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.
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2022) , S 1–17
Inhalt: The aim of this article is to provide empirical insights into the process of building solidarity. I focus on the way in which feminist movements are funded and discuss the question of the structural conditions for building feminist solidarities within movements that already display different hierarchies of income, visibility and recognition. My key message is that feminist solidarities are more easily produced if feminist movements challenge traditional alliances of money, expertise and power, and thus propose an alternative to ‘NGO-isation’. I outline the particular practices of participatory grant-making of the Polish Feminist Fund and argue that such organisation practices may foster greater solidarities across different identities, issues and locations, and result in the more politically oriented redistribution of funds to those who are in most pressing need of support.
Quelle: High Educ Policy (Higher Education Policy), 35 (2022) 2, S 542–560
Inhalt: Diversity policies have become an indispensable part of higher education institutions (HEIs) of the Global North. The increased monitoring by the European Commission has led to changes in Belgian HEI policy especially regarding gender. While research shows that the implementation of diversity policies has a positive effect on redistributing power, critics point out how the initial aim of these policies has been answered by empty promises. This research is based on 50 in-depth interviews of the perceptions and experiences of female academics with diversity policies in five Belgian HEIs. Results show that women perceive these policies as ways to window-dress equality externally, but do not have the expected effects internally. Women were divided on the utilisation of positive action. In addition, the policies lacked an intersectional perspective regarding ethnic minority backgrounds as well as family status for faculty. Studying their experiences and perceptions will allow staff equality agenda in HEIs to progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Higher Education Policy is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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
Contested gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament: political groups and committees as gatekeepers
Autor/in:
Elomäki, Anna; Ahrens, Petra
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 5 (2022) 3, S 322–340
Inhalt: This article analyses the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament and aims at deciphering the role of its committees and political groups in advancing or hindering the integration of gender perspectives. The article engages with feminist institutionalism and micro-political approaches, and is based on interview and documentary data. It examines how formal and informal institutions and micro-political strategies within committees and political groups affect the abilities of this representative European Union institution to ensure a gender perspective is present in European Union policies. We suggest that although the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (the gender-focused parliamentary body) oversees gender mainstreaming, committees and political groups, as the core actors of European Parliament policymaking, are the gatekeepers that determine the outcomes. Our findings advance understandings of the limits of gender mainstreaming in European Union policymaking and shed light on the specific challenges of gender mainstreaming and broader gender equality change in parliaments.
Schlagwörter:European Parliament; feminist institutionalism; gender equality; Gender Mainstreaming; Politics and government
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Quelle: Information (2078-2489), 13 (2022) 10, 482-N.PAG
Inhalt: The article presents an intention to examine the possibilities of processing data on the representation of women in science and research from data collected in Slovakia as part of the Gender Equality Plan. The methodology follows the declared intention and consists of three steps. The first step is the identification of sources of sex-disaggregated data from the field of science and research in the Slovak Republic. Then follows the examination of the state of the art of tracking data in the identified data sources. The analysis of available data and the processing of the results is the next step. The share of women in Slovak science and research is demonstrated by the composition of project teams and by the statistical data of the supplementary statistical survey of research and development potential, which are collected through the national information system for research, development, and innovation, named SK CRIS. The result is a detailed analysis of the position of women in Slovak science and research, classified by research area and academic career stage. Based on the research conducted and the results achieved, we underline the importance of building national information systems in science and research. Data from these systems can significantly contribute to the creation and parameterization of science policy, including the principles of gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Information (2078-2489) is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Potenzial nicht ausgeschöpft : Internationale Mobilität von Wissenschaftlerinnen
Autor/in:
Löther, Andrea; Freund, Frederike
Quelle: Forschung & Lehre, (2022) 9, S 700–701
Schlagwörter:Antragserfolg; dual career couple; Exzellenz; Forschungsförderung; Geschlechtergerechtigkeit; Gleichstellungspolitik; internationale akademische Mobilität; Mobilität; Wissenschaftler*in
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
University, neoliberalism and hegemonic bodies: narratives of international students in Chile
Autor/in:
Martinez, César Augusto Ferrari
Quelle: Gender and Education, (2022) , S 1–15
Inhalt: This article investigates the production of neoliberal subjectivities in Latin American international students in Chilean universities. In last years, Chile have registered plenty political uprisings regarding its economic, social and gender inequalities. The premise is that Chile is a country where Neoliberalism is rooted not only in the form of political and economic guidelines, but as rationality. It proposes that these forms of thought-action reinforce typically male success stereotypes, dismissing bodies challenged of non-hegemonic paths. Narrative interviews with doctoral students in Chile are used to describe how the topic of academic excellence sustained by the Chilean neoliberal university market materializes differently in each body. Students report the interpellation of success discourses affecting their bodies and relating their nationhood, gender and sexualities experiences to feelings of diminishment, loneliness, discrimination, etc. I argue that the presence of neoliberal rationalities in the Chilean university favours the exercise of sexist practices, naturalized as market practices, and impose normative adjustments on the gender and sexuality performance of students.