Gender, power and managerialism in universities

White, Kate; Carvalho, Teresa; Riordan, Sarah

doi:10.1080/1360080x.2011.559631

Cited by 103 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Women in administrative roles are more likely than male colleagues to have interrupted careers and to work part-time. Consequently, women in universities face increasingly precarious career paths due to lack of job security, the impact of managerialism and heavy workloads (Bagilhole and White 2013;White et al 2011;O'Connor 2014). And although the representation of women in leadership roles has increased, it is mostly in administrative areas (Burkinshaw 2015).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fixing the Women or Fixing Universities: Women in HE Leadership

Burkinshaw

White

2017

Administrative Sciences

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Abstract:The lack of women in leadership across higher education has been problemitised in the literature. Often contemporary discourses promote 'fixing the women' as a solution. Consequently, interventions aimed at helping women break through 'the glass ceiling' abound. This article argues that the gendered power relations at play in universities stubbornly maintain entrenched inequalities whereby, regardless of measures implemented for and by women, the problem remains. The precariousness for women of leadership careers is explored through two separate but complementary case studies (from different continents and different generations) each one illuminating gender power relations at work. The article concludes by arguing that it is universities themselves that need fixing, not the women, and that women's growing resistance, particularly of the younger generation, reflects their dissatisfaction with higher education leadership communities of practice of masculinities.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fixing the Women or Fixing Universities: Women in HE Leadership

Burkinshaw

White

2017

Administrative Sciences

Self Cite

106

100

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“…(PVC 26) Whilst these women display a high degree of selfconfidence, it should be borne in mind that they are part of a select group who have already succeeded in gaining a PVC post via a process of external open competition. As White et al (2011) observe, it takes courage and resilience for a woman to apply for a leadership post in a managerial academic culture. The PVCs in my study have already 'put their heads above the parapet', as one vice-chancellor (VC 10) describes it, and may thus not be typical of the wider female academic manager cohort.…”

Section: Women's Missing Agency?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are there so few female leaders in higher education

Shepherd

2017

Management in Education

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A significant gender imbalance remains at executive management level within higher education despite a number of initiatives to increase the number of women in the leadership pipeline and ensure they are better prepared for these roles. This article presents findings from a recent study on the appointment of deputy and pro vice-chancellors in pre-1992 English universities that provide fresh insights into why this might be the case. These findings challenge the notion of women’s missing agency - characterized by a lack of confidence or ambition and a tendency to opt out of applying for the top jobs – as an explanation for their continued underrepresentation. Rather, they highlight the importance of three structural factors associated with the selection process: mobility and external career capital, conservatism, and homosociability. An approach of ‘fixing’ the women is therefore unlikely to be sufficient in redressing the current gender imbalance within university executive management teams.

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“…As recent work in this journal has illustrated (e.g. Murphy & Curtis, 2013;Pitcher, 2013;White, Carvalho & Riordan, 2011;Winter, 2009) the growth of the managerial agenda within universities puts pressure on academics, administrators, managers and a range of other stakeholders to work together in ways that have not previously been required. In such situations, leader-follower dynamics are not straightforward and the notion that everyone can contribute towards leadership may be seen as simple rhetoric -quite at odds with lived experience Knights & Clarke, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%