Australasian university management, gender and life course issues

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues arising for women and men in senior management in New Zealand and Australian universities where life course and career trajectories intersect, and analyses how the stereotypical masculinist culture of universities can create additional problems for women. Design/methodology/approach – The data presented here comes from 47 interviews undertaken with women (27) and men (20) senior managers – a total of 26 interviews from New Zealand universities and 21 from Australian universities. “Senior Management” was defined in this study as those academic managers with university wide responsibilities, who were currently in senior management positions. Findings – Life-course issues for women aspiring to senior management roles in universities are framed around hegemonic constructions of masculinity; notions of academic careers subsuming personal life in professional roles; and structural constraints making rational choice impossible for many women. Furthermore, the excessive hours worked in such roles equate with the definition of extreme jobs. The paper concludes that the way in which women and men in senior HE endeavour to balance work and family life differs but creates issues for them both. Research limitations/implications – The structure and operation of Australian and New Zealand universities make gender diversity and management difficult to operationalise, given the competing imperatives of work and other life course trajectories. It is crucial to reframe life course and career intersections are conceptualised to ensure that diversity can be maximised. Originality/value – This paper focuses on women and men in senior management positions in New Zealand and Australian universities, but the findings can be generalised to other countries with HE systems based on the British University model. In discussing how institutional culture affects the intersection of career and life course trajectories, this paper highlights the detrimental outcomes for individuals and the resultant lack of diversity in the sector.

The Challenges for Gender Equity and Women in Leadership in a Distributed University in Regional Australia

“…It became apparent through the Athena SWAN self-assessment process that there were significant similarities to previous research in terms of key experiences, policies, and procedures in redressing gender equity for women at the University (David 2015;Kim 2011;Neale and White 2014;Probert 1998;Silander et al 2013;Wasserman 2017). The impact of neoliberal progression, capitalization, and entrepreneurship of the education sector, as outlined in Blackmore (2013), has also flagged both academic and student dissatisfaction in the homogenization of the sector, and further, the impact this has had when considering a gendered lens.…”

Anticipation of work–life conflict in higher education

“…Previous research has described faculty's employees' work as unbounded, with multiple stressors such as long working hours, paperwork, lack of support, the need to secure research funding and time for research, frequent interruptions, rapid changes, poor leadership and management, low salary, and lack of promotion prospects (Santos, 2016: Hogan et al, 2015: Neale & White, 2014.…”

“…Legislative reforms introduced in recent decades in Spain have been insufficient to change the situation significantly, despite their intention to guarantee the principles of equality, merit and capacity in procedures for selection and promotion (LOU, 2001). The exclusion of female academics from male networks is often cited as a barrier to accessing senior positions (Santos, 2016;Neale & White, 2014), which may not be attributed entirely to specifically homosocial activities but also to difficulties with caring responsibilities and balancing personal and professional life (Váquez-Cupeiro & Elston, 2006). Even if the academic recruitment system is free of inherent barriers, different life-course trajectories might come into play that particularly affect women's career advancement.…”

“…Women remain under-represented in the professions, and in leadership and managerial positions. The standard academic career model is understood to be based on inbuilt patriarchal support systems that benefit men over women (Bagilhole & White, 2013), and workplace assumptions about diversity and life course explain the scarcity of women at senior levels in academia (Neale & White, 2014), a situation that is also evident in Spanish universities. Although the procedures for academic promotion included in the recent legal reforms in Spain are ostensibly gender-neutral, women are still more likely to be excluded from full recognition of their academic merit, they seem to experience more suffering and make more sacrifices in their professional and personal lives, and they are less likely to access senior levels than their male peers (Vázquez-Cupeiro & Elston, 2006).…”

The university environment: opportunities, constraints and challenges for senior women

“…In both New Zealand and Australia, the accepted career path is from lecturer, to senior lecturer, to Associate Professor to Professor and then to senior management. Given the small number of women at the level of full professor (23 percent in Australia and 18 percent in New Zealand) this means there is a small pool from which to draw on for senior management positions (Neale and White, 2014). Academic women may be building their careers in their 30s and 40s rather than their 20s and 30s and are thus always in the position of trying to catch up with their male colleagues (Bagilhole and White, 2013).…”