Recognition through awards : A source of gender inequality in science?
Autor/in:
Helga Van Miegroet; Christy Glass
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 12 (2020) 2, S 289–315
Details
Inhalt: Drawing from Acker’s gendered organizations perspective, this study analyzes the gender distribution of research and non-research awards in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) colleges at a mid-size public doctoral university in the western U.S. This analysis is complemented with a faculty survey (2016) elucidating faculty perceptions of the nomination process and their standing within their department and college. Despite an increase in the number of women among STEM faculty over time, women remain underrepresented among research award recipients, especially at the university level. The ratio of research to non-research awards for men is 3 to 6 times that of women faculty. Differences in productivity cannot be invoked as a mechanism for this gendered awards distribution. Women report being overlooked in the nomination process for all awards. This study suggests that the nomination and selection processes put women at an evaluative disadvantage with respect to high-status research awards. Social proximity tends to neutralize some of the evaluation bias at the college level.
Schlagwörter:awards; bias; gender bias; gendered organization; glass ceiling; Hochschule; MINT; Preisvergabe; Sichtbarkeit; STEM; USA
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
‘You must aim high’ - ‘No, I never felt like a woman’: women and men making sense of non-standard trajectories into higher education
Autor/in:
González Ramos, Ana M.; Räthzel, Nora
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, 17 S
Details
Inhalt: It is no secret that the ‘glass ceiling’ preventing women advancing to leadership positions exists in academia as well. Spain is no exception. Gender relations are usually investigated independently of other power relations like class and ethnicity. In our sample (80 men and women in different academic institutions across Spain) we found that not only women but also men from working class backgrounds have difficulties making successful academic careers. Therefore, we use an intersectional approach to investigate the relationship between gender and class. Comparing two life-histories, we explore what strategies individuals employ to overcome the barriers with which they are confronted. We present the stories of a woman with a middle class but non-academic background and of a man with a working-class background. Their strategies can be understood as the result of specific individual trajectories under specific societal conditions, but they also illustrate the barriers and possibilities men and women with non-standard backgrounds encounter in academia. Analysing successful strategies as well as their limitations, we aim to provide perspectives that might contribute to changing the culture of hegemonic masculinities in academia.
Schlagwörter:career; Gender; Geschlecht; Intersektionalität; Karriereplanung; Lebenswege; life-history; Männlichkeit; Masculinities; SCIENCE; social class; soziale Klasse; Wissenschaft
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Geschlechterverhältnis, Wissenschaft als Beruf
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
The Perfect Course of Life (CV) and Double-Career Couples in Science
Autor/in:
Metz-Göckel, Sigrid
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1
Details
Inhalt: In spite of very good qualifications, young female scientists rarely reach the top positions in German universities. The paper discusses changes in requirements for an excellent academic career and the discrepancy between the norm of individual achievement and dependency on professional and private support. Due to government de-regulation and the flexibility of workforce required under neo-liberal ideology, in recent years the economic situation of young scientists has deteriorated and competition has increased. The construction of a perfect CV now takes the full attention of young scientists on their way to the top and demands the whole person. The paper argues that a gender gap is produced by different resources in the personal and professional life of male and female scientists. Increased requirements lead to stress as a central aspect of all stages of the career journey and encourage women more than men to leave science. Women scientists somehow have different images of their personal life in mind. They live linked lives, mostly in double career-partnerships and with caring responsibilities. Although, the change in double-career-couples goes from a complementary to a competitive or sometimes symmetrical relationship, this does not support men and women equally, due to the societal gender hierarchy which favors men’s rather than women’s career. Successful female scientists compensate for the gender gap through private support.
Schlagwörter:Ausstieg; Deutschland; Doppelkarriere; Geschlecht; Geschlechterunterschied; Karriereentwicklung; Lebenslauf; Neoliberalismus; wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs; Wissenschaftskultur
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Multiple Masculinities and Gendered Research Personas : Between experiments, career choice and family
Autor/in:
Pettersson, Helena
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1
Details
Inhalt: The aim of this study is to analyze multiple masculinity identities among experimental plasma physicists. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork with long term observations in a laboratory and in-depth interviews. The point of departure is that different identities exist side by side and are co constructed among physicists in the laboratory. They are defined and challenged at the same time in everyday work, and are therefore central to those attracted to experimental physics. In this study, masculine identity work is analyzed as boundary work for both masculinity and experimental physics. Physics and identity work can be understood as a process where the performance and daily work is also a way of defining gender. I argue that perspectives from masculinity studies are crucial in order to advance an understanding of gender dynamics within physics communities and enrich the current understanding of the lack of women in physics. Both senior and junior physicists emphasized the importance of a strong scientist identity. The plasma physicists represent a type of double hegemonic masculinity front stage. The scientific ideal is in itself strongly gendered with the ideal image of the scientist.
Schlagwörter:Doing Gender; Ethnographie; Gender; Geschlecht; Identität; Identitätsbildung; Interview; Karriereplanung; Labor; Männlichkeit; Physik; Unterrepräsentanz; Wissenschaftler
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Naturwissenschaft und Technik, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Guest Editorial: Gender and Masculinities in Careers and Leadership in Higher Education
Autor/in:
Sagebiel, Felizitas; White, Kate
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, 6 S
Details
Inhalt: This Special Issue, recognising vertical gender segregation in higher education, combines papers focusing on challenges for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in career progression and taking on leadership roles.
Schlagwörter:Führungsposition; Geschlecht; Geschlechtersegregation; Karriereentwicklung; Männlichkeit; MINT
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Naturwissenschaft und Technik, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Excellence, Masculinity and Work-Life Balance in Academia: Voices from Researchers in Germany and Sweden
Autor/in:
Salminen-Karlsson, Minna; Wolffram, Andrea; Almgren, Nina
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, 20 S
Details
Inhalt: The concept of research excellence, as defined and practised in the current research landscape, has been shown to be problematic for gender equality. This interview study examines how the concept of excellence is perceived among researchers in two national contexts, Sweden and Germany. The findings show that the perception of what excellence is, and how it can be achieved, differs between the two countries. In Germany, the concept was perceived as positive, while researchers in Sweden were more critical of it. In both countries, however, excellence in research was related to different constructions of masculinity. One of these, prioritising work above other life concerns, was also discussed differently in the two countries. Most German interviewees cherished an all hours’ culture, while most Swedish interviewees advocated a more balanced life. In both countries, becoming ‘excellent’ was seen as requiring the practice of both traditional academic and a new kind of business-like entrepreneurial masculinity. This impedes female researchers’ career paths. The Swedish researchers, however, seemed to live in a more permissive research environment, in which different ways of being an excellent academic were possible.
Schlagwörter:Akademische Karriere; career; excellence; Expertise; Finanzierung; Forschungspolitik; research financing; research policy; RWTH Aachen; Schweden
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Wissenschaftspolitik
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Are New Career Models for Science Research Emerging?
Autor/in:
White, Kate
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, S 73–87
Details
Inhalt: This paper explores how the traditional gendered model of science excellence impacts on the careers of women scientists. Using an Australian case study, it then examines the following aspects of science careers: what gives scientists job satisfaction; differing perceptions of how to build science careers; how networks, mobility and mentoring are fundamental to research careers; how gender is often a factor in science research careers; and huge generational change underway that is leading to new career models. The paper argues that these new models have the capacity to change the traditional gendered model of science careers.
Schlagwörter:Akademische Karriere; Arbeitszufriedenheit; career paths in science; Exzellenz; Frauen in der Wissenschaft; Gender; Geschlecht; Gleichstellung; Higher Education; Hochschule; Mentoring; Mobilität; Netzwerk; new career models; Österreich; wissenschaftliche Karriere; Wissenschaftskarriere
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Hochschulen, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Excellence as a Gender-Biased Concept and Effects of the Linking of Excellence with Gender Equality
Autor/in:
Wolffram, Andrea
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, S 88–107
Details
Inhalt: This paper focuses on the subjectivity of evaluations of excellence in promotion and hiring processes in academia and on the accompanying factors for successful careers in Science and Technology (S&T) disciplines. Against the background of the disproportionately low rate of appointments of female scientists to professorships in Germany, the article analyses how the demands of gender equality and the concept of excellence are negotiated at a German university that was successful in the German Excellence Initiative. The implementation of the excellence process was accompanied by a discourse of linking excellence with gender equality. This article draws on qualitative data from interviews with researchers at different levels of their scientific careers. It can be shown that researchers, regardless of their scientific experience, perceive equity measures in appointment procedures as undermining the meritocratic principle. Rather, most of them think that societal conditions outside the scientific system are responsible for the underrepresentation of women in professorships and other top positions in academia.
Schlagwörter:Beförderung; Berufungsverfahren; Bewerbung; career paths in science and technology; Deutschland; Diskurs; Exzellenz; Exzellenzinitiative; Frauen in der Wissenschaft; Geschlechtergerechtigkeit; Gleichstellung; Interview; meritocracy; Meritokratie; MINT; Personalrekrutierung; promotion and recruitment of women in academia; Social construction of excellence; Soziale Konstruktion; Technologie; Unterrepräsentanz; wissenschaftliche Karriere; Wissenschaftskarriere
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis, Wissenschaftspolitik, Berufungsverfahren
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Change and Persistence of Gender Disparities in Academic Careers of Mathematicians and Physicists in Germany
Autor/in:
Langfeldt, Bettina; Mischau, Anina
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1
Details
Inhalt: This article discusses whether or not gender-related disparities exist within the academic fields of mathematics and physics regarding the application of career knowledge and the experiences of disadvantage in relation to recognition of performance, assessment of professional competencies, and integration into networks. To answer this question, primary data was collected with a structured online survey addressing graduates in both academic fields (n=5,174). The article considers a subsample of respondents working at a university or university of applied sciences (n=1,613). Apart from the gender perspective, other factors potentially influencing the academic careers of mathematicians and physicists, such as being in a certain subject, age cohort or having children, are also considered. Some of the key findings are: a) more gender differences occur in mathematics than in physics; b) the experiences of disadvantage in the workplace constitute a cross-disciplinary phenomenon caused by the gender differentiating academic culture; and c) more female than male academics in both disciplines accept constraints or abandon career goals due to child care. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normale Tabelle"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
Schlagwörter:academic career; Akademische Karriere; Befragung; career knowledge; Deutschland; Diskriminierung; gender disparities; German higher education system; Geschlechterungleichheit; Hochschule; Hochschulsystem; Karriereplanung; Karriereweg; Leistungsbewertung; mathematics; Mathematik; Netzwerk; physics; Physik; wissenschaftliche Karriere
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Gleichstellungspolitik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
The Triple Whammy: Gendered Careers of Geographically Marginalised Academic STEM Women
Autor/in:
Herman, Clem; Hilliam, Rachel
Quelle: International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 10 (2018) 1, 19 S
Details
Inhalt: In this paper we explore how gender, non-standard job roles as well as location create a triple whammy affecting the visibility and therefore the career paths of women STEM academics. Drawing on data from interviews and surveys at a distributed university with locations across the UK, we examine the experiences of a group of ‘Regional Academics’ who are located at a distance from the main university campus, either in regional centres or as homeworkers, and show how gender intersects with distance and status to exacerbate inequalities. In their narrative accounts, they describe themselves as the ‘glue that hold the bits of the university together’, mediating between part-time tutors, students and other academics and researchers. We explore how career progression has been limited for these liminal academics, but how small steps to increase visibility and provide recognition for achievement can result in strategies that overcome these inherent obstacles.
Schlagwörter:Academia; Akademische Karriere; Gendered careers; Geschlecht; Liminality; MINT; Remote Working; Sichtbarkeit; STEM; Übergangsphase; Visibility
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Hochschulen, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz