tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/women-in-higher-education-10715/articleswomen in higher education – The Conversation2023-05-09T22:54:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2035392023-05-09T22:54:29Z2023-05-09T22:54:29ZMothers’ education has a powerful role shaping their children’s futures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524706/original/file-20230505-23-7wnsal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C199%2C9475%2C5306&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite a social consensus regarding the importance of mothers as care providers, the crucial role mothers play in their children’s social mobility is often overlooked in research and policymaking.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Providing equitable quality education for all people is one of <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4">the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals</a>. To meet this goal, international organizations and national and local governments have invested heavily in expanding education. </p>
<p>In Canada, for example, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2005251-eng.pdf?st=01isBmJp">laws mandate</a> that children stay in school until a certain age. Since the 1950s, policies related to post-secondary study <a href="https://www.cicic.ca/1243/postsecondary_institutions.canada">have resulted in</a> the establishment of new post-secondary institutions and in increased post-secondary enrolment.</p>
<p>In theory, expanding education makes more opportunities available. But does this mean there is now greater <a href="https://www.oecd.org/stories/social-mobility/">intergenerational mobility</a> as individuals rely less on their parents’ background to get ahead in education? </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01545-5">Our new research</a> shows that
while decades ago, if a father was well educated, his child would likely achieve educational success as well, but this is less the case today. Conversely, the educational status of mothers has greater influence over their child’s educational status today than it did before.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a smiling woman seen next to a young person in a graduation cap." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524708/original/file-20230505-27-xjoabu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&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">Mothers have received far too little attention in terms of how they affect their children’s intergenerational mobility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(pexels/Kiptoo Addi)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Gender revolution</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2011.00690.x">Research</a> on intergenerational mobility often focuses on how children’s achievements are associated with those of their fathers. </p>
<p>Although mothers play a central role in child rearing, they have received far too little attention in mainstream understandings of intergenerational mobility.</p>
<p>Against the backdrop of global education expansion and the gender revolution, women have made substantial gains in education. In the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_318.10.asp?current=yes">United States</a>, for example, women overtook men in education, receiving 58 per cent, 61 per cent and 55 per cent of all bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees, respectively, in 2019–2020. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12076">in Canada</a>, women have outnumbered men in higher education, bagging nearly 60 per cent of bachelor’s and master’s degrees <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/3710002001-eng">as of 2020</a>.</p>
<p>With women’s rise in education, educated mothers pass on to their children not only their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192896858.001.0001">cognitive ability and financial resources</a>, but also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616690701449568">aspirations, values and educational know-how</a>, all of which help bolster their children’s educational status. </p>
<h2>Large global dataset</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A woman seen reading to a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524710/original/file-20230505-29-l9kw1z.jpg?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">
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<span class="caption">How have substantial gains in women’s education affected their children?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Tara Winstead/Pexels)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>To understand how mothers matter for intergenerational educational mobility around the world, we combined data from 545 existing large-scale surveys from 106 societies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. </p>
<p>The dataset included 1.79 million individuals born between 1956 and 1990 who provided valid information on their own and both their mother’s and father’s education. As of 2022, the 106 societies we considered covered nearly 90 per cent of the world’s population. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01546-4">Analyzing this global dataset</a>, we compared how mothers and fathers impact their children’s educational status.</p>
<h2>Mothers taking the lead</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1970.tb01009.x">classic modernization theory</a>, education expansion is expected to promote intergenerational mobility by equalizing educational opportunities. </p>
<p>This “equalizing” expectation holds if we only looked at the association between fathers and their children. According to analyses of our global dataset, as education expanded over time, the father-child association in educational status has become weaker. </p>
<p>However, contrary to the “equalizing” expectation, the mother-child association in educational status has grown much stronger as education expanded over time.</p>
<p>In Europe, for example, women’s educational status has become more closely associated with their mothers’ than their fathers’ education. A similar trend is observed across other world regions, where the importance of mothers’ education has caught up with and even exceeded that of fathers in shaping their children’s educational status.</p>
