Gender and precarious careers in academia and research

Bozzon, Rossella; Murgia, Annalisa; Poggio, Barbara

doi:10.4324/9781315201245-2

Cited by 23 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…With good reason, given the single largest challenge faced by European ECRs – protracted state of precariousness – the authors have focused on the latter’s employment opportunities and conditions, and a way out of the global phenomenon of extreme job insecurity. This precariousness is seen a result of the combined – and mutually reinforced – trends towards the massification of higher education and participation in PhD levels of study, reduction in public spending on HE, and the increase in short-term contracts through project-based employment (Åkerlind, 2005; Bosanquet et al, 2017; Bozzon et al, 2018; Carrozza et al, 2017; Herschberg et al, 2018; Krilić et al, 2018; McAlpine and Emmioğlu, 2015; Neumann and Tan, 2011). The ‘postdoc’ employment, in particular, having become a standard career expectation stage for ECRs, both through the lack of public and institutional investment, and the fostering of mobility, seems to have created a more ‘professionalised’ researcher, but a more fragmented academic due to the sometimes very frequent change of the research focus, method, and environment, via dependence on external funding and funding agencies’ shifting priorities (Åkerlind, 2005; Chen et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing academic identity in the European higher education space: Experiences of early career educational researchers

Djerasimovic

Villani²

2019

European Educational Research Journal

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This exploratory paper presents insights from a qualitative interview-based study of the academic identity-building among a group of early career researchers working in the field of education across the European higher education space. Set against a policy background framed by the initiatives in European higher education and research policy, geared towards a production of a mobile, entrepreneurial researcher in pursuit of ‘valuable’ knowledge, the respondents’ narratives reveal individual complexity, but also emerging patterns of professional identification. We identify the traditional academic values of creating and sharing knowledge validated by an epistemic community, and pursuing autonomy and collegiality in research, as still dominant, however, find these interacting with the demonstration of a strong proactive, entrepreneurial spirit, and a lack of institutional attachment. The narratives indicate the availability of supportive, encouraging communities as being of high significance, and contest the notions of Europeanisation and the utility of geographic mobility in researchers’ identities. The paper discusses different types of academic identification driven by value orientation and social attachment that emerged from the early career researchers’ interviews, alongside pervasive issues around mobility raised in most narratives, and concludes with suggestions for further study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing academic identity in the European higher education space: Experiences of early career educational researchers

Djerasimovic

Villani²

2019

European Educational Research Journal

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“…Therefore, processes such as the commodification of research activities, higher investment in the STEM field, and the preponderance of applied science that fits the demands of the market occur transversally at the global level. However, the results of such trends and their effects are not the same in all countries, because they are mediated by previously existing institutional structures, access to financial resources, the regulation of academic careers and labour markets, and how these factors act as filters for these global pressures (Enders and de Weert, 2009;Bozzon et al, 2019).…”

Section: Constructing the 'Right Age' To Obtain A Tenure Trackmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People entering this position are not entitled to employment benefits, parental leave or other welfare provisions; the only exception being that of compulsory maternity leave. Only in 2017, after a strong mobilization of the precarious scholars' networks and unions, the Italian government approved a reform that allowed postdoctoral fellows to receive unemployment benefit like the one allocated to freelancers 5 (Bozzon et al, 2019). Therefore, even if different organizational discourses are developed to support either 'young' or 'senior' early-career researchers, in both departments the interviewed professors showed concern for the growing precariousness in academia and research and for the financial disinvestment in the public university.…”

Section: Constructing the 'Right Age' To Obtain A Tenure Trackmentioning

confidence: 99%

Italian Youth in International Context

Cuzzocrea¹,

Bello²,

Kazepov

2020

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Italy is not a country for young people. Why? This book provides a unique and in-depth collection of empirical and theoretical material providing multiple answers to this question whilst investigating the living conditions of young people in Italy today. By bringing together a variety of approaches and methods, the authors of this collection analyze Italian youth through the lenses of three dimensions: 'Activism, Participation and Citizenship', 'Work, Employment and Careers' and 'Moves, Transitions and Representations'. These dimensions are the analytical building blocks for challenging stereotypes and unveiling misinterpretations and taken-for-granted assumptions that portray young people in Italy as selfish, 'choosy', and unwilling to make sacrifices, commit and manage an independent life. These prejudices often underplay the role of constraints they are facing in the transition to adulthood. Studying Italian youth, therefore, not only allows us to capture their peculiar characteristics but also to reflect more broadly on the conceptual toolbox we need in order to understand contemporary youth more generally. By doing so, the volume aims to contribute to international discussion on the youth condition in Europe.

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“…A critical perspective exposes several causes for gender asymmetry in science, highlighting that teaching jobs and administrative tasks available are not equally accessible to male and female PhD holders, male-dominated research fields occupy a better position in the global research market and are better paid, and female early career researchers face more struggles to obtain funding for their postdoctoral (Bozzon, Murgia, & Poggio, 2019). In sum, we draw attention to the fact that gender inequalities are partly the result of significant structural and systemic discriminatory practices (Aiston & Jung, 2015).…”

Section: Literature Background 21 Co-authorship Network and The Rolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Network centrality analysis in management and accounting sciences

Dias

Ruthes

Lima

et al. 2019

RAUSP

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Purpose This study aims to analyze how gender, research experience and geography are related to the researchers’ importance in the co-authorship network on management and accounting in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach A social network based on the co-authorship relationships in the papers published in leading Brazilian journals was examined using a logit model to estimate the probability of occupying prevailing positions. Findings The findings showed a network with a high level of fragmentation and a scarcity of authors serving as gatekeepers. Based on the number of directed links and collaboration with influential and well-connected authors, men were more likely to occupy central positions than women. Authors with higher academic degrees tended to establish more links but were more likely to distance from other authors. In terms of geography, authors from more- and less-favored regions may report similar propensity to occupy central positions. Practical implications Decision-makers should consider the importance of strengthening collaboration between different research groups and encourage female participation in broader collaborative networks. Research evaluation bodies should strengthen incentives regarding interinstitutional partnerships. Originality/value Studies on collaborative networks in management and accounting sciences are less common and generally focus on describing the networks. This paper combines social network analysis and econometric procedures to analyze the relationship between demographic and geographical aspects, and distinct network centrality indexes.

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Gender and precarious careers in academia and research

Cited by 23 publications

References 1 publication

Constructing academic identity in the European higher education space: Experiences of early career educational researchers

Constructing academic identity in the European higher education space: Experiences of early career educational researchers

Italian Youth in International Context

Network centrality analysis in management and accounting sciences

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