tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/women-academics-25533/articleswomen academics – The Conversation2022-06-22T20:03:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1788932022-06-22T20:03:42Z2022-06-22T20:03:42ZFemale finance leaders outperform their male peers, so why so few of them in academia and beyond?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468152/original/file-20220610-29204-7sdug2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=291%2C7%2C4315%2C2866&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gender diversity of thought leadership in finance is lower than in most other academic fields, <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3998218">our research</a> shows. Finance ranks 132nd out of 175 fields with a representation of only 10.3% women among its thought leaders. Yet these women outperform their male peers.</p>
<p>How did we measure this? The impact of an academic’s ideas can be quantified using academic citations – how often their work is referenced in research published by other academics. We consider thought leaders to be academics who have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918">ranked</a> among the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000384">top 2%</a> in their respective fields by citations in the <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/en-au/solutions/scopus">Scopus</a> database. </p>
<p>We found the percentage of female thought leaders in finance is lower than in economics and in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
It’s surprising since finance is a younger field than economics and so might be expected to be less traditionally male-dominated. The field of academic finance was carved out of economics in the early 1940s. </p>
<p>Our evidence on thought leadership is consistent with other evidence that women are less represented in finance academia than in economics. This is true at every level, from incoming PhD students through to full professors. </p>
<p>We see the under-representation of women in finance both among academics and <a href="https://docs.preqin.com/reports/Preqin-Women-in-Private-Equity-February-2019.pdf">more broadly</a>. A <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/financial-services/diversity-and-inclusion-in-financial-services-leadership.html/#endnote-sup-4">2020 Deloitte report</a> noted: </p>
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<p>“All but six of 111 CEOs at the 107 largest US public financial institutions (including four with co-CEOs) are men.”</p>
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<iframe title="% female employees at private equity firms by seniority" aria-label="Grouped Column Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-hnhni" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hnhni/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gender-equity-the-way-things-are-going-we-wont-reach-true-parity-until-the-22nd-century-112685">Gender equity. The way things are going, we won't reach true parity until the 22nd century</a>
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<h2>Why are so few women in finance?</h2>
<p>The fact that finance is less gender-diverse than other maths-intensive fields suggests standard arguments about women’s preferences with respect to STEM subjects cannot explain their low representation in finance. </p>
<p>Country-level culture is also unlikely to explain women’s representation in finance. As our research shows, finance thought leadership is geographically concentrated. Only 20% of finance thought leaders are located outside the USA or UK. </p>
<p>Instead, we argue the culture of academic finance is less welcoming to women than it is to men. We provide two pieces of evidence for this argument. </p>
<p>First, we show that individual female thought leaders in finance have more impact than their male peers, as measured by citations per paper, their academic rank and a composite score of six citation metrics (total citations, <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-an-h-index-and-how-is-it-calculated-41162">H-index</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1751157708000254">Hm-index</a>, citations of single, first and last-authored papers). This finding is especially striking given <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/hglddwbrka4s52/Innovative_ideas_women_%20mkoffi.pdf?dl=0">evidence</a> that women’s research is less likely to be cited. Female thought leaders in finance also have relatively more impact than they do in economics or other STEM fields. </p>
<p>These results suggest the obstacles women face in finance are greater than in other fields. The individuals who overcome these barriers outperform their peers. </p>
<p>Second, we show that women’s beliefs about the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1261375">level of innate talent</a> needed to succeed in finance, instead of motivation and effort, are not correlated with women’s representation in finance thought leadership, but men’s beliefs are. These results are consistent with the idea that men’s beliefs represent a greater barrier to equality in thought leadership, role modelling and education in the “masculine” field of finance than in other fields. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-women-decide-australias-new-leaders-what-is-going-on-with-academic-leadership-184163">As women decide Australia's new leaders, what is going on with academic leadership?</a>
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<h2>Lack of diversity is a handicap</h2>
<p>The finance sector is a bedrock of the world economy. It’s the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/snapshots/economy-composition-snapshot/">third-largest industry in Australia</a>, accounting for 8% of economic output. The lack of diversity in thought leadership for such an important sector is problematic for several reasons. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1240474">Diversity of thought and innovation are linked</a>. Lack of diversity means the finance industry may be less innovative than it could be. </p>
<p>The finance sector may also be less welcoming to women than it should be. The general public does not always embrace finance despite its importance. Stockmarket participation is low in some countries and demographic groups, as is financial literacy. </p>
<p>Trust in finance might be higher when finance professionals are more similar to members of the general population. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-are-dropping-out-of-economics-so-men-are-running-our-economy-74698">Women are dropping out of economics, so men are running our economy</a>
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<h2>What can universities do about it?</h2>
<p>Women are also less likely to enter the field of finance after graduating. They make up only <a href="https://www.mgsm.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/622633/WiMBA-FAQs-doc_Jan-31-2018-For-Web.pdf">35%</a> of MBA enrolments in Australia (<a href="http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/DocServer/Forte_Women_s_Enrollment_2021_release.pdf">41%</a> in the USA). The absence of female thought leadership, role models and educators in finance may help explain women’s under-representation in MBA enrolment and in the finance sector.</p>
<p>To overcome the inequality of finance, the culture of finance academia must change. But culture cannot change on demand. </p>
<p>The leadership of academic finance associations and our universities should provide opportunities for introspection, reflection and discussion of these issues. We should start by discussing why academia seems to be focused primarily on producing more science, rather than better science. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-push-for-researcher-entrepreneurs-could-be-a-step-backward-for-gender-equity-176536">The push for 'researcher entrepreneurs' could be a step backward for gender equity</a>
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<p>We should also acknowledge the role of <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2021/10/15/academic-gatekeepers-political-finance/">gatekeepers</a> and take steps to diminish their influence. Universities, academic associations and journals should increase the transparency of their operations. The process through which positions of power are filled, like those of university deans and journal editors, should be transparent. Opportunities for individuals to exercise their voice without repercussion should be provided. </p>
<p>All these organisations must demonstrate a commitment to unbiased decision-making as a core element of good governance. Only when the rules of the game are clear can there be a hope of changing the rules to level the playing field.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In the past, Renee Adams received funding from various research agencies for other research projects. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jing Xu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A very low percentage of women are leaders in the field of finance. Gender equity will benefit both scholarship and Australia’s third-largest economic sector.Renee Adams, Professor of Finance, University of OxfordJing Xu, Lecturer in Finance, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1765362022-02-10T19:04:13Z2022-02-10T19:04:13ZThe push for ‘researcher entrepreneurs’ could be a step backward for gender equity<p>Scott Morrison recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-pursues-commercialisation-of-australian-research-with-2-billion-new-money-176033">announced</a> a $2.2 billion <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/university-research-commercialisation-package/resources/university-research-commercialisation-action-plan">Research Commercialisation Action Plan</a> for the next ten years. The plan centres on a competitive grant scheme to promote start-ups and industry partnerships. The prime minister’s message to universities was clear: </p>
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<p>“we need to find and develop a new breed of researcher entrepreneurs in Australia”.</p>
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<p>The statement came on the heels of a <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/letter-expectations-minister-arc">letter of expectations</a> from the acting minister for education and youth to the Australian Research Council in which he encouraged greater collaboration with industry, particularly the manufacturing sector.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-government-bid-to-dictate-research-directions-builds-on-a-decade-of-failure-173834">Latest government bid to dictate research directions builds on a decade of failure</a>
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<p>What might we expect from the rise of researcher entrepreneurs in Australian universities? Who are likely to be seen as exemplars of this new breed?</p>
<p>Given the male-dominated makeup of the industry partners who are meant to lead the commercialisation of research, what we might realistically expect is a major step backward for gender equity in Australian universities.</p>
<h2>Industry stakeholders’ gender gap</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/gender-workplace-statistics-at-a-glance-2021#women-in-leadership">Workplace Gender Equity Agency data</a> paint a grim picture. Women hold only 14.6% of chair positions and 28.1% of directorships in Australia. A mere 18.3% of CEOs and 32.5% of key management personnel are women. Gender equity in leadership roles has even <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/absolutely-no-progress-number-of-female-ceos-in-australia-is-declining-20200916-p55w5m.html">gone backwards</a> in recent years.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/gender-workplace-statistics-at-a-glance-2021#women-in-leadership">Nearly a third of boards and governing bodies</a> have no female directors. By contrast, <a href="http://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/advocacy/board-diversity/statistics">less than 1% of boards</a> have no male directors.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing percentages of boards with no men or no women, 2013-2020" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445544/original/file-20220209-13-1bu97cd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-20%20Gender%20Equality%20Scorecard_FINAL.pdf">WGEA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Sociological research on business culture can shed light on why these statistics at the highest reaches of industry are so skewed. By understanding how the social networks that support business financing operate, we can begin to appreciate how industry partnerships are likely to be funded. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-governments-2-2bn-10-year-plan-get-a-better-return-on-australian-research-it-all-depends-on-changing-the-culture-176358">Will the government's $2.2bn, 10-year plan get a better return on Australian research? It all depends on changing the culture</a>
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<h2>An investment culture of patronage</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of the book Hedged Out by Megan Tobias Neely" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445338/original/file-20220209-25-hxnwjq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520307704/hedged-out">UC Press</a></span>
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<p>A recent insider account of investment culture in one of the largest hedge funds on Wall Street focuses on the analysts and traders who manage large financial portfolios. In her book <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520307704/hedged-out">Hedged Out: Inequality and Insecurity on Wall Street</a>, Megan Tobian Neely offers a peek into the highly competitive world of corporate power brokers who make up the financial elite. </p>
<p>Neely’s ethnography follows those connections through what she calls a system of patronage. That is, using one’s own status and power to invest in, support or promote another person. For financial elite at hedge funds, she <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Hedged_Out/5GhEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9Cselect+group+of+white+men+groom+and+transfer+capital+to+other+elite+white+men%E2%80%9D&pg=PA12&printsec=frontcover">writes</a>:</p>
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<p>“patronage is how a select group of white men groom and transfer capital to other elite white men”. </p>
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<p>So, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/entrepreneurial-selves">entrepreneurship is not a gender-neutral term</a>. The tight-knit networks that are the source of investment capital create a system of patronage that has redefined the capacity to manage risk and insecurity as a masculine attribute. </p>
<p>It’s not that women are pushed out of the boardroom on purpose. Instead, it’s about cultivating <em>insiders</em>. Protecting one’s investment means relying on investors who are like them, think alike, have the same values, who can help them get ahead, and who are overwhelmingly male.</p>
<p>Research on the professional managerial class in Australia suggests these patterns of patronage are not unique to the rarefied heights of Wall Street investing. Owen McNamara’s Canberra-based <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.12331">study</a> of workplace culture in the Australian Public Service underscored the importance of what one of his research participants dubbed “making coin” from the industry network. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-false-economy-of-sacking-public-servants-in-favour-of-consultants-20180112-h0hlom.html">integration of the public service with consultancy firms</a> relies on a business culture suffused with male bonding. It’s not just locker-room talk. Networkers operate through the easy friendships, banter and camaraderie that comes from shared experience. </p>
<p>Women and gender-diverse people, as well as workers from different socioeconomic backgrounds, struggle to be included. And often they are the butt of the joke. </p>
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<img alt="An all-male modern boardroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445298/original/file-20220209-17-1vz9xka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Male-dominated business culture isn’t a thing of the past.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>What about women’s networks?</h2>
<p>These industry networks are the waters in which academic researcher entrepreneurs are expected to swim. These are the invisible social channels and patronage relationships that open the tap of investment. </p>
<p>Patronage relationships convince stakeholders in business to take a risk on unproven ideas. No matter how promising the research, it will be difficult to secure funding for researchers – particularly women and gender-diverse scholars – relegated to the outer edges of the network.</p>
<p>My research on women who start small businesses in Latin America indicates these are global challenges. There, <a href="https://culanth.org/fieldsights/your-family-and-friends-are-collateral-microfinance-and-the-social">women face barriers</a> when trying to leverage their informal interdependencies and social ties, which often fail to convert into individual success and wealth. </p>
<p>Within universities, women’s informal networks and support mechanisms often translate into <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-017-9454-2">higher internal service burdens</a>. This inward-facing networking includes undervalued work such as serving on university committees, program supervision, student recruitment and so on. Women, LGBTQIA+ and faculty of colour also do most of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/90007882">extra invisible labour</a> of making universities better and more equitable places to work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-the-ideal-worker-myth-unis-need-to-become-more-inclusive-for-all-women-men-will-benefit-too-156107">Forget the ideal worker myth. Unis need to become more inclusive for all women (men will benefit too)</a>
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<p>These are not the advantageous external patronage connections that propel investments and business partnerships.</p>
<h2>Can research commercialisation support gender equity?</h2>
<p>We can’t simply add gender diversity and stir. Even once we recognise the problem of an insular network through which investment opportunities flow, the solutions aren’t easy. </p>
<p>How can we counter the troubling gender equity effects of pushing researcher entrepreneurs in universities? We can do this via two mutually reinforcing pathways.</p>
<p>First, we can strive for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002002">feminist organisational structures</a> that more evenly distribute opportunities and decision-making power. This is an alternative to promoting academic #gurlbosses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-mentoring-for-women-risks-propping-up-patriarchal-structures-instead-of-changing-them-157965">Why mentoring for women risks propping up patriarchal structures instead of changing them</a>
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<p>Second, we might rethink the value of interdisciplinary scholarship in tackling wicked problems like gender injustice. This perspective is key to successful commercialisation and should not be deemed inferior to patents and inventions. </p>
<p>What good is a recovery plan for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-pursues-commercialisation-of-australian-research-with-2-billion-new-money-176033">building national resilience</a>”, after all, if the benefits only flow to a select few?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Schuster receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The male-dominated makeup of the industry partners who are meant to lead the commercialisation of research could undermine the work towards gender equity in Australian universities.Caroline Schuster, Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Anthropology; Director, Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1688402021-10-31T19:05:31Z2021-10-31T19:05:31ZWomen’s academic careers are in a ‘holding pattern’ while men enjoy a ‘tailwind’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429253/original/file-20211029-23-1vjdwk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5568%2C3850&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Female academics continue to be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0170840613483658">underrepresented</a> in senior academic positions in <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/staff-data">Australia</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12151">internationally</a>. Most research has focused on the low number of women professors at universities. But the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/staff-data">largest drop-off</a> in the number of female academics is between two mid-level positions: lecturer and senior lecturer. </p>
<p>We set out to find why this occurs, using a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124120926206">new method</a> to explore the career journeys of male and female academics. We found they continue to experience different careers: men commonly described a clear run at their career goals, while many women found themselves in a holding pattern as a result of having to juggle other responsibilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Vertical bar chart showing numbers of men and women in academic positions in order of seniority in Australia in 2020" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429231/original/file-20211029-13-19gt6rc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/staff-data">Chart: The Conversation. Data: Department of Education, Skills and Employment Higher Education Staff Data 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">No change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Most female lecturers in our study were ambitious, but unable to fully commit to their careers. The main reasons for this included their avoidance of work-life conflict, undertaking service activities and a lack of support from colleagues. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124120926206">Our research</a> shows gender equity efforts need to target this holding pattern for women to make career progress.</p>
<p>COVID-19 is expected to further set back the careers of female academics. Rather than writing papers, they are likely to be <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc2740">at home looking after children</a>. Journal editors have already noticed <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/21/early-journal-submission-data-suggest-covid-19-tanking-womens-research-productivity">fewer submissions from female academics</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">How COVID is widening the academic gender divide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Exploring the holding pattern</h2>
<p>To explore the careers of female academics we created a new method called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124120926206">Draw, Write, Reflect</a> (DWR). We asked 18 male and 29 female academics at one university to draw or write their career journeys, since <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1525822X0101300402">not all knowledge can be expressed in words</a>. Our participants confirmed drawing made it easier to express their experiences and relay emotions.</p>
<p>Next, we asked respondents to reflect on their drawing. We also interviewed nine senior stakeholders including executive leaders, HR managers and gender equity committee members.</p>
<p>Male academics had a clear career focus and many described their career journeys as “lucky” or “privileged” and with “tailwinds”. </p>
<p>One example of a drawing by a male academic is shown below. He drew a snakes and ladders game to represent his “lucky” career, with ladders well outnumbering snakes on his game board.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429234/original/file-20211029-18-sa4i7z.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tye DWR: ‘Snakes and Ladders’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another male academic wrote “tailwinds” on his drawing as shown below.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424942/original/file-20211006-19-7scuma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Xavier DWR: ‘Tailwinds’.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Juggling competing responsibilities</h2>
<p>Female academics were much more likely to include their families in their career drawings, highlighting the interrelatedness of work and family. Those with children were all primary carers. Their academic work had one set of requirements, their family another and both required their attention, often at the same time. </p>
<p>This situation resulted in a constant struggle and negotiation, as the drawing below shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429235/original/file-20211029-15-1875wrm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Danielle DWR: Up the Hill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Connectedness was also clear in the drawing below created by another female academic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424300/original/file-20211002-25-4ro84d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ruth DWR: Interrelatedness.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To maintain a level of balance – “to keep my head above water” as one put it – most female academics chose not to progress their careers. They could not see themselves successfully managing their domestic tasks in a senior lecturer role. One female lecturer said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Half the time I feel like I am sinking, so for now I am happy just to keep doing the best I can in my job and then retire at the age of 65.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Seven of the eight female lecturers reported putting their career aspirations on hold.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-the-ideal-worker-myth-unis-need-to-become-more-inclusive-for-all-women-men-will-benefit-too-156107">Forget the ideal worker myth. Unis need to become more inclusive for all women (men will benefit too)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Doing the ‘academic housework’</h2>
<p>Another reason for the holding pattern was female academics undertaking more service activities. Coined “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1589682">academic housework</a>”, these activities are associated with caring and include assisting students, administration of teaching, or organising professional academic activities. Generally, these activities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1589682">not considered for career progression</a>.</p>
<p>This situation was confirmed by a member of the executive leadership team who said some women:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] have literally taken on a lot of things that you can tell no one else wants to do – academic housework.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, a female academic reported male colleagues are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] focusing on the things that matter for promotion, not on the things that matter for the team.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Lacking support from colleagues</h2>
<p>Some junior female academics did not support ambitious senior female colleagues. They referred to them as “alpha women”, “men dressed in women’s clothing” or “women acting like men”. This situation was confirmed by senior female academics who reported backlash from other women for being ambitious. One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I am ambitious and if this was a man sitting here there would be a different connotation of ‘Wow, you’ve done well!’, but for a woman it is like, ‘Well, how are your children? And your family and everything else?’ So, there is an issue.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another female academic reported “thinking like a man” had helped her have a very successful career. She reported that this requires not thinking about family, putting yourself first and “being selfish”. </p>
<p>Fear of backlash may stop some women, however, from pursuing career progression. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-gender-parity-has-blown-out-to-135-years-heres-what-women-can-do-to-close-the-gap-160253">Time to gender parity has blown out to 135 years. Here's what women can do to close the gap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can universities do?</h2>
<p>Despite their career aspirations, organisational and personal reasons resulted in women not pursuing promotion to senior lecturer and beyond. Our study identified a clear holding pattern among female lecturers that inhibited their progression to the next level. </p>
<p>While male academics reported focused career trajectories, women reported difficulty managing many work and life responsibilities in pursuing their careers. </p>
<p>Universities can help female lecturers break the holding pattern cycle and assist their career progression. They can start by developing guidance in better negotiating academic housework and service tasks and by changing the narrative and culture around career ambition for women at universities. This will be a win-win for female academics and universities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Brown receives funding from the Australian government through several Cooperative Research Centres. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:u.jogulu@ecu.edu.au">u.jogulu@ecu.edu.au</a> receives funding from Australian Research Council, AMA (WA), DWER. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fleur Sharafizad and Maryam Omari do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When academics were asked to draw, write and reflect on their career journeys, the results were revealing. While men were free to focus on their careers, the picture was more complicated for women.Fleur Sharafizad, Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan UniversityKerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityMaryam Omari, Professor and Executive Dean, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityUma Jogulu, Senior Lecturer, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1602532021-06-01T20:10:26Z2021-06-01T20:10:26ZTime to gender parity has blown out to 135 years. Here’s what women can do to close the gap<p>Across the world, women do not have the same opportunities as men. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality">2020 Global Gender Gap Report</a> from the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed Australia came in at 44th in the Global Gender Gap Index 2020 rankings, slipping five places from the previous year. But wait, there’s more. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021/">2021 Global Gender Gap Index</a> places Australia at number 50, a slip of another six places in 12 months. </p>
<p>And, at the current rate at which the gender inequality gap is being closed, it is now the case that it will take 135.6 years to close the gap worldwide. In 2020, the WEF had calculated gender parity would not be attained for 99.5 years. The 2020 report concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children.”</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-mentoring-for-women-risks-propping-up-patriarchal-structures-instead-of-changing-them-157965">Why mentoring for women risks propping up patriarchal structures instead of changing them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How is gender parity measured?</h2>
<p>The key dimensions used to measure gender parity are: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>economic participation and opportunity</p></li>
<li><p>educational attainment </p></li>
<li><p>health and survival</p></li>
<li><p>political empowerment. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing overall global gender gap and gaps in sub-categories" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403524/original/file-20210531-23-1mcb1w3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021/in-full/gggr2-benchmarking-gender-gaps-findings-from-the-global-gender-gap-index-2021">Chart: The Conversation. Data: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Index 2021</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the reports point out, gender parity has a significant bearing on the extent to which societies can thrive. Fully deploying only half of the world’s available talent has an enormous impact on the growth, competitiveness and future readiness of businesses and economies across the world. </p>
<p>According to the 2021 report, COVID-19 caused the gender gap to widen as women left the workforce at a greater rate than men. Even among those who retained paid work, the report says, women took on more duties in childcare, housework and elder care, increasing the “double shift” of paid and unpaid work. Naturally enough, this has contributed to higher stress and lower productivity among women.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-is-a-disaster-for-mothers-employment-and-no-working-from-home-is-not-the-solution-142650">COVID-19 is a disaster for mothers' employment. And no, working from home is not the solution</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia remains <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021/in-full/economy-profiles">equal first</a> in the 2021 global rankings for educational attainment. So this is not an issue that might be tackled in Australia through improving education, including about inequality. </p>
<p>I propose that this is instead an issue of ingrained and systemic sexism in our country. How else can we explain the fact that Australian women get paid less than Australian men? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-20%20Gender%20Equality%20Scorecard_FINAL.pdf">2020 report</a> from the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows men take home, on average, $25,534 per year more than women. Contributing to this gap, the average full-time base salary across all industries and occupations is 15% less for women than for men. </p>
<h2>Universities have failed to lead</h2>
<p>Given the woeful attitudes and behaviours towards women in the Australian parliament, one might hope for much-needed leadership from our intellectual hothouses – our universities. But not only have Australian universities not stepped forward to lead the change needed, they themselves perpetuate the problem. They have pay gaps of around the national average. Universities also continue to <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">place men in the vast majority of leadership roles</a> even where they have significant opportunity to do otherwise.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">No change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart of numbers of men and women employed as academics by Australian universities at different levels of seniority" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403540/original/file-20210531-28-qv1s74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/resources/2019-staff-numbers">Chart: The Conversation. Data: Higher Education Statistics, Commonwealth Government</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Universities – and other workplaces full of educated, insightful people – are well equipped to lead and make changes to enable gender equality. But they haven’t. And I haven’t seen any credible, funded, adequate plans for any workplace to do so in the near future. </p>
<p>Until recently, women have been too busy and tired doing most or all of the childcare, housework and elder care to have time to do much about the blatant inequality we all experience. But somehow, despite the extra burdens COVID-19 has placed on us, we’ve reached a tipping point. Perhaps the extremity of the inequality – laid bare during COVID-19 – has pushed us to the edge. Whatever the reason, we’ve somehow found the impetus to take action.</p>
<p>Women have waited long enough for things that “should” happen to happen. We’ve waited long enough for the people with power – mostly men – to do the right thing. We’ve followed the rules, done as we’ve been asked to do, helped out, worked hard, kept quiet and generally been very good girls. </p>
<p>This evidently hasn’t worked in our favour, nor in the favour of women worldwide. And so, for the sake of growth, competitiveness, society and the future readiness of businesses and economies, as well as our own advancement, we must take matters into our own hands.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m starting with the sector I have worked in for three decades – universities. Despite being home to some of the country’s brightest minds, we have some of the most sexist practices and embarrassing gender inequality figures a developed nation could have. The result is a workplace with <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">86% more male than female professors</a>, as one example of many.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fatherhood-penalty-how-parental-leave-policies-perpetuate-the-gender-gap-even-in-our-progressive-universities-160102">The fatherhood penalty: how parental leave policies perpetuate the gender gap (even in our 'progressive' universities)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can women do about this?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Beating the Odds: A practical guide to navigating sexism in Australian universities" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403525/original/file-20210531-14-wbu3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.marciadevlin.com.au/product/my-book/">Marcia Devlin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’ve written <a href="https://www.marciadevlin.com.au/shop/">a book</a> calling on women (and enlightened men) to take action to improve gender inequality in Australian universities. </p>
<p>Among other suggestions, I recommend women reduce the volume and quality of the housework they do at home and at work. Office housework includes things like taking notes in meetings. Women are often expected to do this, no matter their role or level. </p>
<p>This uses up our valuable time and energy, as Facebook chief operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and her colleague, university professor Adam Grant, point out in their humorously titled <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/opinion/sunday/sheryl-sandberg-and-adam-grant-on-women-doing-office-housework.html">Madam CEO – Get Me a Coffee</a>. And it is hard to make the killer point in a meeting when you are busy doing other things. </p>
<p>Reducing the volume and quality of housework undertaken will provide time, energy and goodwill that can be redirected to more fruitful ends. Redirecting their labour in this way will reduce support for the sexist structures that discriminate against women. The advice is relevant to those working in all industries.</p>
<p>Since posting on social media about this topic late in 2020, I’ve had hundreds of women who work in universities contact me about the contents of this book. The sentiment is a combination of fury about their current situation and steely determination to bring about change. Like the women who led, participated in and supported the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-15/womens-marches-canberra-parliament-house-brittany-higgins/13248096">2021 marches</a>, including a rally at the Australian parliament, women in universities also believe “enough is enough”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Devlin AM does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia has gone backwards in global gender parity rankings, with even universities, which should be leading the way, failing on this front. But women are now saying enough is enough.Marcia Devlin AM, Adjunct Professor, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1579652021-05-23T20:15:34Z2021-05-23T20:15:34ZWhy mentoring for women risks propping up patriarchal structures instead of changing them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401791/original/file-20210520-17-1jojkeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6240%2C4138&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mature-young-women-colleagues-sitting-desk-1375932218">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that women are underrepresented in leadership roles in many industries. This has led to a proliferation of women-only mentoring programs designed to challenge industry standards for female participation. The idea is to normalise women’s participation at all employment levels, especially senior ones. </p>
<p>However, our year-long prize-winning <a href="https://www.publicanthropology.org/interrogating-model-mentoring-by-simone-dennis-and-alison-behie/">international study</a> focused on university mentoring programs has discovered women-only mentoring programs are not all they seem. Surprisingly, they can perpetuate the gendered hierarchies they attempt to remove. Through mentoring, women who have succeeded on male terms set other women on the same path. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">No change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This might not be so surprising if you think about Homer’s Odyssey – the original story of mentoring. In this myth, the figure of Mentor cares for the young boy Telemachus while his father, Odysseus, is away at war. But the guidance that Mentor provides to Telemachus is designed to keep things just as they were in Odysseus’s absence, ensuring the system of power is maintained. </p>
<p>We found a similar thing happens in the modern university. Our study found that, without meaning to, female mentors and mentees participated in the conditions of their own domination, thus keeping male bias and advantage firmly in place.</p>
<p>Our study collected detailed data from mentors and mentees from a range of academic disciplines in universities across the Western world, including several in Australia. These programs typically work by matching the specific career goals of junior women with senior women who have already achieved them. In doing so, women who have risen to the top of the university, despite its gender bias, give structural support to junior women so they can make it to the top, too. </p>
<p>Having made it into the senior roles of professor or associate professor, dean or pro vice chancellor, these exceptional women advise their juniors on how to replicate their actions. The junior women can then follow a tried and tested pathway to success. Senior men often lend their support to these programs, too, making sure women are afforded equal opportunities. </p>
<p>However, by replicating the actions of the mentors, junior women are merely trained how to navigate a system that favours men. For instance, women can calculate the time and effort they could not put into research while pregnant or caring for their children. This is taken into account when their applications for research funding are considered. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fatherhood-penalty-how-parental-leave-policies-perpetuate-the-gender-gap-even-in-our-progressive-universities-160102">The fatherhood penalty: how parental leave policies perpetuate the gender gap (even in our 'progressive' universities)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother on the phone holds baby on her lap as she works in her home office" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401792/original/file-20210520-19-h367tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women who explain the impacts of having children on their research output can be accused of ‘playing the baby card’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hispanic-mother-baby-working-home-office-290627438">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That sounds like it ensures equity, but it reveals women have to explain the reasons for not producing as much as the standard male figure would. Instead of asking why women were compared against a male standard, mentors often gave advice about how to navigate the system. </p>
<p>For instance, male colleagues accused some woman in our study of “playing the baby card” to excuse research outputs lower than their own. Mentees were often advised about how best to play the baby card to make them look like they were outperforming men, rather than excusing themselves from doing research. Whether a woman is made to look worse or better than her male colleagues, she is still judged against a male standard that our research participants rarely questioned. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-the-ideal-worker-myth-unis-need-to-become-more-inclusive-for-all-women-men-will-benefit-too-156107">Forget the ideal worker myth. Unis need to become more inclusive for all women (men will benefit too)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Playing by the existing rules</h2>
<p>Because women in our study genuinely wanted to help junior women to make it, they did not see these kinds of problems. In fact, their very generosity contributes significantly to perpetuating the patriarchal system. When senior women generously give their knowledge, junior women become indebted to them. One mentee said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I always feel a combination of being thrilled and feeling guilty when I have an appointment with [my mentor] because I know there’s a zillion things she could be doing instead […] I know how much I owe her […] I pay her back by being successful.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When they pay their mentors back, they do so in the same gender-biased terms in which they were mentored; and so it continues for generations of women. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/2019-staff-numbers">female participation rate in the top positions</a> in universities remains low. </p>
<p>Our research showed mentoring practices can conceal power relations and their effects. That’s because they teach women how to work within, rather than change, a system biased against them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">How COVID is widening the academic gender divide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So does this mean we should abandon mentoring programs? Not at all. But to really achieve gender equity, programs must stop helping women to succeed on existing male standards. Standards are hardly fair if they’re biased to begin with. </p>
<p>Institutions can do this if they stop making junior staff into replicas of successful senior members. </p>
<p>It is difficult to abandon current programs because we’ve so thoroughly accepted what success is supposed to look like. And it’s hard to level criticisms at well-intentioned programs established especially for women. But it’s necessary so we can make sure they actually <em>are</em> good at eliminating gender bias, especially in light of growing awareness of how women have been treated more broadly, including in our own parliamentary system. </p>
<p>Approaches to mentoring need to change so they can really change things for women in universities and beyond. If they don’t, the impact women can make on what we know about the world might never be realised – and it if isn’t, we can expect gender bias will continue. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/my-partner-or-my-degree-a-choice-that-exposes-how-students-battle-gender-inequity-157054">My partner or my degree: a choice that exposes how students battle gender inequity</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through mentoring, women who have succeeded on male terms set other women on the same path.Simone Dennis, Professor of Anthropology and Head of School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National UniversityAlison Behie, Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1561072021-03-08T01:39:51Z2021-03-08T01:39:51ZForget the ideal worker myth. Unis need to become more inclusive for all women (men will benefit too)<p>Movements like <a href="https://time.com/5189945/whats-the-difference-between-the-metoo-and-times-up-movements/">#metoo</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/black-lives-matter-everywhere-44608">#blacklivesmatter</a> have increased voice and visibility of gender and race disparities in society and, in particular, workplaces. That includes universities. As we recover from the pandemic, we need innovative approaches to reshaping workplace rituals, rules and routines to advance gender equality and ensure safe workplaces. </p>
<p>Universities, where we prepare professionals and leaders of tomorrow, should be demonstrating and leading these changes. It’s time to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>embed an inclusive leadership approach</p></li>
<li><p>move more quickly towards gender equality</p></li>
<li><p>challenge the barriers to greater diversity</p></li>
<li><p>acknowledge the unequal power relations that exist in universities. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-change-at-the-top-for-university-leaders-as-men-outnumber-women-3-to-1-154556">No change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Stop assuming the <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-pandemic-has-exposed-the-fallacy-of-the-ideal-worker">ideal worker exists</a>: the myth is busted. Chaining people to their desks or labs for every available productive hour is not responsible or effective. Nor does it create a sense of autonomy, wellness or active connections to the workplace or community. </p>
<h2>Finding better ways of working</h2>
<p>Treating people with dignity and respect can achieve more meaningful ways of working. In particular, universities need to broaden the range of flexible work options. These options include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>being adaptable about where work is done</p></li>
<li><p>changing start and finish times</p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="https://theconversation.com/working-four-day-weeks-for-five-days-pay-research-shows-it-pays-off-100375">shorter week</a></p></li>
<li><p>adapting role types and leave arrangements</p></li>
<li><p>ensuring meeting times allow for community and family commitments.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>More innovative approaches include <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-03/apo-nid277446_0.pdf">vertical job share</a>. For example, in an 80/20 split of time between two staff the division of role responsibility rests with the senior job share partner. Innovation calls for a work mindset shift from “no way” to “it starts with yes” when it comes to flexibility. </p>
<p>Women are traditionally seen as needing flexibility due to caring responsibilities. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-men-get-work-life-balance-can-help-everyone-43000">increasing flexibility for men</a> is an often neglected but necessary part of change. It’s an obvious way to increase options for men to share family and community involvement. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-men-get-work-life-balance-can-help-everyone-43000">Helping men get work-life balance can help everyone</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When Australian universities have introduced more flexible and progressive arrangements the results have been positive. For example, “rules” on who gets a car park (such as accessibility based on caring responsibilities), promotion and lecture start times have been rewritten. Increased participation and productivity are among the many benefits that flow from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678373.2019.1686440?casa_token=kmLp5x9ML-UAAAAA%3A8jvR9DmHNh8_vW39vxabFUThK6uLlS6hSQ5zK86TO4Zp02Jc-vU5lHToNjnu1nSmgGKdN618Brb5RfE">more meaningful work and opportunities</a> for women (and men) across the hierarchy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="smiling women takes notes as she chats with colleagues online" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388173/original/file-20210307-23-2k35xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workplaces that are adaptable about where work is done have seen increases in participation and productivity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-young-woman-headset-participating-online-1878904171">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Creating leadership pathways</h2>
<p>However, universities need to go further. Academic and professional promotion and reward structures need to measure and recognise the <a href="https://unswtwlp.mailchimpsites.com">impacts</a> of all the work academics and professionals do beyond traditional measures. Measures of social, environmental, cultural and economic impacts on communities, industries, government and media are vital to ensure we are contributing to equity in society. One innovative example of such impacts is <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/tax-clinic.html">tax clinics</a> that advise to lower-income taxpayers and small businesses while also providing practical experience for accounting/tax students.</p>
<p>Athena Swan has <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/Fac/Soc/Sociology/Research/Centres/Gender/Calendar/Certifying_Equality_A/Certifying_Equality_-_Critical_Reflection_On_Athena_Swan.pdf">exposed the dearth of data</a> in universities on workforce diversity such as LGBTQI+, Indigenous and migrant women. Acting on this will mean higher education encompasses a broader range of women’s diverse lives. This includes their experiences of cultural identities, disability and sexual orientation. </p>
<p>The HR data are meaningless unless the information adds value to the people it describes. And that requires a critical conversation about how to collect new types of data and willingness to provide it. </p>
<p>Universities, governments and countries cannot thrive without including all members of society. Women, especially those from diverse backgrounds, still have fewer pathways and <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-higher-education-can-be-seen-as-hostile-to-women-of-color-140575">more barriers to leadership</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-higher-education-can-be-seen-as-hostile-to-women-of-color-140575">5 ways higher education can be seen as hostile to women of color</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Universities have enormous opportunities to be at the forefront of ensuring more gender-diverse women, more women of colour, more women with disability and more LGBTQI+ women reach senior leadership positions. Indeed, they have a moral obligation to show the way.</p>
<p>Creating these pathways for diverse women will also challenge how universities operate in terms of visibility, dominant cultures and beliefs. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343400540_Imagining_a_More_Inclusive_University">Underrepresented women</a> (such as of colour) have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jul/28/uks-white-female-academics-are-being-privileged-above-women-and-men-of-colour">not benefited from anti-discrimination legislation or equity policies in the same way white women have</a>.</p>
<h2>Helping students become better citizens</h2>
<p>Academics have a duty to create <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Kitchenham/publication/249634386_The_Evolution_of_John_Mezirow%27s_Transformative_Learning_Theory/links/5d1e203b458515c11c1260e1/The-Evolution-of-John-Mezirows-Transformative-Learning-Theory.pdf">transformational educational experiences</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1541344607299394">ways of learning</a> in partnership with our students. In particular, they need a better understanding of the nature of privilege.</p>
<p>Universities must work to ensure the educational experience helps students develop their competencies in active, critical, empathetic and committed citizenship. These are essential aspects of 21st-century higher education. </p>
<p>In practice, this means continuing to create better pathways of access and participation for underrepresented students. Tutorials, labs and studios must become <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-tips-on-how-unis-can-do-more-to-design-online-learning-that-works-for-all-students-144803">inclusive learning environments</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-tips-on-how-unis-can-do-more-to-design-online-learning-that-works-for-all-students-144803">5 tips on how unis can do more to design online learning that works for all students</a>
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<p>All these measures will help improve opportunities for students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and for women in professions and disciplines where they are underrepresented. </p>
<h2>Diversity and inclusion underpin vitality</h2>
<p>A fundamental challenge universities face as we recover from the pandemic is to create and sustain organisational strategies that support and celebrate the investments of energy by women (and men) of diverse backgrounds. This applies both to their own careers and to realising the university’s mission. </p>
<p>At the core of the strategy is a deep understanding of the connection between gender and other identities for staff and students. We need to hear women’s voices from diverse backgrounds and experiences. In this way we can educate ourselves and improve our policies, practices and ways of leading. </p>
<p>This process of transformation is essential for universities to be safe, vital and innovative places of learning, work and research for all. Rising to this challenge means we will be well prepared for a more sustainable, equitable and just society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156107/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leisa Sargent has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eileen Baldry receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. She is affiliated with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. </span></em></p>On International Women’s Day, universities should resolve to lead the way in reshaping workplace rituals, rules and routines to advance gender equality and ensure safe workplaces.Leisa Sargent, Senior Deputy Dean, UNSW Business School, Co-DVC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UNSW SydneyEileen Baldry, Deputy Vice Chancellor Equity Diversity and Inclusion, Professor of Criminology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545562021-03-07T19:09:42Z2021-03-07T19:09:42ZNo change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387629/original/file-20210304-17-ox49i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=109%2C7%2C2157%2C1402&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Cotton_statue,_Liverpool_-_DSC00850.JPG">Rept0n1x/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian university leaders are nearly three times more likely to be a man than a woman. </p>
<p>Of 37 public university chancellors, just 10 are women (27%) and 27 (73%) are men. It’s exactly the same for vice-chancellors: 10 are women and 27 are men. </p>
<p>Together, this means men hold 54 of the 74 top jobs in Australian higher education.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/most-of-australias-uni-leaders-are-white-male-and-grey-this-lack-of-diversity-could-be-a-handicap-150952">Most of Australia's uni leaders are white, male and grey. This lack of diversity could be a handicap</a>
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<p>Last year presented a big opportunity for progress towards gender equity among university leaders. During 2020, vice-chancellors at 15 of Australia’s 37 public universities either announced their departure from the role, or actually left. This move of 41% of the vice-chancellors in a single year provided the best opportunity for improving gender equity in living memory. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Australian university councils, which appoint vice-chancellors, did not take up the opportunity. The gender ratio didn’t change at all. </p>
<p>To date, women have been appointed in just four of the 15 (27%) interim or ongoing replacements made. Two of these four women moved from one vice-chancellor position to another. In 11 of the 15 announced vice-chancellor replacements – 73% of cases – a man won the role.</p>
<p>Men also dominate the upper levels of Australian academia. The <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/2019-staff-numbers">latest available figures</a> (from 2019) show:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>86% more men than women at associate professor and professor levels D and E (10,363 men, 5,562 women)</p></li>
<li><p>11% more men than women at senior lecturer level C (6,355 men, 5,724 women)</p></li>
<li><p>25% more women than men at lecturer level B (7,428 men, 9,253 women)</p></li>
<li><p>15% more women than men at associate lecturer level A (4,426 men and 5,093 women).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, the numbers of men and women employed as academics aren’t very different. In 2019, Australian universities <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/2019-staff-numbers">employed 54,204</a> full-time and fractional full-time academics: 28,572 men (53%) and 25,632 (47%) women. It’s the seniority of the positions they hold that differs starkly. </p>
<p>These figures do not include casual staff. </p>
<h2>Isn’t the gender balance improving?</h2>
<p>Optimists often assure me leadership gender equity is improving. Granted, the percentage of female chancellors in Australian has increased in the past five years. In 2016, <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/101841">WomenCount</a> reported 15% of Australian university chancellors were women. While the increase is positive, it remains disappointing that women occupy only about one-quarter of these increasingly powerful and important roles.</p>
<p>The shift in senior academic ranks has also been slow. In 2009, <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/staff-data/selected-higher-education-statistics-2009-staff-data">73.5% of professors were men</a>. Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of female professors has risen from 26.5% to 35%. That’s an improvement of less than one percentage point per year on average. </p>
<p>At this rate, it will be the late 2030s before women make up half of the professoriate in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/female-leaders-are-missing-in-academia-27996">Female leaders are missing in academia</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Why does gender inequity persist?</h2>
<p>The most common reason put forward for gender inequity is related to women’s role in childbearing. But the fact that only women can grow, birth and breastfeed babies does not, on its own, explain why there are 86% more male associate professors and professors than women in these roles, nor why there are nearly three times more male than female vice-chancellors and chancellors. After all, these womanly activities take a relatively short amount of time and most women I know can skilfully multi-task while pregnant and breastfeeding. </p>
<p>However, the fact that women take on the bulk of child-raising duties might help explain the inequities. Of course, people of every gender can equally well raise children. But they don’t – it’s mostly left to the women. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flexible-work-arrangements-help-women-but-only-if-they-are-also-offered-to-men-155882">Flexible work arrangements help women, but only if they are also offered to men</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother opens car door for girl going home after school" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men are no less capable of picking up children from school but typically it falls to women to do the school run.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-school-concept-beautiful-young-asian-1084814675">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For women, the results of this unequal sharing of responsibility include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>less time and energy for academic pursuits</p></li>
<li><p>more teaching (often) and less time for research and publishing</p></li>
<li><p>lower academic and leadership profiles (usually)</p></li>
<li><p>fewer opportunities to engage in activities that count for promotion and for senior leadership roles.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, not all women have children. And those that do find that they grow up, learn to feed, dress and eventually support themselves and move out of home. Is it also possible that Australian university culture and practices privilege men’s careers and hold back women’s advancement?</p>
<p>University decision-makers, including promotion committees, might well favour men because of: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>relatively uninterrupted and neat career trajectories </p></li>
<li><p>relatively greater freedom to engage in research and publishing without the disadvantages of part-time employment, never mind the mid-afternoon school run</p></li>
<li><p>more easily quantified outputs</p></li>
<li><p>more frequent opportunities to lead</p></li>
<li><p>the cumulative achievements, profile and trajectory that come with all of the above.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing male and female academics' ratings of constraints on research" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">The Conversation. Data: T. Khan & P. Siriwardhane (2020)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">How COVID is widening the academic gender divide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Let’s shake up the status quo</h2>
<p>Most universities try to redress gender inequity. Committees, agenda items, plans, targets and mentoring programs abound. But evidently these efforts aren’t working.</p>
<p>After many years in executive and governance leadership, I continue to observe decision-makers often thinking of men first, or only of men, when searching for suitable leadership candidates. </p>
<p>On the rarer occasions that women are offered leadership opportunities, they have to adopt the “right” style and carefully balance gravitas and humility. They must learn how to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-must-women-leaders-learn-gender-judo-to-stay-likeable-at-work-20190904-p52nzj.html">perform gender judo</a> and ensure they don’t fall into the <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/lean-in-9780753541647">success versus likeability conundrum</a> that Facebook chief operating officer and author Sheryl Sandberg made famous. </p>
<p>In short, to become academic leaders, women must skilfully navigate the unconscious bias and sexism that permeate universities.</p>
<p>While shifts are occurring, they are painfully slow, as the gender data over the past decade and predicted trajectories show. Might it be time for women (and enlightened men) to take matters into their own hands to begin to undermine the status quo? I think so – so I’ve written <a href="https://www.marciadevlin.com.au/contact-me/">a book that proposes techniques to adopt to these ends</a>. </p>
<p>What will you do to contribute to greater gender equity?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Devlin AM does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International Women’s Day is a time to take stock of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. 2020 was a massive missed opportunity to improve gender equity among university leaders.Marcia Devlin AM, Adjunct Professor, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1370162020-09-13T07:37:03Z2020-09-13T07:37:03ZBlack Lives Matter but slavery isn’t our only narrative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353709/original/file-20200819-42970-1ayov5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Slave memorial in Zanzibar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Our historical understanding of Blackness is most commonly shaped by the story of the Atlantic slave trade – the forced movement of Africans to the West, in particular to the Americas. But this is a linear narrative that is dominated by American voices. It’s not just potentially exclusory; it doesn’t adequately take into account the diversity of black people worldwide. The same is true of <a href="https://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-forgotten-social-history-of-international-blackness/">Blackness</a> studies, which continue to be dominated by and serve the interests of Western scholarship. Aretha Phiri asks Michelle M. Wright, professor and author of <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/becoming-black/?viewby=title">Becoming Black</a>: Creating Identity in the African Diaspora, about her work in disrupting the slavery narrative.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Aretha Phiri:</strong> To start with a recent development, the Black Lives Matter <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com">movement</a> appears to have gained global momentum. And yet its impact seems to be mainly in the global North. Does this suggest that black people’s experience of race and racism is not universal? </p>
<p><strong>Michelle M. Wright:</strong> The fight for freedom is important, but it really has to include everybody. This requires some radical rethinking. We have to ask who gets to access contemporary spaces. Who has the time (and money) to join in the fight according to the times and places set by the leaders? Who speaks the language we have chosen to communicate in, and who is left out? Black folks are astonishingly diverse in their cultures, histories, languages, religions, so no single definition of Blackness is going to fit everyone. When we fail to consider this, we effectively leave many Black people out of the conversation.</p>
<p><strong>Aretha Phiri:</strong> Slavery’s afterlife is central to Black Lives Matter’s important call for racial and structural justice and equality. Yet, in your <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1548-7466.2010.01072.x">paper</a>, Black in Time: Diaspora, Diversity and Identity, you trouble the dominance of a corresponding “Middle Passage” epistemology as racially reductive. What is broadly meant by “Middle Passage” thinking and how is it disseminated by US-based scholars?</p>
<p><strong>Michelle M. Wright:</strong> In most US (and European) academic conversations, the “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Middle-Passage-slave-trade">Middle Passage</a>” – also known as the Atlantic slave trade – is used interchangeably with the African “<a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/human-evolution/african-diaspora">diaspora</a>” – the dispersal of Black and African people from their “original”, typically (West) African locales to North America. This linear mapping is not just convenient, it is false. Ninety-five percent of enslaved Africans were transported to South America and the Caribbean, not the US; not to mention the millions of slaves who were transported east to places like Turkey and India. Reinforced by a linear timeline which is understood to “progressively” track history, this mapping further distorts history in service to the West. That is, because (West) Africa is the starting point, the tendency is to view it as embedded in “the past” and the West as aligned with “the future”. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Physics_of_Blackness.html?id=0Za4oAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">book</a>, <em>Physics of Blackness: Beyond the Middle Passage Epistemology</em>, I call this particular mapping of Blackness the “Middle Passage epistemology”. It’s a specific form of knowledge or way of knowing (the world) that is oriented to the West, specifically to America. This is problematic not just because it hierarchises or “ranks” Blackness, but also because (transatlantic) scholarship on Black African diaspora is often imagined through historical and cultural parameters in which “Middle Passage Blackness” is the norm, often the only representation of Blackness. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sculpture of a woman protester rests in a waste skip, her fist in the air." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355831/original/file-20200901-24-1pti2kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A statue of a Black Lives Matter protester in Bristol was put in the place of a statue of a slave trader - and then removed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Aretha Phiri:</strong> Building on your observation, I am struck by the continued influence in South African universities of Paul Gilroy’s seminal text <em>The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness</em> in particular and US-based <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/b/black-atlantic">Black Atlantic</a> studies in general. Where these foreground the global influences and contributions of Black peoples, they also unfortunately disseminate “Middle Passage” thinking which situates Africa in the past. What are the other challenges presented here?</p>
<p><strong>Michelle M. Wright:</strong> Not only is what is typically represented in Black Atlantic scholarship narrow, it is almost always heterosexual and masculinist. It struggles to imagine race and racism outside of the threat of emasculation and racial futures and racial pasts outside of a heteropatriarchal norm. </p>
<p>Most recently, the famous <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">1619 Project</a> in The <em>New York Times</em> aimed at documenting the impact of slavery on the US. But it focuses almost exclusively on Black men in African American history, eliding the achievements of women and queer folks. This leads to the assumption that it is heterosexual Black men who played the major contributory roles. But our earliest <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/abolitionism-European-and-American-social-movement">abolitionist</a> movements were started by Black women, our first Presidential candidate was a Black woman, and it was Black queer activists like James Baldwin and Bayard Rustin who were central to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement">Civil Rights Movement</a>. So yes, part of the ethical challenge, then, is to recognise that some Black people have much more privilege than others.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/on-decolonising-teaching-practices-not-just-the-syllabus-137280">On decolonising teaching practices, not just the syllabus</a>
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<p><strong>Aretha Phiri:</strong> I am struck, again, at how your analysis is relevant to Black African scholarship, where considerations of women and queer bodies have also historically been obscured or omitted…</p>
<p><strong>Michelle M. Wright:</strong> Racial metanarratives are inherently limiting. It’s very difficult for Black Africans, much less Black Europeans and Black peoples of the Pacific and Central and South America, to read themselves through the dominant (US) framings of Blackness. For example, if you are a Kenyan living in Mombasa, chances are high that your greatest preoccupation is not racist white cops, but violence from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/20/kenya-no-letup-killings-nairobi-police">Black Kenyan policemen</a>. And here we are, one scholar Zimbabwean/South African, the other a US citizen born and raised in Western Europe, both women, myself queer. The “Middle Passage” epistemology fails because it dictates that you belong to the past and I belong to the present and future. But history, nationality, gender, class and sexuality intersected us here at this exchange even as we came through different paths and bring different experiences, outlooks and philosophies. </p>
<p><em>This article is part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=%23BlackAtlanticsSeries">series</a> called Decolonising the Black Atlantic in which black and queer women literary academics rethink and disrupt traditional Black Atlantic studies. The series is based on papers delivered at the <a href="https://stias.ac.za/events/revising-the-black-atlantic-african-diaspora-perspectives/">Revising the Black Atlantic: African Diaspora Perspectives</a> colloquium at the <a href="https://stias.ac.za">Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aretha Phiri is an NRF-rated researcher and previously a fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle M Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black Lives Matter brings the slavery story into the present in America – but it leaves Africa stuck in the past.Aretha Phiri, Associate Professor, Department of Literary Studies in English, Rhodes UniversityMichelle M Wright, Professor, Emory UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1252532019-10-15T12:39:06Z2019-10-15T12:39:06ZBlack and minority ethnic academics less likely to hold top jobs at UK universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297084/original/file-20191015-98632-ptmtjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2347%2C0%2C4610%2C4296&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/black-woman-writing-on-whiteboard-1318707110">Rawpixel/Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities pride themselves on being bastions of equality and diversity. But if <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10360/Black-academic-staff-face-double-whammy-in-promotion-and-pay-stakes">new figures from the University and College Union</a> (UCU) are anything to go by, it seems they also continue to remain dominated by those from white, middle-class backgrounds – and this <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-students-on-going-to-oxbridge-its-not-even-asked-or-pushed-for-its-just-assumed-no-one-is-applying-87279">isn’t just about about the students</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10360/Black-academic-staff-face-double-whammy-in-promotion-and-pay-stakes">The UCU analysis</a> found that black and minority ethnic staff in universities are less likely to hold senior jobs, less likely to be professors, less likely to be in senior decision making roles – and are paid significantly less than white colleagues. </p>
<p>So despite significant advances in policy, such as the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents">2010 Equality Act</a> and initiatives such as the <a href="https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter/">Race Equality Charter</a> – which aims to improve the representation of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education – inequalities based on race continue to exist. And this demonstrates the pervasiveness of institutional and structural racism in higher education. </p>
<h2>The ivory tower</h2>
<p>There is already <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/white-privilege">evidence</a> to suggest <a href="http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/9535/Investigating-higher-education-institutions-and-their-views-on-the-Race-Equality-Charter-Sept-18/pdf/REC_report_Sep18_fp.pdf">racist practices</a> are prevalent in recruitment, promotion and pay at universities. And in the research for <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/white-privilege">my recent book</a>, I also found that daily experiences of racism exclusion and marginalisation remain deeply ingrained within the culture of higher education. And are a significant and normalised part of working at a university for many Black academics. </p>
<p>One woman I interviewed experienced subtle micro-agressions such as not being addressed in meetings, not given eye contact or asked for her opinion. She also witnessed derogatory remarks made in public about minority ethnic groups.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-characterises-higher-education-institutions-so-why-are-we-surprised-by-racism-93147">Whiteness characterises higher education institutions – so why are we surprised by racism?</a>
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<p>When complaints of racism are made, I’ve been told about how such instances weren’t treated as racist. I’ve heard about senior managers reluctant to recognise or address racism – refusing to accept it can take place in a university. All of which continues to ensure those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are positioned as outsiders in the white space of the academy.</p>
<h2>Institutional and cultural barriers</h2>
<p>The insidiousness of racist practices across the academy has proved difficult to challenge through equality and diversity policies so far. The Race Equality Charter <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/9535/Investigating-higher-education-institutions-and-their-views-on-the-Race-Equality-Charter-Sept-18/pdf/REC_report_Sep18_fp.pdf">has been found to</a> offer potential. Not least by providing <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/9535/Investigating-higher-education-institutions-and-their-views-on-the-Race-Equality-Charter-Sept-18/pdf/REC_report_Sep18_fp.pdf">a framework</a> that can help universities address and institutional and cultural barriers. But our <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/9535/Investigating-higher-education-institutions-and-their-views-on-the-Race-Equality-Charter-Sept-18/pdf/REC_report_Sep18_fp.pdf">research findings</a> suggest that considerably <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/education/reports/advancing-equality-and-higher-education.pdf">more investment and incentive is needed</a> for it to be truly effective. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297085/original/file-20191015-98636-sdcukd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One in 33, or 3%, of black academics, are professors, compared to about one in nine – 11% - of white academic staff, according to the analysis by the University and College Union.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businessman-pointing-building-plan-office-black-721778476">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The Race Equality Charter was introduced following the success of the <a href="https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/athena-swan/">Athena Swan Charter</a>, which aims to address gender inequalities in universities. Yet <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2019.1642305">the main beneficiaries</a> to-date have been <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/white-privilegeBhopal">white middle-class women</a>. </p>
<p>Another issue is that an <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/athena-swan-ugly-duckling">Athena Swan</a> award can lead to research funding for university departments – this is not the case for the Race Equality Charter. So while Athena Swan take-up has resulted in good practice for gender equality, racial inequality has been seen as a secondary priority. Indeed, out of <a href="http://www.studyin-uk.com/uk-study-info/university-rankings/">154 higher education institutions</a> in the UK, there are only <a href="https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter/members-award-holders/">56 members of the Race Equality Charter</a> compared to <a href="https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/athena-swan/athena-swan-members/">164 Athena Swan members</a>.</p>
<h2>White privilege</h2>
<p>The Race Equality Charter has helped higher education institutions to take steps in the right direction. But now, more resources are now needed if institutions are to really start to address systematic racism within the academy. </p>
<p>As the UCU report shows, far from being liberal spaces of inclusion, higher education institutions continue to play their part in the reproduction and reinforcement of racial inequalities. Indeed, as I state in my research from 2018: “Higher education institutions are spaces of white privilege…they employ a rhetoric of inclusion but one that is rarely evidenced in practice or outcomes”. </p>
<p>So if universities are serious about inclusion, social justice and equity, then surely the time has come for the Race Equality Charter to be mandatory and linked to research funding. This, along with properly addressing the continued perpetuation of white privilege in higher education – both of which are urgently needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kalwant Bhopal is a member of the Labour Party. . </span></em></p>Black and minority ethnic staff in universities are paid less than their white colleagues.Kalwant Bhopal, Professor of Education and Social Justice, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/911652018-02-08T12:49:02Z2018-02-08T12:49:02ZA personal journey sheds light on why there are so few black women in science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205280/original/file-20180207-74490-1qqziwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many black women scientists feel isolated or worry about being "perfect" to impress their peers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iaea_imagebank/33026035184/in/photolist-Sjp4DJ-T1Z58N-T1Z5hW-TpwLRP-T1Z4Pm-Sjp5AU-Sjp4oU-Sjp4t3-RRDcUA-RUcw5B-T9aVai-RRDcnU-T9aVn2-RUcvCp-RUcvJ6-VqtDZP-Wso7A4-uKaqmd-uKahrY-u5Ubtr-KocydQ-JSJqcb-KGtFP2-KPiapr-KocxCG-JSJj2W-KGtG2B-KPibda-KE2Cew-KGtFnk-KGtFaM-KocxXj-KLvPgJ-fWmy4P-fWmY6p-fWmHW5-KPi9CM-g9V841-g9V8fo-YE3268-YE31VZ-XACgJy-SjpWqo-Tna2MC-bRSeLx-bCXw17-bCXvZo-Tpxydv-SjpWxC-TpxxP4">Laura Gil Martinez/IAEA/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nine years into my research and academic career, one of the most common questions I hear from family and friends is, “uzoqedanini ukufunda?” (“Will she ever finish studying?”)</p>
<p>They’re not the only ones who struggle to understand what it is that I do. My experience is that most black women “fall into” research and academia, rather than deliberately choosing it as a career direction from the start. That would explain why black women undergraduates often ask me “What is research?” and “Is reading all you do?” </p>
<p>The United Nations marks February 11 each year as the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/">International Day of Women and Girls in Science</a>. This is an important occasion – but, based on the kinds of questions I receive almost daily, I’d suggest that retention rather than participation should be the focus of February 11 and related initiatives.</p>
<p>In South Africa, where I conduct my research and am working towards a PhD in <a href="http://deliveringfoodsecurity.org/team/">climate change and food production</a>, there is a particular need to attract and retain black women to the sciences. This has been a difficult, fraught process. Mamokgethi Phakeng, a full professor of mathematics education and a deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Cape Town, has <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v111n11-12/09.pdf">offered</a> several reasons for this.</p>
<p>For instance, she has pointed out that black women wishing to enter “non-traditional” careers face opposition from patriarchal <a href="http://journals.co.za/docserver/fulltext/ju_sajhr/25/3/ju_sajhr_v25_n3_a5.pdf?expires=1518079336&id=id&accname=57716&checksum=D0043B7597EABAA80F6AD94865BE1ED6">African cultures</a>. This, she suggests, is part of the reason that <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-10-12/Report-03-10-122001.pdf">men dominate</a> science and technology-related careers.</p>
<p>These issues can be addressed in several ways. Mentors and role models are crucial; so too are opportunities for black women scientists to find and build more collaborative spaces where they can combine their technical training with other skills. Cultural attitudes to the notion of “women as scientists” also need to be addressed.</p>
<h2>The reality</h2>
<p>During my talk at <a href="http://www.sfsa.co.za/representation-matters-black-women-in-science/">the Science Forum South Africa</a> conference in 2017 a young man asked me: “What is the big deal? Could it be that women are just not interested in the Sciences?” My answer was, “No sir!”, and that’s backed up by figures. <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/InTheNews/05%20Apr%20-%20Business%20Day%20-%20Few%20Africa%20women%20graduating%20in%20science.pdf">University enrolment data</a> shows that attracting young black women to science courses at undergraduate level in South Africa is not the problem. </p>
<p><a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-15-00-why-are-there-so-few-black-professors">Retention</a> is the issue. There is a “<a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/commissions/FeesHET/docs/2015-Report-SecondNationalHETSummit.pdf">leaky pipeline</a>” that sees women complete undergraduate science degrees – and then leave academia rather than pursuing postgraduate qualifications.</p>
<p>This means that <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2014-11-07-addressing-the-shortage-of-black-and-women-professors">black women lecturers</a> in the sciences in South Africa’s academy have the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10734-017-0203-4">lowest representation</a>. Fewer lecturers ultimately mean fewer professors – the most senior, admired and respected in their academic disciplines.</p>
<p>In an environment like this, young black female scientists <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22258-where-are-all-the-black-women-in-science/">feel isolated</a> and misunderstood. I know this first hand, as a young black women researching methods to improve food production for sub-Saharan Africa on limited land and in the face of changing climate. My own experiences are part of the reason I started an organisation called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BlackWomenInScience/">Black Women in Science</a>.</p>
<p>I was also responding to complaints from other science students, who felt the same worry about their own skills and sense of isolation that I did. Black Women in Science, which has 150 members, aims to encourage women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and maths by approaching the career of a scientist in a collaborative manner. It’s not about sticking to one discipline or area of specialisation. </p>
<h2>Role models and cultural norms</h2>
<p>So what’s holding young black women back? The giant leap from <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-10-12/Report-03-10-122001.pdf">high school to university</a> is an enormous hurdle. This is true for all students, but – as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01696-w">data</a> about first-year dropout rates in South Africa show – especially among black students. This is because they tend to come from <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/education/2017-12-28-sa-comes-39th-in-grade-9-science-performance--out-of-39-countries/">lower quality</a> primary and secondary school systems than their white peers. </p>
<p>For those who remain in the system and look to pursue postgraduate degrees, the lack of mentorship and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-keep-more-women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-61664">role models</a> is another issue. When you don’t identify with people who are lecturing in terms of image, culture and background, it’s easy not to relate to the field or subject. Diversity in the lecture hall is a way to show black women students that they can also take ownership in a particular field.</p>
<p>It’s important for these young women to look beyond the academy for mentors, too. One of the women I admire is Getty Choenyana, who trained as a mechanical engineer, then founded <a href="https://oamobu.co.za/pages/about-us">Oamobu Naturals</a> and uses her scientific skills and knowledge to successfully produce marketable products. </p>
<p>Family, marriage and culture also influence black women’s experiences as scientists. A number of African communities and cultures do not have a tradition of professional women. There is a strong expectation that women must conform to the traditional roles of wife and mother. </p>
<p>I am a Zulu woman. If I were married, my in-laws would probably struggle to understand that I am unable to attend “<a href="http://www.sunika.co.za/traditional-clothing-in-south-africa/86-umembeso/116-planning-for-umembeso">umembeso</a>” (one of the many stages and rituals in a Zulu wedding) because I have a thesis to write-up. </p>
<p>This is an added layer of complexity and a daunting burden. I, and black women scientists like me, feel enormous pressure to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/18117295.2017.1371980">be perfect</a> in the eyes of our academic peers and our own communities.</p>
<p>This points to the need for institutions to change too. It’s important that departments, faculties and senior academics understand the language and cultural challenges black women scientists face, and try to be more sensitive to them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ndoni Mcunu is doing her PhD at the Global Change Institute - Witwatersrand University. She is the founder of Black Women in Science (BWIS). </span></em></p>Family, marriage and culture are among the factors that influence black women’s experiences as scientists.Ndoni Mcunu, PhD Candidate, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829152017-09-28T03:02:58Z2017-09-28T03:02:58ZBaby boomer women make up for lost study time and head back to university<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186528/original/file-20170919-16703-1x0gauy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We should encourage older women to see academic study as a fruitful, challenging way forward, regardless of age.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Statistics from the Department of Education and Training show a steady cohort of baby boomer postgraduates, mostly women, enrolling at university at the age of 60 or over.</p>
<p>“Why on earth are you doing that?” friends ask. “Aren’t you a bit old? Your grandchildren will feel neglected.”</p>
<h2>An upward trend</h2>
<p>Between 2012 and 2015, Australian universities recorded a steady stream of enrolments. The larger the university, the higher the numbers. Take Western Australia’s five universities for example: </p>
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<p>The numbers for male postgraduates were similar, occasionally slightly lower. Available figures for 2016 do not indicate appreciable changes in enrolment numbers of males or females. Both groups may include existing academic staff, but the question remains as to why baby boomers are moving towards higher academic studies rather than retirement.</p>
<p>Completion rates for senior researchers indicate that whatever their reasons, they are highly successful:</p>
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<h2>The old status quo</h2>
<p>Social changes for women since the 1950s explain a lot. Women, it seems, are reaching towards long-held but unsatisfied desires for academic study. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233479892_%27A_study_corner_in_the_kitchen%27_Australian_graduate_women_negotiate_family_nation_and_work_in_the_1950s_and_early_1960s_1">In 1960s Australia</a>, only 27% of university students were female. University was not a common goal for girls in that era. They were not expected to have long careers, if any at all. Acceptable options were nursing, clerical positions, teaching or hairdressing, none of which required a degree. Young married women were asked at job interviews if they intended to become pregnant, and learned to say “no” regardless of their intentions, rather than risk failing the interview. </p>
<p>University was not a common pathway for a girl, but marriage was. In the same time period, 45% of girls who left formal education after secondary school were married by the time they were 20. On the flip side, only 20% of those who did attend university were married by 20. </p>
<p>The era’s unwritten rule was marry early, have children straight away. Once children arrived, returning to work was frowned upon. For example, one colleague waited until her children were over 18, then delayed her academic aspirations even longer to help care for grandchildren. “Family first,” she said. She was halfway through a PhD when we met, and closer to 70 years old than 60. </p>
<h2>Social change</h2>
<p>Since the 1960s, the status of women and the acceptability of post-marriage careers and further social changes have made university education for young women a viable option. Baby boomers who missed out are now seizing their opportunity. Their motivation is not the apprehension of retirement and subsequent loss of identity, as is the case with older male postgraduates, but rather the lure of a new phase of life. One that was out of reach before. At university, senior women are achieving in their own right, no longer functioning as complementary bodies to men as mothers, wives, sisters or daughters. </p>
<p>I began postgraduate research at 63. In 2015, I was among 118 women over 60 at Western Australia’s five universities who successfully completed their degrees. In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, 373 senior women from 13 universities gained postgraduate degrees.</p>
<p>Studies show the intellectual, physical and emotional benefit of such challenges for older people. In 1989, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ageing-and-society/article/bond-john-peace-sheila-dittmannkohli-freya-and-westerhof-gerben-eds-ageing-in-society-european-perspectives-on-gerontology-third-edition-sage-london-2007-384-pp-pbk-2099-isbn-13-978-1-4129-0020-1/28346E919B4C3AD475CA6DCEFBF1160A">UNESCO viewed</a> academic and further education for older people as a legitimate use of higher education. In 2005 <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/35268366.pdf">the OECD recognised</a> the needs and aspirations of older people.</p>
<p>While it may still be seen as unusual for women to begin academic studies in their later years, it is not strange for women in their sixties to continue fulfilling academic careers. Academia is one place where seniors of any gender continue working until they decide to call it a day. Examples of women who do just that are easy to find: Professor of Classics at Cambridge University Mary Beard, age 62. Germaine Greer, writer and Professor at Warwick University, age 78. Curtin University’s Associate Professor Liz Byrski, age 73. The list goes on. </p>
<h2>Senior female academics’ potential</h2>
<p>We should encourage older women to see academic study as a fruitful, challenging way forward, regardless of age.</p>
<p>For the trailblazing cohort of older researchers, the question remains - is there a future for them after graduating? They can assure themselves that they are role-models to grandchildren, other women, and the wider community. Some become mentors, officially or unofficially, to younger postgraduates or they may take up sessional academic positions - but they can do and be so much more. </p>
<p>People are living longer. We are healthier and more active in our later years. We are told 50 is the new 40, so surely 60 can be the new 50. Baby boomer postgraduates want to participate long after they are 60. It is shortsighted not to see <a href="http://www.tai.org.au/documents/dp_fulltext/DP63.pdf">the social and economic benefits</a> of this. To the universities who nurtured them, and awarded scholarships, these women are an untapped asset. They could easily become research pods of energy and output, supported by their alma maters, to the advantage of both.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Lesley Neale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Female baby boomers who missed out earlier in life are now jumping at the opportunity to further their education.Dr Lesley Neale, Adjunct Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/600632016-05-29T17:11:37Z2016-05-29T17:11:37ZBreaking the silence around lecturers who are sexually harassed – by students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124298/original/image-20160527-867-1bcczk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academics may feel especially ashamed if they're harassed by those over whom they have authority.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489850.pdf">Sexual harassment</a> is ubiquitous in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yemane_Berhane/publication/26262093_Prevalence_of_workplace_abuse_and_sexual_harassment_among_female_faculty_and_staff/links/00b7d516c30973e510000000.pdf">higher education institutions</a> around the world, and a large body of research suggests that <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/hwlj23&div=6&g_sent=1&collection=journals">women</a> are its main victims. This is true for students and academics, who are experiencing sexual harassment from their <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3173726.pdf">superiors, their peers</a> – and <a href="http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/432/art%253A10.1007%252FBF00289809.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2FBF00289809&token2=exp=1464253764%7Eacl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F432%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252FBF00289809.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252FBF00289809*%7Ehmac=b350ace109cc7113638e3d1e59db590e85357e117fc2ff22c629286e9e19b645">their students</a>.</p>
<p>It is this last category – what’s known as <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3173726.pdf">contrapower harassment</a> – that is the focus of co-author Chipo Lidia Munyuki’s PhD in Political and International Studies. This sort of harassment occurs when a person with less formal power harasses someone with greater formal power. One example would be when a female lecturer is sexually harassed by a student. This phenomenon is <a href="http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/526/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs11199-008-9560-x&token2=exp=1464251149%7Eacl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F526%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x*%7Ehmac=da85a171105a7cf6963d1e1d86af7faf4518c06e83ec49a096bef9ea37484e95">well documented</a> in the global North but <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/86557/dewet_women_2014.pdf?sequence=2">little research</a> has been done into academics’ experiences of contrapower harassment at South African universities. </p>
<h2>A pernicious problem</h2>
<p>Contrapower harassment, as with other forms, can range from mild and relatively nonthreatening to hostile and <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3173726.pdf">extreme</a>. Examples include bullying behaviours, disrespect, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2649259.pdf">sexual comments</a>, obscene telephone calls, sexist remarks on <a href="http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/474/art%253A10.1023%252FA%253A1007099408885.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1023%2FA%3A1007099408885&token2=exp=1464250449%7Eacl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F474%2Fart%25253A10.1023%25252FA%25253A1007099408885.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1023%252FA%253A1007099408885*%7Ehmac=18f780ce1d55505d1e53871fcd17ed2549afd5d3fa5c1a8244e526f58a90dde9">course evaluation forms</a>, stalking and the use of graffiti and social media. </p>
<p>In 2008, South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training established a committee that explored transformation, social cohesion and the elimination of discrimination in public universities. It found that <a href="https://www.cput.ac.za/storage/services/transformation/ministerial_report_transformation_social_cohesion.pdf">sexual harassment</a> is a pernicious problem. </p>
<p>But very few studies have given a voice to the victims of campus sexual harassment, let alone contrapower harassment. This is part of a broader trend. Sexual harassment at universities is <a href="https://umaine.edu/edhd/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2010/02/Gardner-Sexual-Harassment.pdf">rarely</a> acknowledged or openly spoken about anywhere in the world in any detail. Victims are silenced. There has, during 2016, been <a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/gallery-wits-students-protest-solidarity-rhodes">a wave</a> of <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-04-20-rhodes-university-shut-down-as-anti-rape-protests-continue">student protests</a> against institutions’ responses to sexual violence, rape and harassment.</p>
<p><a href="http://cws.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cws">Institutional responses</a> to women who speak out against harassment are often woefully inadequate. Universities may deny the allegations, dismiss the victim or minimise the significance of her experience. This culture of <a href="https://umaine.edu/edhd/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2010/02/Gardner-Sexual-Harassment.pdf">silence</a> surrounding sexual harassment may leave victims feeling isolated and unsupported. </p>
<h2>Feelings of shame</h2>
<p>Contrapower harassment may cause the victim additional feelings of <a href="https://umaine.edu/edhd/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2010/02/Gardner-Sexual-Harassment.pdf">shame</a>. These are associated with being sexualised by those over whom one is meant to have authority. </p>
<p>But why does it happen in the first place? Many explanations are advanced for contrapower harassment. Some argue that it is the result of, for example, a woman occupying a position of authority, which contradicts dominant assumptions about a society’s appropriate gender roles. </p>
<p>So a student may see women, <a href="http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/526/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs11199-008-9560-x&token2=exp=1464254693%7Eacl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F526%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x*%7Ehmac=7482e9d3a61dcc2be45680e2ff5110490bb3d15fbd122ba891b0fcaea6ae9f9a">minorities and less experienced academics</a> occupying positions of status and authority as illegitimate. Contrapower sexual harassment, then, is an attempt to <a href="http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/526/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs11199-008-9560-x&token2=exp=1464252339%7Eacl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F526%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs11199-008-9560-x.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs11199-008-9560-x*%7Ehmac=227194c7ca287975acb75fd3e64d68a68cac4dd2576c55bd41101c002611e2d9">assert male dominance</a>. </p>
<p>Sexual harassment has a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1300/J013v28n02_03">significant impact</a> on those whose lives it touches. It undermines victims’ confidence – <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232989336_Great_Tits_Miss'_The_silencing_of_male_students'_sexual_harassment_of_female_teachers_in_secondary_schools_A_focus_on_gendered_authority">both</a> professionally and personally. Research has proved that it has a negative impact on victims’ promotion and their <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01596300050005510">overall career</a> advancement. Specifically in higher education, it’s been found to play a role in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1393125.pdf">pushing female academics</a> out of academia prematurely.</p>
<p>It also comes with a host of documented psychological effects, including a lack of self-esteem, irritability, isolation, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1300/J013v28n02_03">depression, anger, guilt</a>, fear, frustration and helplessness. </p>
<h2>The South African context</h2>
<p>These findings are particularly significant in South Africa. There is a national imperative to transform universities into more hospitable and accommodating spaces where black and women academics are able to flourish and reach their full professional potential. Tackling sexual harassment – including that of female academics by students – is an important step to creating such spaces.</p>
<p><em>Author’s note from Chipo Munyuki: My PhD aims to tell the stories of women at South African universities who have experienced contrapower harassment. I would like my work to contribute to breaking the silence, shame and stigmatisation surrounding these experiences. If you would like to tell your story with an assurance of confidentiality, please contact me on chipo4m@gmail.com</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chipo Lidia Munyuki receives funding from The Mellon Institutional Cultures and Transformation Scholarship. She is a member of the Higher Education Institutional Culture, Equity and Transformation Group under the supervision of Prof. L.D. Vincent in the Political and International Studies Department. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Vincent receives funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the National Research Foundation.</span></em></p>Sexual harassment is a pernicious problem at universities. But not much is known in South Africa about students sexually harassing academics.Chipo Lidia Munyuki, Doctoral student, Rhodes UniversityLouise Vincent, Professor of Political Studies, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/549792016-03-07T11:03:21Z2016-03-07T11:03:21ZWhy are political experts mostly men? Women also know stuff<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113895/original/image-20160304-17753-1knpujj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">#Womenalsoknowstuff</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlibrary/2432412806/in/photolist-4GWKzQ-7YyLMT-4dRptV-aDZvmc-29Bir-s7qqqP-5g5jE-6XWnni-9hVwn5-8V3p3y-5pMx8x-5w1nz9-6Uyiow-bpaHEL-oV7fR4-6QMfyH-jErK-qj62kg-b2duTH-bym1Mi-2WrXdG-4TLpgH-e7cV9-gkHg9f-t5KTi6-4UGWu-4BwZYB-8qAcUo-54WeiX-8Dj5Ei-C4gjU-iQcdH2-3U85KT-8Hfvq-cABpah-NF5g-gkmHaq-wZL9p-gktkaF-nJRovb-gyHFtw-gkmWVd-gj4NMX-7LaQHF-gj7j76-9Thdwo-gjaaYW-9dx9RG-gjaabK-nVr4u">University of Michigan Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the rise of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rhetorical-brilliance-of-trump-the-demagogue-51984">Republican candidate Donald Trump</a>, the <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/jeb-bush-dropping-out-set-up-to-fail-213662">demise of establishment candidates</a> and a nomination contest <a href="https://theconversation.com/clinton-sanders-and-the-changing-face-of-the-democratic-party-54304">between a self-proclaimed socialist and a woman</a>, this election has delivered many surprises. Political scientists have often been called to weigh in. </p>
<p>Such conversations are critical as they enable academics to communicate the science of politics and add to the public discourse. However, in our experience, women academics have been often missing in these conversations.</p>
<p>This observation is consistent with other data in media representation: <a href="http://www.womensmediacenter.com/pages/statistics">only 26 percent of guests</a> on the Sunday morning talk shows were women in 2013, and <a href="http://www.poynter.org/2013/lack-of-female-sources-in-new-york-times-stories-spotlights-need-for-change/217828/">men were 3.4 times</a> more likely to be quoted on the front page of <em>The New York Times.</em></p>
<p>Is this simply because there are fewer women faculty in political science, particularly in the more advanced professorial ranks? </p>
<p>As women faculty in the discipline, we don’t believe this is the reason. Rather, a combination of <a href="http://thepoliticalmethodologist.com/2014/03/31/implicit-bias-and-why-it-matters-to-the-field-of-political-methodology/">“implicit gender biases”</a> whereby women’s lack of expertise is often simply assumed, and “network effects,” which can inadvertently exclude women who do not share the same networks as individuals charged with finding experts, may lay the foundation for women’s absence in expert discussions. And ultimately, this can lead to a skewed perception of experts as men.</p>
<h2>Gender gap in political science</h2>
<p>Beyond the number of women faculty, other obstacles prevent women from being called upon to serve as experts within the profession and beyond. </p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049096512000364">Research</a> shows that women in political science do not attain tenure and other promotions at the same rates as men, even when controlling for multiple relevant factors. </p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049096507070564">More recent</a> data show women are underrepresented in the top journals in the discipline. For example, even though women earn 40 percent of the Ph.D.s in political science, they author only 16 percent of articles published in the <em>American Political Science Review,</em> the discipline’s premier publication outlet. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113896/original/image-20160304-4575-xfkj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Are women missing on expert panels?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/csis_er/21093840196/in/photolist-aKQehP-xTFH9b-xP5JP7-xTFGVL-xTGSAo-ybiNne-xehHqG-xehAU5-y8ZrMW-xTNwR2-xTNxdp-uK9a2a-uGzs9j">CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also a gap in perceived and actual influence in the discipline. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X08000068">A survey </a> of international relations (IR) faculty revealed only two women included in the “top 25” IR scholars in the past 20 years, consistent with work finding <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049096507070199">women are underrepresented</a> on a list of the 400 most cited political scientists. More <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0020818313000209">analysis</a> indicates that IR journal articles authored by women are cited 20 percent less than articles by men. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/insp.12026/epdf">Other research</a> on IR journals reports further gendered citation patterns – male-authored articles and mixed-gender authorship produce bibliographies that are 9-11 percent women authors, while female-authored articles’ bibliographies contain upwards of 21 percent women authors.</p>
<p>Women’s careers are impacted in multiple other ways as well. </p>
<p>Women do more <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049096513000073">“low-status” service work than men</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@chanda/academic-housework-the-engine-of-science-society-cb4153faa724#.r8jlkfzfu">such as</a> advising students, serving on committees and producing ad hoc reports. Women face “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1537592708080572">gender devaluation</a>” when they hold leadership positions such as section head for a professional meeting, where the status of a position is downplayed as mostly secretarial. They are also at a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10755-014-9313-4">clear disadvantage</a> in terms of student evaluations of teaching. For <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/420499">example</a>, women spend more time with students outside of class but receive ratings for accessibility equivalent to those of male faculty. All of this additional time equates to time away from research. </p>
<p>In other words, women academics face inherent biases in this profession, which have important implications for perceptions of expertise. Furthermore, conforming to stereotypical expectations of being nurturing undercuts a woman’s ability to be perceived as an <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6219/262.short">expert</a>.</p>
<h2>A website is born</h2>
<p>Such implicit bias can be cyclical – the less people see women as experts, the less they imagine that women can hold expertise.</p>
<p>It seems inadequate to laugh off the all-male panel or “<a href="http://allmalepanels.tumblr.com/">manel</a>” as it has come to be called, or grumble about <a href="http://mansplained.tumblr.com/">mansplaining</a> whereby men position themselves as experts, explaining things to women, often in ways that are condescending or patronizing. </p>
<p>So, what can we do about it?</p>
<p>About three weeks ago a number of women in the discipline received an email from <a href="https://sgpp.arizona.edu/user/samara-klar">Samara Klar</a>, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Arizona. She shared frustration over recent news articles and symposia featuring zero women political scientists. An idea was born: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Let’s crowdsource a website of women academics in political science to make it easier to find women experts. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>From this was born a website, <a href="http://womenalsoknowstuff.com/">#WomenAlsoKnowStuff</a>, which offers an accessible database of women experts in political science. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"704834130635333632"}"></div></p>
<p>Within a few hours of launching the site, the response was so overwhelming it became evident a team was needed. An editorial board was quickly formed to oversee the development of the website. It was clear we had identified a need for women in academia broadly as requests to be listed on the site poured in from women in various fields all over the world. Journalists and other political scientists also wrote to indicate how they were using it to identify experts, cites, and expand their networks. </p>
<p>Some weeks later, the board, of which we are part, is grappling with the implications of the website’s success. It is currently engaged in planning, fundraising and publicity efforts to oversee the website’s growth and to prolong and ultimately measure its impact.</p>
<h2>What’s the evidence</h2>
<p>Several programs have been developed in the past to address gender gaps in political science and academia, such as <a href="http://www.saramitchell.org/journeys.html">Journeys in World Politics</a>, <a href="http://visionsinmethodology.org">Visions in Methodology (VIM)</a> and the <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/committees/cswep/index.php">CeMent program in Economics</a>. These programs bring women together in small conferences to offer research mentorship and networking opportunities. </p>
<p>These programs were found to be effective when their impact was measured after a few years. For example, five years after the first group of women attended a CeMent conference, <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w15707">women were found</a> to have an average of 0.4 more major grants and three additional publications. Their probability of publication in a top outlet increased 25 percent. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://thepoliticalmethodologist.com/2014/03/24/an-assessment-of-the-visions-in-methodology-initiative-directions-for-increasing-womens-participation/">a survey of women</a> who had participated in VIM conferences (which promote the use of statistics and experiments by women in political science) revealed VIM participants to be better networked and more productive, both in terms of publications and submission to top journals, compared to men and women who had not attended a conference. </p>
<p>These programs suggest short-term interventions can have broad effects, namely, disrupting mostly male networks helps to amplify the voices of women.</p>
<p>#WomenAlsoKnowStuff hopes to build on this work. The programs described described above have important effects, which could make gradual changes in who gets perceived as expert, but we see our website as a more disruptive change. We hope that this would have an impact on promotion, tenure and citation, which over time may shift perceptions of who the experts are. </p>
<p>Waiting for women to gradually accrue more status and influence in the profession is not sufficient. Our goal – the success of which we plan to evaluate systematically – is for #WomenAlsoKnowStuff to amplify the voices of women in political science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Beaulieu is affiliated with The Midwest Political Science Association's Women's Caucus (current president).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Searles receives funding from the Darlene & Thomas O Ryder Professorship in the Manship School of Mass Communication.</span></em></p>This Tuesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day. Gender biases continue and women’s voices are missing from expert discussions.Emily Beaulieu, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of KentuckyKathleen Searles, Assistant Professor of Political Communication, Louisiana State University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.