<h2>The value of mothers and mothering</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Two women seen embracing, one in a graduation cap, both wearing headscarves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524707/original/file-20230505-25-a2d0g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The crucial role mothers play in their children’s social mobility is often overlooked in research and policymaking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The lack of attention to mothers in intergenerational mobility reflects entrenched <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400401">gender biases</a> that emphasize father-child ties. For example, research has traditionally associated “family background” with fathers’ education, occupation, resources and social status.</p>
<p>Indeed, despite a consensus regarding the importance of mothers as care providers, the crucial role mothers play in their children’s social mobility is often overlooked in research, policymaking, and society at large.</p>
<p>By revealing the increasing association between mothers’ and their children’s educational status around the world, our research shows the increasing contribution mothers make to intergenerational mobility. This new evidence demonstrates the powerful role mothers play in shaping educational and social equality and inequality, beyond seeing mothers’ child-rearing role at home. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Single-Mothers-In-International-Context-Mothers-Or-Workers/Duncan-Edwards/p/book/9781857287912">single-mother families</a> become more common, changes in family structure may further increase the importance of mothers in intergenerational mobility. Future research could also examine how intergenerational mobility works in families with same-sex, transgender or non-binary parents.</p>
<p>Mother’s Day is a timely reminder of not only the immense importance of mothers in our personal lives but also a need to see and recognize the value of mothers and what they do for us all in broader society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yang Hu receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, UK, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for his ongoing collaborative projects on artificial intelligence and labour market inequalities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yue Qian 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>Globally, mothers’ educational status has a greater influence over the level of education their children attain today than was the case for people born mid-century.Yue Qian, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of British ColumbiaYang Hu, Professor, Department of Sociology, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/426382015-06-11T15:02:09Z2015-06-11T15:02:09ZFour ways to get more women into leadership at universities<p>The appointment of Louise Richardson as vice-chancellor of The University of Oxford has been hailed as momentous and inspiring. As the first woman to hold the position in the history of Oxford University and one of few female vice-chancellors of higher education institutions in the UK, this was a remarkable and celebratory event.</p>
<p>Richardson’s achievement as a woman from a non-Oxbridge background brings to light not only the under-representation of women in leadership roles in higher education (of 24 Russell Group universities, only <a href="http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/Vice-chancellors/">three vice-chancellors are female</a>), and the lack of diversity at our top universities, but also the failings of the academy to deal with gender inequity. </p>
<p>Universities in the UK, renowned globally as high-quality institutions that foster ground-breaking research and innovation are disappointingly persistent in their failure to address fundamental issues of gender equality. This is brought starkly into relief when compared with the achievements of women entering and leaving higher education. </p>
<p>Only one in five professors in UK higher education are female, and the professorial gender gap varies significantly from one institution to another with many falling <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/gender-survey-of-uk-professoriate-2013/2004766.article">below the average of 20%</a>.</p>
<h2>Who can be a leader?</h2>
<p>Richardson has said she hopes her appointment will inspire young undergraduates. However, research on women’s leadership shows that ambition alone is not enough to make a substantive difference to the continuing gender imbalance. </p>
<p>Research points to <a href="https://hbr.org/2003/12/how-unethical-are-you">deeply embedded gendered assumptions</a> that shape who we think can be leaders. These assumptions lead to a “think leader, think male” mindset with the effect of signifying women as usurpers in leadership roles, where women are viewed and evaluated first as women and second as professionals or leaders. These ingrained assumptions are played out through our expectations and treatment of men and women, and the way we understand leadership. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://mlq.sagepub.com/content/44/1/63.abstract">study</a> of women leaders in higher education highlighted how senior women’s leadership and professional expertise is rarely understood as the norm, and rendered either highly visible or invisible due to their gender. </p>
<p>For example, women being asked to sit on recruitment boards as the “token” female draws attention to their sex rather than their status or leadership ability. Conversely women chairing faculty or university committees can find both their sex and their leadership ability rendered highly visible and under additional scrutiny because of their minority status. Put simply, women are often made to feel uncomfortable as leaders, as though they don’t fit in. </p>
<p>This is compounded by organisational structures that exclude many women. For example many research seminars and networking opportunities are in late afternoon moving into early evening, just the time when those caring for young children are at their busiest with the school run, meal and bedtimes. Those carers are still mostly women, and typically many of those women will be at stages in their career when they need to develop a research profile and network.</p>
<p>As well as individual strategies that support and mentor women, we also need to focus on systemic change. Here are four ways to start.</p>
<h2>1. Be disruptive</h2>
<p>Women are by their very presence disruptive to the leadership norm. Their membership of a committee can bring into stark relief their minority status and encourage us to question the way things are. We need to be strategic in bringing about positive change. We can challenge practices that are inherently discriminatory and which many of us take for granted. </p>
<p>In administrative roles, academics have opportunity to draw attention to practices that continue to favour some over others and even to implement different ways of doing things. <a href="http://mlq.sagepub.com/content/44/1/63.abstract">Research shows</a> women can challenge the system both overtly and covertly. For instance using their visibility as women, such as drawing attention to a lack of representation of women in strategic decision-making roles, and where speaking out felt risky, acting covertly by developing networks that could work behind the scenes to effect change. </p>
<h2>2. Teach gender in the classroom</h2>
<p>We can put gender on the agenda in our management and business schools. This includes bringing gender into the classroom to influence the next generation. Too often these issues are sidelined or marginalised, seen as an add-on to studies rather than something that underpins our everyday experience and interactions. It is time we recognised the urgent need to foster equality through education. </p>
<p>By making gender part of our core curriculum we can challenge the status quo, encouraging students to think about the kind of leader they want to be and inspire new models of organising for the future.</p>
<h2>3. Change leadership research</h2>
<p>We can also broaden leadership research. Contemporary leadership research is still dominated by <a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book233409/toc">studies that polarise men and women leaders</a>, focusing on differences in leadership styles and behaviours that can serve to reinforce men as natural leaders and women as outsiders. </p>
<p>By developing research that looks less at individual traits and focuses more on how leadership works in everyday practice, we can gain greater understanding of how we perpetuate gendered practices and processes. This can also help us to identify how we can make changes that foster alternative models of being leaders and of doing leadership. </p>
<h2>4. Demand women experts</h2>
<p>Finally, we can challenge media representations that reinforce stereotypical views of leadership as a male activity and focus more on women’s appearance and domestic lives than their <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/research/management/critical-studies/projects/misrepresentation/">professional ability</a>.</p>
<p>Working with the media to promote positive representation of women in leadership roles, such as calling on women academics to provide expert opinion, can challenge the representation of the academy as male.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valerie Stead with colleagues from Durham University Business School, Roehampton Business School and University of Bradford School of Management receives funding from the ESRC for the Seminar Series, 'Challenging Gendered Media Mis(s)representations of Women Professionals and Leaders.<a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/research/management/critical-studies/projects/misrepresentation/">https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/research/management/critical-studies/projects/misrepresentation/</a>
</span></em></p>We need more Louise Richardsons. Here’s how to get them.Valerie Stead, Lecturer, Management Learning and Leadership, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425672015-05-30T19:24:33Z2015-05-30T19:24:33ZOxford’s first female vice-chancellor won’t end gender inequality on her own<p>The appointment of Louise Richardson as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/28/oxford-university-to-appoint-first-female-vice-chancellor">vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford</a> is a watershed moment for British academia. Women occupying such strategic positions are important for symbolic and substantive reasons. They not only serve as role models for female students, but could <a href="http://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/forward/documents/WEPAN2.pdf">facilitate institutional change</a> by improving recruitment, retention, and the advancement of women within professorial ranks.</p>
<p>Currently in UK universities, men still outnumber women by a margin of four to one in senior academic positions, while women are <a href="http://oss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/29/0170840613483658">over-represented in lower teaching grades and temporary research posts</a>. The more prestigious the institution, the fewer women who reach top jobs in research or academic leadership. Yet women outperform men in almost every single aspect of higher education.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83444/original/image-20150530-15244-rin7wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&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">Trailblazer: Dorothy Garrod.</span>
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</figure>
<p>Oxford and Cambridge are particularly conservative. The first woman to ever hold a Chair at either Cambridge or Oxford was the accomplished Palaeolithic archaeologist, <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9430783">Dorothy Garrod</a>, elected as Cambridge’s Professor of Archaeology in 1939. Until 1948 Oxford University did not have a single female professor and until 1978, only a few select colleges accepted female students. It has been only seven years since all the colleges opened their doors to <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-people/women-at-oxford">both men and women</a>.</p>
<p>The situation is not much different in the USA or Europe. <a href="http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/63396944-44BE-4ABA-9815-5792D93856F1/0/AAUPGenderEquityIndicators2006.pdf">Research</a> by the American Association of University Professors reveals that in 1,445 colleges and universities, there are fewer tenured female staff. Women make up 60% of all PhDs, but only 24% of professors. </p>
<p>In all 28 countries of the European Union women make up only <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/she-figures-2012_en.pdf">20% of full, Grade A professors</a>. In the words of the former EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, “This is regretful for women researchers and bad for Europe.” The gendered meritocracy strikes at the very heart of the academic enterprise. Women’s continuing marginalisation has profound implications on both how knowledge is reproduced and on what counts as knowledge.</p>
<p>While representation of women in higher professorial ranks, editorial board membership and <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/mapping-the-maze-getting-more-women-to-the-top-in-research_en.pdf">research funding bodies</a> is disappointing, there are even fewer women presidents, provosts and vice-chancellors in leading universities across the globe. </p>
<h2>Women left behind</h2>
<p>Gender bias in selection, evaluation, and promotion processes, the demands made by academic life on women if they are to be accepted and succeed, have all been used to explain the persistent discrimination of women in academia. This reflects men’s social power and widely shared cultural assumptions about women’s position in society. </p>
<p>Behavioural ethics research suggests that many such assumptions are <a href="https://hbr.org/2003/12/how-unethical-are-you">due to unconscious bias that both women and men share</a>. These concern feelings and knowledge (often unintended) about our social group membership (concerning race/ethnicity, gender, class).</p>
<p>The appointment of Louise Richardson, a renowned scholar on terrorism, a teacher with a formidable track record and experienced academic leader, helps breaking such preconceptions. But calls for women’s inclusion are often associated with tokenism and image-making rather than ensuring equal participation. The success of women in prominent positions can also stall the organisational efforts to improve the lot of the many. This often arises from the unspoken expectation that all women can navigate their way to seniority without implementing proactive policies to support them. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83445/original/image-20150530-15217-2it5kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&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">Halls of privilege.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford#/media/File:Radcliffe_Camera,_Oxford_-_Oct_2006.jpg">Diliff</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet for every woman at the peak of the academic ladder there are many others who have been left behind. We need more than just a few women at the top if we are to end gender discrimination in academia. Richardson acknowledged as much in her <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/28/oxford-university-to-appoint-first-female-vice-chancellor">interview in The Guardian</a>: “I look forward to the day when a woman being appointed isn’t in itself news.”</p>
<p>Much more is needed for this to happen. Nurturing and developing talented women through fast-track career and mentoring schemes are pivotal for increasing their numbers in leadership positions. Adopting family friendly policies is an essential measure for nurturing talented female researchers. There are also different strategies that women can use to overcome their predicament. These include finding a powerful champion in their own organisation, enlisting support of male and female mentors and joining peer support groups.</p>
<h2>Improving access</h2>
<p>None of these strategies is likely to be successful without improving the access to education for all who could benefit from it. As a child of the family of seven whose parents and most siblings did not go to the university, Louise Richardson readily acknowledges the role of education in her life. Without it she would not have become who she is. Most, if not all of it, would have been free or close to free. </p>
<p>Access to affordable education can help people from disadvantaged backgrounds move upwards but the social mobility is no longer an option for many students graduating with tens of thousands of debt in the UK and USA. Even fewer of children from disadvantaged backgrounds make it to Oxford: only <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12048629">0.8% of students at Oxford and Cambridge received free school meals</a> while <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/27/oxbridge-state-school-numbers-falling">43 and 39%</a> of them, respectively, were privately educated. </p>
<p>The first female vice-chancellor at the University of Oxford is well-qualified to address some of these issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marianna Fotaki receives funding from British Academy Small Grant Scheme "Gender Inequality in Higher Education in the UK and Australia" (2010-2012)</span></em></p>For every woman at the peak of the academic ladder there are many others who have been left behind.Marianna Fotaki, Network Fellow, Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University and Professor of Business Ethics, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/389802015-03-25T00:14:05Z2015-03-25T00:14:05ZRole reversals challenge husbands of Indonesian students in Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75177/original/image-20150318-12159-16x4nab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Visa limitations force Indonesian husbands who follow their wives who are studying in Australia to change their status from breadwinner to dependent. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Pages/InternationalStudentData2014.aspx">100,000 new international students</a> will enrol in higher education courses in Australia this year. Indonesians make up the <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/01/11/high-time-internationalization-indonesian-higher-learning.htm">fourth-largest group</a> with more than 22,000 students. Many of them will begin study in the new academic year this month. </p>
<p>Some will travel here independently. Others will be accompanied by their families. With the absence of family support and affordable child care, female Indonesian students who bring their husbands and children experience different challenges from students coming on their own. </p>
<p>Temporary migrating couples from Indonesia face rapid and vast shifts in gender roles in their relationships. Husbands whose legal status is limited to dependency visas may find themselves unable to engage in their chosen profession, leading to the (re)construction of their identity as a man, a husband and a father. </p>
<h2>Change of roles</h2>
<p>Indonesian couples from middle-class backgrounds typically have considerable and affordable support for child care and household management at home. These external support services are either non-existent in Australia (such as the lack of geographically close family members) or too expensive for students to employ. Couples often have to alter their typical arrangements to manage child care and domestic work while in Australia. </p>
<p>In the beginning of their studies, the bulk of child care and household chores is usually in the hands of the female students, who are studying full-time. But, in time, to ensure the wife succeeds in her studies, couples usually negotiate their roles and specific tasks in the management of the household, challenging traditional notions of women and men. </p>
<p>For example, when 38-year-old Indrawan moved with his two and a half-year-old son to Australia to be with his wife, Nuraini, 30, his role as the family’s breadwinner was shaken. </p>
<p>Indrawan left his consultancy job with an international NGO, hoping to find work with an NGO in Australia. Despite having high qualifications, he was unable to find work given his limited visa status. He eventually worked in different shops and restaurants full-time, leaving most of the child care and household chores to his wife.</p>
<p>The double workload took a toll on Nuraini. She hurt her waist from carrying her son and heavy books and had to take a three-day bed rest. She finally asked Indrawan to reduce his work shifts to three days a week to take care of the children and their household. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He was willing to listen to me. I was strong when I made my point because I was already too exhausted. I only needed to say it once … He really did reduce his shifts. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75175/original/image-20150318-12144-1lukn8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s not as easy as it looks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Domestic chores and child care were also Lisayani’s responsibilities during her Masters and PhD studies in Australia. Her husband and son followed her to Australia. Despite her busy schedule and her struggle to adapt to the university life, she took on household chores. </p>
<p>Lisayani said she was constructed to be a “good wife”, which traditionally entails being responsible for domestic chores. Being a “good wife” got in the way of being a good student. She almost always fell asleep while studying in the library. When her assignment results suffered, she decided to talk to her husband about her situation. </p>
<p>Her husband responded very well when she shared her feelings. He agreed then to do domestic chores, except for cooking and ironing. He took care of their baby when her wife was at the university. He also took on less casual jobs.</p>
<p>Of her husband, Lisayani said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He was a product of a cultural construction that said that domestic tasks were not his job; he did not learn to do it then.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Challenge to traditional gender notions</h2>
<p>Ideas of womanhood and manhood are deeply shaped by cultural and state discourses.</p>
<p>Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law defines a husband as “the head of the family” who will “provide all necessities of life required in a family”. A wife, according to the law, is a “housewife” who “shall manage the household to the best of her ability”. </p>
<p>The legal definition of husband and wife and cultural discourses on gender actively shape ideas of womanhood and manhood. Indonesia has terms such as <em>kodrat wanita</em> that refers to the “nature” of women. <em>Kodrat pria</em> refers to the “nature” of men. Kodrat is generally acknowledged as the assigning of gender roles and specific tasks, destined by God. </p>
<p>Women are judged by their skills in managing a household. People perceive the nature of women is to be a mother and a good housewife. Furthermore, this “nature” of women suggests that a good woman is obedient, passive and gentle, as well as self-sacrificing and nurturing. Men on the other hand are judged by their capacity to take care of family finances. </p>
<p>Women’s rights activists have proposed changes to the Marriage Law to reflect gender equality as well as religious freedom.
They propose changes for: </p>
<ul>
<li>Article 31 (3): The husband and wife shall each have a role and responsibility in the same household.</li>
<li>Article 34 (1): Husbands and wives ought to protect and provide every necessity of home life according to his/her ability.</li>
<li>Article 34 (2): The husband and wife shall manage the household to the best of his/her ability.</li>
</ul>
<p>The proposed changes also include religious freedom, particularly articles that require spouses to share the same religion. </p>
<h2>Shifting identities</h2>
<p>Globalisation and educational mobility have opened more possibilities for Indonesian women to continue higher education. The Australia Awards Scholarships, formally known as Australian Development Scholarships, for instance, encourage women to pursue further education. Cross-cultural encounters, such as those experienced when studying abroad, often precipitate changes in gendered roles and expectations.</p>
<p>For temporarily migrating couples the shift in identities may potentially occur twice. First when they live overseas. Second once they return to their home countries. As the migration is temporary, such (re)construction may or may not preserve negotiated gender roles that the couple agreed on during their stay abroad. Some values may be preserved. Some may be lost. </p>
<p>Lisayani and her husband seem to keep them. When Lisayani received her PhD scholarship, her husband left his job as a lecturer at a private university in Jakarta to support Lisayani’s career and study. Lisayani is now teaching at a university in Bandung, Indonesia, and her husband takes care of the house while working on a small leasing business.</p>
<p>For Indrawan, his household responsibilities are only temporary. In Australia, he and Nuraini took turns in taking care of their son and doing house chores based on who was available. But Indrawan said he would never consider continuing their new identities upon returning to Indonesia. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We knew it would not work in Indonesia. Everything is different here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Tensions in the domestic sphere can negatively impact student’s performance, both academically and personally. Some kind of support also needs to be provided to spouses of international students. This may include a different scholarship scheme, or support in developing new professional networks. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: All names have been changed to protect the identity of research participants.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valentina Y. D. Utari works for The SMERU Research Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Simpson Reeves is currently part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development program, which is funded by DFAT.</span></em></p>Temporary migrating couples from Indonesia face rapid and vast shifts in gender roles in their relationships.Valentina Y. D. Utari, Researcher, SMERU Research InstituteLaura Simpson Reeves, Research Communication Adviser, SMERU Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/345712014-11-28T07:07:22Z2014-11-28T07:07:22ZTo get more women leading universities we need a code of conduct for search firms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65704/original/image-20141127-16934-he1sp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rarity for university vice-chancellors. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-184328156/stock-photo-close-up-of-two-businesspeople-shaking-hands-in-office.html?src=q6cknydYg6wuZWBCcHxW0Q-1-53">Hand shake via Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Only 20.1% of university vice-chancellor and principals are women, according to a <a href="http://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-08-ECU_HE-stats-report_staff_v19.pdf">new report</a> from the Equality Challenge Unit. This wide gender gap at the top of universities makes it all the more vital to address equality in the way higher education leaders are recruited. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/engage-36--autumn-2014/in-practice/index.cfm">research published</a> by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education showed how universities are increasingly making use of executive search firms to hire top managers. </p>
<p>Between 2006 and 2013, executive search firms were used in 98% of vice-chancellor appointments and in 61% of externally advertised pro vice-chancellors jobs. Universities tend to rely on a small number of firms which specialise in higher education, but the report argues that this raises a number of questions as to “the freshness of each search”, potential conflicts of interests and the recycling of candidates. </p>
<h2>Reinforcing the status quo</h2>
<p>This evidence adds to the findings from a study that colleagues and I did on <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/index.cfm/S4-02.1">gender and leadership</a>, commissioned by the Equality Challenge Unit and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Men and women in leadership roles who participated in that study raised questions as to whether search firms actually help to increase gender diversity or rather contribute to reinforcing the status quo. </p>
<p>In spite of search firms being involved in almost all the appointment of vice-chancellors and principals for several years, women’s representation in these roles is still very low – especially when they make up 53.9% of the sector’s workforce. We’ve recommended that the sector should develop a code of conduct for the use of executive search firms in the making of senior appointments.</p>
<h2>Bound by legal duty</h2>
<p>An important factor seems to have been overlooked – that universities are subject to the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/11/chapter/1">Public Sector Equality Duty</a> (PSED), introduced by the Equality Act 2010. This requires them to pay due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to encourage persons who share a relevant legally protected characteristic (such as gender) to participate in public life.</p>
<p>These provisions are meant to make the promotion of equality central to the work of higher education, including to its employment practices. But by using executive search firms in the selection and recruitment for leadership roles, universities are outsourcing part of this function to an external provider. Yet they are still responsible for ensuring that the Public Sector Equality Duty is complied with throughout the recruitment process – including those stages that are managed by search firms. </p>
<p>The adoption of a code of conduct for search firms could help to ensure that equality standards are met at every stage of the selection and recruitment process. Many universities require staff who sit on recruitment panels to have undertaken equality and diversity training. Staff at executive search firms working for universities should also have to have appropriate equality training. </p>
<h2>Davies-style review</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208464/voluntary-code-of-conduct-for-executive-search-firms.pdf">voluntary code of conduct for executive search firms</a> already exists in the private sector where it was adopted following a 2011 review by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/women-on-boards">Lord Davies</a> on women’s participation on company boards. </p>
<p>In September 2014, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, launched an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355900/bis-14-1075-the-enhanced-voluntary-code-of-conduct-for-executive-search-firms-accreditation.pdf">enhanced version of this code</a>, recommending that search firms publish anonymised hiring data relating to long-lists, short-lists and appointments. </p>
<p>It also offers an accreditation process for those firms which have a demonstrable track-record in helping their clients to achieve greater gender diversity. There is much that the higher education sector could learn from the work of Lord Davies and his steering group in order to develop a code to advance equality of opportunities in senior recruitment at universities.</p>
<p>But search firms are just one key player in the recruitment process for senior appointments. The role of governing bodies and the interviewing process itself also need to be kept under better scrutiny. This part of the process ought to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty too. Closing the gender gap must be a priority for higher education. Perhaps the sector should set up its own Davies-style review to achieve this goal in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simonetta Manfredi has received funding from the former Department of Trade and Industry, European Commission, European Social Fund, Equality Challenge Unit, Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. </span></em></p>Only 20.1% of university vice-chancellor and principals are women, according to a new report from the Equality Challenge Unit. This wide gender gap at the top of universities makes it all the more vital…Simonetta Manfredi, Professor in Equality and Diversity Management and Director of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/274742014-06-03T04:50:18Z2014-06-03T04:50:18ZOnly 17% of UK universities are run by women – why?<p>Women now form 56.5% of the student body, make up 53.8% of the whole workforce and occupy 45% of academic jobs in higher education in the United Kingdom. But their representation declines dramatically at senior management levels, where <a href="http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/equality-in-he-statistical-report-2013-staff.pdf/view">only 27.5% of managers are women</a>. In vice-chancellor and principal roles, this is even lower: only 17% are women, or <a href="http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/PDF/Market%20Sector/Education/women-count-leaders-higher-education-2013.pdf">29 out of 166</a> in 2013-14. </p>
<p>In order to shed some light on the possible causes of such a striking gender imbalance in leadership positions in the sector, the Equality Challenge Unit and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/index.cfm/S4-02">commissioned some research</a> from the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes University, in partnership with Learning for Good. </p>
<p>This research focused on the experiences and career trajectories of a sample of alumni from the <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/programmes-events/you/top-management-programme/">Top Management Programme</a>. Today, 57 UK vice-chancellors and principals are programme alumni (14 women and 43 men). On the basis of this figure, 14 of the UK’s 29 female vice-chancellors and principals are alumni from the programme – 48% of those women occupying the top job in the sector. </p>
<p>This research involved an online survey which got 183 responses – 45% of them by women. We also did 42 in-depth interviews with a sample of 23 women and 19 men. </p>
<h2>Cloning leaders</h2>
<p>We found that women are more likely to be unsuccessful compared to men when applying for leadership roles in the sector and that selection and recruitment processes at this level may be gender biased. Some of the women who took part in the interviews felt that leadership in the sector was “too narrowly defined” and that there was a failure to acknowledge that there might be different ways of carrying out the chief executive role. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that when they did the programme, the participants were already in senior positions in the sector. More or less equal numbers of men and women who took part in the research had no particular desire to move further upward in their own or another organisation.</p>
<p>Although the research did not have an explicit focus on the experience of ethnic minority senior post holders, similar points were raised by a small number of participants from ethnic minority backgrounds in respect of cultural bias in constructions of leadership models. </p>
<p>Some of those who took part in the study explained that they became more aware of gender differences as they moved into more senior roles, and, in particular, they felt that they did not fit the image that members of appointment panels might have of university leaders: “some people could not see me in the role”.</p>
<p>The respondents were worried about the lack of both gender and ethnic diversity in both management and governance leadership roles in the sector. Some feared this could result in a “cloning” effect in the selection and recruitment process for senior posts. One pointed out that: “many of the selections are made by white-haired, ageing, middle-class men”.</p>
<h2>The role of executive search</h2>
<p>Several interviewees of both genders, but predominantly women, raised questions about the role of executive search firms in the selection and recruitment process for senior appointments. There was a perception that these firms may have a disproportionate influence on the hiring process and might be contributing to a reinforcement of the status quo. </p>
<p>It was also noted that fewer women applicants who are included in long lists make it into shortlists. This raised questions as to whether this might be the result of a “tokenistic” approach to gender diversity on long and short lists or whether women might be receiving poor advice in terms of the type of positions they should be putting themselves forward for. </p>
<p>But on the other hand, a few participants of both genders found that executive search firms had positively helped them to apply successfully for more senior roles. </p>
<p>Based on the research, we made some significant recommendations for change at the highest level, some of which are under discussion. These include getting universities to adopt aspirational targets to increase women’s representation in senior roles, equality and diversity training for governing bodies who hire vice-chancellors, and a transparent code of practice for executive search firms. These need to be enacted quickly in order to keep pace with the private sector. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Beer is Chair of the Board of the Equality Challenge Unit. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simonetta Manfredi has received funding from the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, Equality Challenge Unit, Higher Education funding Council, European Social Fund and European Commission.</span></em></p>Women now form 56.5% of the student body, make up 53.8% of the whole workforce and occupy 45% of academic jobs in higher education in the United Kingdom. But their representation declines dramatically…Janet Beer, Vice Chancellor, Oxford Brookes UniversitySimonetta Manfredi, Professor in Equality and Diversity Management and Director of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/273702014-06-01T20:16:16Z2014-06-01T20:16:16ZHigher education changes: another hit for Australian women?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49865/original/qk7x38qn-1401427221.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New budget measures are going to adversely affect young women more so than young men. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=135088778&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwMTQ1NTk5NiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTM1MDg4Nzc4IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDEzNTA4ODc3OCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMzUwODg3NzgvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJKRlRWMGVpdjhlNEF3RFBDWFBBWDh6SDcraUUiXQ%2Fshutterstock_135088778.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=aE7K13hVheulB3Zf8qgn2A-1-48">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a recent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s4010131.htm">radio interview,</a> federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne refused to contemplate a hypothetical situation that involved young women doing all the heavy lifting under his government’s plans to transform higher education in Australia into a demand-driven market.</p>
<h2>Let the market decide?</h2>
<p>A demand-driven system sounds right, doesn’t it? It resonates with such worthy principles of economic efficiency from well-functioning markets, with higher education fees adjusting to reflect the private future returns from investment in a university degree. Those who benefit should pay, and those who benefit most should pay most, surely?</p>
<p>The problem here is that education isn’t your run-of-the-mill type of market. An education system delivers public as well as private returns to Australia. This point has been overlooked in many of the debates over the past weeks. </p>
<p>Education is the backbone of human capital and productivity, and ideally symbolises progress, access and equity. If the system is designed correctly, it will deliver the best of the best, whatever one’s background or ability to pay off the debt.</p>
<h2>Who bears most of the cost?</h2>
<p>Education experts have noted the uncertain outcomes of the proposed changes to higher education, citing: “<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-education-experts-react-26649">uncharted territory</a>”, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-education-experts-react-26649">hold on to your hats</a>”, and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-education-experts-react-26649">no one is to say with authority what will happen</a>”.</p>
<p>One thing’s for sure though – it will affect young Australian women a lot more than young Australian men. Applying a gender lens to this policy is essential.
Young Australian women now make the decision to go on to university studies at a rate almost <a href="http://www.highereducationstatistics.deewr.gov.au/">1.4 times higher</a> than young men and <a href="http://www.highereducationstatistics.deewr.gov.au/">around 150,000 more women</a> are enrolled in an Australian university than men.</p>
<p>Despite this, women receive lower returns from university education than men, with women holding a bachelor degree earning on average 58% of what men with a bachelor degree would earn over their <a href="http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/21/219073/AMP.NATSEM_32_Income_and_Wealth_Report_Smart_Australians.pdf">lifetime</a>. There are a number of reasons for these differences. These include women being more likely to have career interruptions to start and raise a family, women more likely to work part-time and gender wage gaps that cannot be explained by anything - not even educational attainment. </p>
<p>All of these factors will work together to extend the time needed to repay the HECS-HELP debt, which increases the required interest. Even under the current higher education system, <a href="http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/21/219073/infocus/21nov.pdf">empirical analysis</a> has shown that women, particularly those with children, will take twice as long to pay off their HECS-HELP debt. A single parent with two children, a degree and low earnings could potentially <a href="http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/21/219073/infocus/21nov.pdf">remain in HECS-HELP debt</a> for the rest of her working life.</p>
<p>There is also a huge gender divide in what men and women study. Men generally dominate the more lucrative fields and occupations. </p>
<p>The STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) are heavily skewed towards men, while women dominate the education and health fields. For engineering, a degree that will return on average $3 million over a lifetime, <a href="http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/21/219073/AMP.NATSEM_32_Income_and_Wealth_Report_Smart_Australians.pdf">more than 91% of enrolments</a> are men. Health, on the other hand, is 73% women and education 80% women. </p>
<p>If higher fees and, more importantly, repayment rates start chipping away further into returns, it is likely that this will reinforce existing educational segregation. Women will opt for universities and courses that cost less. </p>
<p>A deregulated market will come nowhere near to equating the differences in fees between degrees that attract higher or lower returns. The result is that the higher fees will inevitably disadvantage women to a greater extent.</p>
<h2>A waste of potential</h2>
<p>What are the consequences of these inequities? </p>
<p>1) Stronger disincentives for women than men to take up university education, especially at more expensive universities and in particular fields; and
2) Greater labour market distortions for those women that do, with HECS debt burdens that take longer to service, placing them in an inferior post-higher education position. </p>
<p>The result will be that Australian women take another hit and Australia loses out. Australia can’t afford an education system that puts in place even more severe barriers to women’s labour market participation and economic advancement than currently exist. </p>
<p>The best education system for Australia is one that promotes equality of access, regardless of gender. The government’s proposed changes have the potential to stall, or even reverse, the progress made over the last decade in attracting women to engage in university study.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassells 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>In a recent radio interview, federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne refused to contemplate a hypothetical situation that involved young women doing all the heavy lifting under his government’s plans…Rebecca Cassells, Adjunct Associate Professor, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.