Inhalt: The assumption that men are more likely to undertake and succeed in an academic career, because the requirements of professional success in this occupation are compatible with normative gender assumptions, particularly that of fulfilling a ‘male breadwinner’ or main household earner role, implying reduced domestic and care commitments, is discussed. It is suggested that Switzerland offers a particularly interesting case for this study, because of the combination of the specific structure of academic careers, the characteristics of the non-academic labour market and the dominant gender regime. It is shown that, in this particular context, the aspirations of postdocs to remain in academic employment or to look for non-academic jobs are directly related to their position within the domestic division of labour and to their personal and family circumstances. However, this does not necessarily lead to a clear-cut divide between work-committed men, who ‘succeed’ (and hence stay), and care-committed women who ‘fail’ to climb up the academic career ladder (and hence leave). The results suggest that the situation is more complex and requires a subtle distinction between different ideal-types of post-doctoral experiences that do not always cut neatly across gender lines.

Schlagwörter:Ausstieg; Care; Gender; gender regime; leaky pipeline; Nachwuchsforschende; Post-doc; prekäre Beschäftigung; Schweiz; Vereinbarkeit; Wissenschaftskarriere

CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14749041166733...

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically, it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations of the temporalities of work, especially among the new generation of researchers, whose condition is characterized by a higher degree of instability and uncertainty. Which are the experiences of the early career researchers in an academic context constituted by a growing competition for permanent positions and, as a consequence, by a greatly increased pressure? Which are the main gender differences? In what elements do Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines differ from Social Sciences and Humanities? The collected narratives reveal how the ongoing process of precarization is affecting both the everyday working activities and the private and family lives of early career researchers, with important consequences also on their future prospects.

Schlagwörter:academia; Geschlechterunterschied; Hochschule; Italien; Nachwuchsforschende; prekäre Beschäftigung; Prekarisierung; Wissenschaftskarriere; work-life balance

CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14749041166693...

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: This paper discusses results of a research project on equal opportunities between women and men in the postdoctoral phase in German universities. It illustrates how the funding system is organized and whether this contributes to more equal opportunities for men and women, especially concerning the work–life interference. Although the system loses women after the doctorial phase, equal opportunity is not a core issue in the promotion of postdoctoral researchers in Germany. Instead, it tends to be addressed indirectly via an array of different compensatory support programmes. One key finding is that certain programmes, such as ‘coaching’, ‘networking’, ‘mentoring’ or financial support, are not offered everywhere, and therefore many postdoctoral researchers do not have the opportunity to utilize them. Furthermore, we found evidence of a gender-specific demand for support programmes. Another finding was that work–life interferences in scientific careers are not addressed by support programmes. The organization of everyday life is not taken into account. Given the context of uncertain career paths in Germany and the unequal working conditions of women and men in academia in Germany, it becomes clear that equal opportunities cannot be realized by ignoring the informal and gendered handling of work-life-balance.

Schlagwörter:equal opportunities; Fördermaßnahme; Gender; Geschlechterunterschied; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; Gleichstellungspolitik; Hochschule; leaky pipeline; Post-doc; work-life balance

CEWS Kategorie:Fördermaßnahmen, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis, Gleichstellungspolitik

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14749041176946...

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: The underrepresentation of women in academe has been the focus of both academic literature and European policy-makers. However, albeit the number of female scientists has increased, true gender equality has yet to be achieved. When examining the reasons for this, we have to consider the interconnection between the expectations surrounding gender and what it means to work in the scientific profession, operating at individual, interactional, and institutional levels. This paper presents the results (and methods) of a survey exploring work–life interfaces from a gender-sensitive perspective. Our survey focused on the researchers and professors working in the medicine and engineering departments of the University of Pisa, where the gradient of female exclusion is most pronounced. The results allow for an interpretation of the ‘leaky pipeline’ (macro level), through a gender-sensitive analysis of gender-based social obligations and those associated with the scientific profession (micro perspective), by integrating said reading through a description of the dynamics of continuous negotiation in private and public life (university) (meso level). Essentially, science is a greedy institution, as is family life, which is a problem for a woman’s career, unless she is willing to make considerable concessions at home.

Schlagwörter:Women in science, work–life interface, leaky pipeline, gender-sensitive approach, greedy institution

CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf

Verfügbarkeit:https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1474904116654701

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: It is suggested that the realization of work–life balance policies at the University of Iceland is compromised by an emphasis on neoliberal notions of growth and performance measurements in the form of new public management strategies. This is sustained by overt and covert incentive mechanisms, which in turn create a range of different gendered implications for academic staff. The results from semi-structured interviews suggest that while this tension field affects all academic staff, it is generally less favourable to women than to men. If women were granted time for the sake of family obligations, they risked a setback in their academic career due to decreased research activity. Women tended to view academic flexibility as an opportunity to engage in domestic responsibilities more so than men; and male interviewees tended to view the prioritization of family as a choice, while women tended to view it as a condition.

Schlagwörter:Gender; Geschlechterunterschied; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; incentive mechanisms; Island; neoliberal university; neoliberalism; new public management; Vereinbarkeit; wissenschaftliches Personal; work-life balance

CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14749041166730...

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: The article deals with structural, cultural and habitual concepts, principles and ideals of parenthood in the German academic working context. It focuses on social processes of transformation and reconfiguration of reproduction and profession, which means within work and family spheres and especially within academia in times of neoliberalism, economisation and globalisation. Discursive and biographical research results of two German research projects will be linked to trace current developments of gender relations concerning the compatibility of scientific work and family. Using an analytical governmental perspective, we reveal findings concerning the subject and identity formations of scientists and parents. The insights and conclusions obtained will be discussed and evaluated in terms of the interdependencies between the spheres of production and reproduction in neoliberalism.

Schlagwörter:academia; Diskurs; Elternschaft; Familie; Hochschule; neoliberalism; Neoliberalismus; Rollenmodell; unternehmerische Hochschule; wissenschaftliche Arbeit; work-life balance

CEWS Kategorie:Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Wissenschaft als Beruf

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14749041166829...

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz

Inhalt: This double special issue gathers a series of nuanced critically conceptual and case-study research showing that in the contemporary European context, despite regional differences in gender regimes, political and economic demands and organizational cultures, work/life balance policies and their translation into practice remains a highly ambiguous issue. Although work/life balance policies have undoubtedly entered the university institutional spaces, they are deterred by opposing institutional policy logics and particularly ‘greedy’ logics of the organizing of work that still aligns to outdated work-exclusive masculine organizational culture (outdated because men too are suffering the effects, and because the academic environment is feminized). Moreover, there are lingering gender stereotypes around the value and attribution of home and work duties, which are having a significant impact upon women’s professional and private spheres and experiences in academic work. The gathered research shows how university institutions are still quite far from having addressed the core issues that undermine women’s career advancement and their possibilities to access to academic membership and leadership, still obliging them (and their male counterparts) to align with a work and membership (selection and progression) logic and organization that does not take into consideration parenthood, family and personal spheres of life.

Schlagwörter:Care; Europa; Führungsposition; Gender; Geschlechterstereotyp; Geschlechterungleichheit; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; higher education; Hochschule; inequality; Organisationskultur; Vereinbarkeit; work-life balance

CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Hochschulen, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis

Verfügbarkeit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474904117701143

Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz