Queering and diversifying gender in equality work at European higher education institutions
Autor/in:
Mense, Lisa; Sera, Stephanie; Vader, Sarah
Quelle: GENDER (GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft), 11 (2019) 1-2019, S 78–91
Inhalt: In den letzten Jahren hat die zunehmende Anerkennung von Forderungen und Bedürfnissen der LGBTIQ* Communities zu Änderungen im EU-Recht beigetragen. Vor diesem Hintergrund plädieren die Autor*innen für ein queeres und damit vielfältiges Verständnis von Gender in den Gleichstellungsdiskursen an Hochschulen. Anhand der Fallbeispiele Deutschland und den Niederlanden werden rechtliche und diskursive Bedingungen sowie die Motivationen, Herausforderungen und Chancen der Akteur*innen im jeweiligen Hochschulsystem aus einer queeren Perspektive betrachtet. Die Beispiele zeigen, wie unterschiedlich die Umsetzung von EU-Richtlinien in nationales Recht erfolgt ist. Sie machen ebenfalls deutlich, dass Veränderungen in den Hochschulen derzeit von hoch motivierten Akteur*innen wie Studierenden, Gleichstellungs- und Diversity-Beauftragten oder einzelnen Einrichtungen angestoßen werden. Als aufeinander aufbauende, analytische Konzepte können „queering“ und „diversifying“ dazu beitragen, heteronormative Vorannahmen und diskriminierende Prozesse im gleichstellungspolitischen Kontext an Hochschulen zu erkennen. Sie erlauben ferner die Entwicklung von Strategien, die die Komplexität von Geschlechteridentitäten und Diskriminierungen berücksichtigen.
Against the background of recent changes to EU legislation to meet the demands and needs of LGBTIQ* communities, the authors seek to situate a queered and diversified understanding of gender firmly at the centre of the gender equality discourse in higher education (HE). Based on case examples, the legal and discursive status quo in German and Dutch HE institutions as well as actors’ motivations, challenges and opportunities are examined through a queer lens. The results highlight how differently EU legislation is transposed into national law. They also show that change is currently driven by highly motivated individual actors, be they students, gender equality and diversity officers, or individual institutions. We argue that queering and diversifying should be understood and used as modes to reflect on and analyse the processes that lead to heteronormative understandings of gender in HE and to develop strategies that take the complexities of gendered identities and discrimination into account.
Success against the odds : The Effect of Mentoing on the Careers of Senior Black and Minority Ethnic Academics in the UK
Autor/in:
Bhopal, Kalwant
Quelle: British Journal of Educational Studies, 14 (2019) 4, S 1–17
Inhalt: This article explores the effect of mentoring on the career progression of Black and minority ethnic (BME) academics in senior roles in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). It draws on 37 interviews with BME academics working in HEIs in the UK and argues that whilst universities present a strong rhetoric of equality and diversity; this is not necessarily followed by specific policies and procedures which ensure a serious commitment to an equality agenda.
Schlagwörter:Diversität; impact; Intersektionalität; Mentoring; Networking; Netzwerk; people of color; Rassismus; UK; Unterstützungsmaßnahmen
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Gleichstellungspolitik, Hochschulen
Gender, ethnicity and career progression in UK higher education : A case study analysis
Autor/in:
Bhopal, Kalwant
Quelle: Research Papers in Education, 34 (2019) 3, S 1–16
Inhalt: This article uses case study interviews to examine women’s experiences in higher education. It focuses on career progression, support available for promotion and particular initiatives for staff retention. The findings suggest that whilst some progress has been made to support White and Black and minority ethnic women in their career trajectories, greater change is needed in order that inclusion is embedded within institutional frameworks and strategic plans. Furthermore, clearer evidence is needed by universities to demonstrate how they are meeting their legal equality requirements as specified by the Equality Act (2010). The mere presence of diversity and equality policies does not necessarily demonstrate that gender and ethnic inequalities are being addressed. Such policies may simply result in a ‘tick box’ exercise. In order to address such inequalities, issues of diversity and equality must be embedded within the cultural organisation of institutions which are identified in key objectives resulting in real outcomes and practice. Additionally, there is a need to consider intersectional identities and the impact of ethnicity on women’s experiences in higher education.
Competing inequalities : Gender versus race in higher education institutions in the UK
Autor/in:
Bhopal, Kalwant; Henderson, Holly
Quelle: Educational Review, 42 (2019) 2, S 1–17
Inhalt: This article explores findings from two projects that explore the impacts and institutional experiences of the Athena SWAN (ASC) and Race Equality (REC) Charter Marks in UK universities. The article offers an important, timely and original insight into the ways that these two charter marks are shaping and influencing practice in universities. We argue that in higher education policymaking, there has been a privileging of gender over race in terms of addressing inequalities in higher education. Whilst acknowledging the persistence of inequalities in both groups, the data from our projects highlight a significant risk that gender and race inequalities become conflated in current equalities work. We argue that as a consequence of a logic of efficiency that drives Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to combine gender and race equalities work, and the privileging within this combination of gender, HEIs can publicly work towards equality and inclusion in general terms, without having to confront uncomfortable and deeply embedded practices that perpetuate White privilege in the academy.
Schlagwörter:Antidiskriminierung; Diskriminierung; Gender; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; Hochschule; race; Rassismus; UK
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen
‘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
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.
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Geschlechterverhältnis, Wissenschaft als Beruf
Interrogating violence against women and state violence policy : Gendered intersectionalities and the quality of policy in The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK
Inhalt: This article builds on feminist scholarship on intersectionality to address violence against women, and state policy thereon. It takes up the challenge of analyzing the complex, situated and spatial relationship between theorizing on violence against women and state policy on such violence. Drawing on extensive comparative European data, it explores the relations of gender and intersectionality, conceptualized as gendered intersectionalities, by examining how multiple inequalities are made visible and invisible in state policy and debates in the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Attention is paid to different forms of gendered intersectionalities in policy, for example, tendencies to degender violence against women. A key aim of the article is to investigate how comparative analysis can be a starting point for assessing if, how and to what extent the inclusion of multiple inequalities could increase the quality of policy, for both reducing and stopping violence, and assisting those subject to violence.
Schlagwörter:comparative Europe; Diversitätsdimensionen; Europa; Europe; Gewalt gegen Frauen; inequality; intersectionality; Intersektionalität; Netherlands; Policy; Sweden; UK; violence against women; Niederlande; Schweden;
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt