Othering women: fluid images of the ideal academic

Abstract

PurposeIn the context of research on the career advancement of women and men in academia, this paper aims to reflect on how deans at six schools of a Dutch arts and a Dutch sciences‐based university construct the image of the ideal academic, and on how these images are gendered.Design/methodology/approachUsing an inductive approach, the study analyzed the transcripts of semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with six deans (all men) from two different Dutch universities on the career advancement of men and women at their school.FindingsIt was expected that the images of the ideal academic would be more gendered in the sciences than in the arts university, considering the stronger male domination in the sciences university. The images of the ideal academic, while fundamentally different, regarding the expertise, the applicability of knowledge, and the visibility needed to be considered successful, were equally gendered in assuming that practicing science leaves little room for caring obligations outside work; in both places science was considered an omnipresent and greedy calling. Moreover, deans at both universities to a similar extent expected women academics not to fit to this standard. Paradoxically, in the arts university deans construct an image of women academics that in some aspects reflects a mirror image of women academics in the sciences university and vice versa.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper suggests that in this construction the process of “othering” women academics is more constant than the content of the ideal academic. They contribute to theories on the ideal worker in the field of science by arguing the construction of the ideal academic is fluid rather than fixed. Further research could investigate how the image of the ideal academic changes within the same discipline across different countries with a higher representation of women among full professors, as the findings are limited to The Netherlands.Practical implicationsThe paper argues that the fluidity of the ideal academic norm offers space for renegotiating such norms by making it more inclusive for women, which will have positive consequences for women's career advancement in academia.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is that constructions of the ideal academic are fluid rather than fixed, while dominant actors in organizations seem to attribute universal value to these images. The “otherness” of women relative to the image of the ideal academic is more constant than the characteristics of these images themselves.

Myriad potential for mentoring: Understanding the process of transformational change through a gender equality intervention

“…The academic work culture draws upon gendered norms around the ‘ideal academic' and academic ‘excellence' that materialize in formal and informal gendered work practices. The norm of the ‘ideal academic' represents ‘the dedicated intellectual, who lives and breathes academia, and is engaged in his (naturally) studies practically 24 hours a day' (Benschop & Brouns, , p. 200), which is gendered since it leaves little room for caring obligations (Bleijenbergh, Van Engen, & Vinkenburg, ). Academic ‘excellence' is a social construct that implies that academics should excel in all qualifications, emphasizing masculine‐gendered traits as independence and competitiveness represented by lengthy publication track records, research grants and international mobility (Herschberg, Benschop, & Van den Brink, ; Lund, ; Rees, ; Uhly, Visser, & Zippel, ; Van Arensbergen, Van der Weijden, & Van den Besselaar, ; Van den Brink & Benschop, , ).…”

“…The academic work culture draws upon gendered norms around the 'ideal academic' and academic 'excellence' that materialize in formal and informal gendered work practices. The norm of the 'ideal academic' represents 'the dedicated intellectual, who lives and breathes academia, and is engaged in his (naturally) studies practically 24 hours a day' (Benschop & Brouns, 2003, p. 200), which is gendered since it leaves little room for caring obligations (Bleijenbergh, Van Engen, & Vinkenburg, 2012 . This creates an increasingly competitive culture of 'publish or perish' in which academics are mainly focused on securing their individual results (Vinkenburg, 2017).…”

Us, Them, and Others in Management Research

“…Alternatively, researchers can study the process of othering, as a research object in itself. Examples include examining how western culture is othered at the Disney theme park in Tokyo (Brannen, 1992), and how female academics are othered by deans at two Dutch universities (Bleijenbergh, van Engen, & Vinkenburg, 2013). Although intentionality does not necessarily reduce the undesirable consequences of othering, it requires researchers to develop a high level of awareness about their approach.…”

Continuity in the face of change: Identifying three strategies for constructing stable masculinity in liminality

“…Lad masculinities’ popularity, presence, and dominance in UK universities are well documented and have been challenged as normalizing rape and harassment (National Union of Students, ; Phipps, Ringrose, Renold, & Jackson, ). Others, however, describe the situation as more complicated: Universities are becoming feminized, pro‐feminist masculinity is becoming normalized, and more men engage in feminist scholarship, yet all the while, patriarchal power structures remain intact (Bleijenbergh, van Engen, & Vinkenburg, ; Leathwood & Read, ). University is therefore a complicated liminal context where there is a distinct social structure that is highly likely to be different from the one that young men encounter at home and in their secondary schools.…”