as well as the Sexual Experiences Survey (USA). The analysis will estimate the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence perpetration and victimisation, and will examine whether ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation are associated with these primary outcomes.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
Ethical approval was obtained by the Social Sciences and Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee at the University of Oxford which is a subcommittee of the Central University Research Ethics Committee (ref no.: R73805/RE001). The research team will disseminate findings through peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations. A report cowritten by authors and stakeholders will be shared with Oxford University students.
Schlagwörter:data collection; empirical research; England; prevalence; sexual assault; sexuelle Gewalt; student; Studierende; survey; UK; Umfrage; undergraduate; university
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt