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Book part
Publication date: 22 October 2020

Zainab Fakhr and Hazel Messenger

Academic freedom and the right to express one’s views in higher education (HE) are important for faculty and students alike, so enabling intellectual integrity and professional…

Abstract

Academic freedom and the right to express one’s views in higher education (HE) are important for faculty and students alike, so enabling intellectual integrity and professional autonomy. However, this might not be the case for female academics in countries where females are marginalised, and their opinions are dominated and limited by the society and culture. Gender inequality and how it negatively influences the opportunities available for females to progress is a universal issue; however, although initiatives designed to tackle this problem are being seen to result in gradual improvement internationally, particularly in industrial countries, the situation in developing countries remains a concern. In developing countries, women tend to be either absent from many organisations or exist at the margins of organisational life with the result that they have fewer opportunities for development or career progression. This has a negative impact on the growth and development of a country at national level, particularly when there has been investment in female education from an earlier stage. It would seem that this certainly is the case in Pakistan where cultural norms intertwine with organisational politics thus militating against female employees. The experiences and issues discussed in this chapter highlight the social barriers faced by female academics in HE that have a significant impact on their academic freedom and expression.

Book part
Publication date: 7 May 2019

Ilias Kapareliotis and Georgia-Zozeta Miliopoulou

The purpose of this chapter is to combine research findings around gender bias and the challenges women face in academia, and to present a unified conceptual framework. Ample…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to combine research findings around gender bias and the challenges women face in academia, and to present a unified conceptual framework. Ample research indicates that the issue is far from sufficiently addressed. Even in cases where policies are in place, mediocre outcomes are observed. Fewer women climb the ladder of academic progression all the way up to senior positions, especially in certain institutions and certain disciplines.

Design/Methodology/Approach

After thoroughly reviewing the literature, the authors integrate and organize the different multifaceted causes that appear to obstruct women in academia. They propose a scheme that divides between contextual and non-contextual factors, emphasizing their interplay.

Findings

Even when policies are in place, they appear to have limited results, because they mainly address isolated factors rather than taking a multifaceted, integrative approach.

Research Limitations/Implications

Future research should further examine the interplay of contextual and non-contextual factors by combining multiple variables that contribute to gender bias in academia.

Practical Implications

Policy-making should consider both contextual and non-contextual factors, thus providing more integrative solutions and taking a broader perspective on the issue.

Originality/Value

Despite the ample and rising amount of research findings, there is no coherent framework to adequately include all the factors that contribute to gender bias in academia. By integrating and organizing the different, multifaceted causes already pointed out by previous findings, the authors hope to contribute to future research with specific variables to test and correlate, as well as to the formulation of more sophisticated policies.

Details

Diversity within Diversity Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-172-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 August 2015

Fran Amery, Stephen Bates, Laura Jenkins and Heather Savigny

We evaluate the use of metaphors in academic literature on women in academia. Utilizing the work of Husu (2001) and the concept of intersectionality, we explore the ways in which…

Abstract

Purpose

We evaluate the use of metaphors in academic literature on women in academia. Utilizing the work of Husu (2001) and the concept of intersectionality, we explore the ways in which notions of structure and/or agency are reflected in metaphors and the consequences of this.

Methodology/approach

The research comprised an analysis of 113 articles on women in academia and a subanalysis of 17 articles on women in Political Science published in academic journals between 2004 and 2013.

Findings

In the case of metaphors about academic institutions, the most popular metaphors are the glass ceiling, the leaky pipeline, and the old boys’ network, and, in the case of metaphors about women academics, strangers/outsiders and mothers/housekeepers.

Usage of metaphors in the literature analyzed suggests that the literature often now works with a more nuanced conception of the structure/agency problematic than at the time Husu was writing: instead of focusing on either structures or agents in isolation, the literature has begun to look more critically at the interplay between them, although this may not be replicated at a disciplinary level.

Originality/value

We highlight the potential benefits of interdependent metaphors which are able to reflect more fully the structurally situated nature of (female) agency. These metaphors, while recognizing the (multiple and intersecting) structural constraints that women may face both within and outwith the academy, are able to capture more fully the different forms female power and agency can take. Consequently, they contribute both to the politicization of problems that female academics may face and to the stimulation of collective responses for a fairer and better academy.

Details

At the Center: Feminism, Social Science and Knowledge
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-078-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Isabel Ruiz-Mora, Ileana Zeler and Andrea Oliveira

Research on the role of women in Public Relations (PR) has seen a notable increase in recent years (Topić et al., 2019), yet exploratory studies on the subject remain limited…

Abstract

Research on the role of women in Public Relations (PR) has seen a notable increase in recent years (Topić et al., 2019), yet exploratory studies on the subject remain limited, particularly concerning the role of women in the academic sphere of PR in Spain. Guided by the imperative to reflect on the role of PR professionals operating within the Spanish academic landscape, this chapter aims to identify and reflect on the role of women in PR academia in Spain to discover the extent to which women are leading the communication faculties where PR is taught; to identify the presence of women in the departments where communication studies take place and to determine women's leadership in national research activity. This study follows a combined approach with two dimensions, exploratory and interpretative, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The interpretative approach is developed using a focus group with women currently working in PR education and leading projects and institutions in the Spanish academia. Through this research, we discover the struggles and opportunities they face and identify possible solutions and ideas to improve the situation of women in academia and, specifically, in PR.

Details

Women’s Work in Public Relations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-539-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 June 2005

Liisa Husu

Academia remains a male-dominated occupational realm, even though women have made great gains as actors in higher education. The interconnections of work-related and…

Abstract

Academia remains a male-dominated occupational realm, even though women have made great gains as actors in higher education. The interconnections of work-related and family-related discrimination experiences and work-related and family-related support are analyzed, drawing on over 100 semi-structured interviews with and written accounts of academic women in 11 Finnish universities from all major disciplinary fields. Finland provides an interesting research context, characterized by relatively high gender equality in both academia and society more generally. Exploring academic women in this setting reveals several paradoxes, namely those of: feminization of academia; family-friendly policies; academic motherhood; and academic endogamy.

Details

Gender Realities: Local and Global
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-214-6

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Husni Thamrin, Nurdiana Gaus, Fajar Utama Ritonga and Sultan Baa

New Public Management (NPM) has been assumed to be a challenge to patronage and paternalism. However, feminist scholars have challenged such an image and argued that NPM has been…

Abstract

Purpose

New Public Management (NPM) has been assumed to be a challenge to patronage and paternalism. However, feminist scholars have challenged such an image and argued that NPM has been the representation of men's languages and bodies from which gender inequality is perpetuated. This paper examines how NPM introduced in academia has perpetuated gender inequality, examined through the abjected meaning of women's languages and bodies to conform to NPM's defined ideal bodies of abstract workers.

Design/methodology/approach

Indonesian universities from two different geographical locations were chosen as sites to conduct the research, using interviews with 30 women academics.

Findings

This study revealed that gender inequality in Indonesian universities is persistent because women academics have practiced “an adapting stance” via employing a gendered strategy of adaptation toward two patriarchal systems: the abjection of maternal bodies and its associated discourse of motherhood, and the religious-driven roles and expectations interpreted in cultural norms and traditions.

Originality/value

This research has brought forward a new way of understanding the persistence of gender inequality in academia via the “adapting stance” of women academics through the lenses of the abjected body and language of women, coupled with religious aspects that regulate that body.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 15 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2020

Fabiana Roberto, Andrea Rey, Roberto Maglio and Francesco Agliata

This study addresses gender composition in universities. The purpose of this study is to define the vertical and horizontal gender segregation in both public and private…

Abstract

Purpose

This study addresses gender composition in universities. The purpose of this study is to define the vertical and horizontal gender segregation in both public and private universities. In particular, it measures the gender distribution throughout academic careers across levels and time, and among fields of science in Italian academia.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted the framework of Blackburn et al. (2002) as a theoretical lens through which they examine and explain occupational gender segregation in the university context. A mixed methodology of both document analysis and examining some statistical indicators was used to create gender-disaggregated measures to help the authors answer their research questions. The data collected represent academia in Italy for the period 2010-2018. The data were obtained from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research.

Findings

The authors show the gendered nature of academic institutions in Italy. In particular, the authors acknowledge that hierarchies of power exist that privilege men and the masculine and devalue women and the feminine within academic institutions.

Practical implications

This paper provides theoretical and practical findings that support the literature on gender issues in universities and other public and/or private institutions. The academic community, practitioners and policymakers can use the results to design measures to address gender inequality in academia.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is novel because it provides gender-relevant insights on the gender composition in universities in the Italian context. These insights are also relevant for academic institutions that operate in an international setting.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

P. Rani Thanacoody, Timothy Bartram, Michelle Barker and Kerry Jacobs

This paper aims to investigate the career experiences of female academics in a Western and in an Indian cultural setting in order to gain an in‐depth understanding of the factors…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the career experiences of female academics in a Western and in an Indian cultural setting in order to gain an in‐depth understanding of the factors contributing to their career progression. The paper also examines the factors such as national culture, gender stereotypes and leadership, work and family conflict, mentoring and informal networks that impact on the career progression of women academics in two different cultural settings, namely Mauritius and Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Thirty in‐depth interviews from two universities were used.

Findings

The findings illustrate that the barriers to progression are remarkably similar to women from both universities despite their different cultural background. Women in the Mauritian context face a considerably more conservative cultural climate that may negatively impact on their career progression. Women from both cultural settings face significant barriers to career progression in their academic roles.

Originality/value

This paper compares Australian and Mauritian women academics experience in academia. The paper also offers practical guidance that can be used by management and women academics to facilitate career progression of women in academia.

Details

Women in Management Review, vol. 21 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-9425

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2014

Fida Afiouni

The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle East enact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution…

2578

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle East enact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution encoding organizational career scripts and gender as another institution encoding specific gender roles. It is hoped that this cross-cultural perspective would broaden the understanding of careers beyond the economically advanced industrialized countries and better inform the current debate on the boundaryless career model.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. It draws on one-to-one interviews with 23 female academics in early, mid and late careers, working in research universities in the Arab Middle East region.

Findings

The choice of academia as a profession is mainly driven by the subjective perception of an academic career as a calling, the lack of attractiveness of other career options in the region, and the appeal of the flexibility of academic work. Furthermore, the findings highlight both organizational (lack of mentoring and university support) and cultural factors (Islam, patriarchy, and family centrality) that shape/bind women's careers choices and patterns allowing thus for a better understanding of local constraints to the boundaryless career view in the Arab Middle East context.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the boundaryless career theory development by addressing one of its major shortcomings, namely the lack of attention to context. It provides fresh insights from the Arab Middle East to the ongoing debate whether careers are boundaryless and subject to individual agency or whether careers are shaped by wider institutional factors and support existing calls in the literature to conceptualize careers at the intersection of several influencing factors.

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2019

Nurdiana Gaus

The purpose of this paper, which is drawn on Indonesian academic women’s experiences, is to examine the extent to which the aesthetics of existence or true life of women academics

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper, which is drawn on Indonesian academic women’s experiences, is to examine the extent to which the aesthetics of existence or true life of women academics in relation to the truth telling, played out within the interaction between philosophy and politics, is affected by the application of NPM in research and publication productivities, and the way in which women academics are voicing their opinions toward this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 30 women academics across two geographical region (east and west) universities took part in this research, sharing their perceptions and the way they criticize this policy to the audiences (Indonesian government), framed within the concept of parrhesia (truth telling), parrhesiastes (truth teller) of Foucault and the pariah of Arendt.

Findings

Using semi-structured interviews, this research finds that women academics in Indonesian universities have shown discursive voices and stances to the extent to which they agree and oppose this policy, showing the patterns similar to those of parhesiastes and pariah. The implication of this study is addressed in this paper.

Originality/value

This research, via the lenses of Parrhesia and Pariah, finds several kinds of philosopher roles of women academics in Indonesian universities, such as apathetic philosophers or depraved orators and Schlemihl figure of Pariah, and Parrhesiastic philosophers of Socrates and a conscious figure of Pariah.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

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