The Gender-Sensitive University

Abstract

The Gender-Sensitive University explores the prevailing forces that pose obstacles to driving a gender-sensitive university, which include the emergence of far-right movements that seek to subvert advances towards gender equality and managerialism that promotes creeping corporatism.This book demonstrates that awareness of gender equality and gender sensitivity are essential for pulling contemporary academia back from the brink. New forms of leadership are fundamental to reforming our institutions. The concept of a gender-sensitive university requires re-envisioning academia to meet these challenges, as does a different engagement of men and a shift towards fluidity in how gender is formulated and performed. Academia can only be truly gender sensitive if, learning from the past, it can avoid repeating the same mistakes and addressing existing and new biases. The book chapters analyse these challenges and advocate the possibilities to 'fix it forward' in all areas.Representing ten EU countries and multiple disciplines, contributors to this volume highlight the evidence of persistent gender inequalities in academia, while advocating a blueprint for addressing them. The book will be of interest to a global readership of students, academics, researchers, practitioners, academic and political leaders and policymakers who share an interest in what it takes to establish gender-sensitive universities.

Plugging the Leaky Pipeline:A Qualitative Investigation of Untenured Female Faculty in STEM

“…Previous research on worklife conflict among academic women has identified the impact of masculine norms in academia that expect no changes in productivity based on family or caregiver status and perceptions that women must make a choice between academic career accomplishments and having a family (McCutcheon & Morrison, 2018). In addition, among a sample of STEM faculty in the United Kingdom, more women (34%) than men (6%) reported making use of parental leave (Drew & Marshall, 2021), highlighting gender-based disparities in care-giving expectations of women in academia. When considering results of previous research, findings of the current study regarding barriers posed by navigating work-life balance may reflect unique, gendered aspects of the experience of women in STEM academia.…”

“I Need A Break or I Might Quit”: STEM Academics’ Pandemic Experiences

“…Previous research has identified similar negative career consequences for academic mothers, including reduced productivity and delayed promotion (McCutcheon & Morrison, 2018;Toffoletti & Starr, 2016), limitations on conference travel (Drew & Marshall, 2021), and limited participation in informal networks (Xu & Martin, 2011). Additionally, women STEM faculty are more likely to take parental leave (Drew & Marshall, 2021) and report higher responsibility for household care (Bartel et al, 2017) than their male counterparts. In the tenure process, gaps in productivity resulting from maternity leave may be questioned or punished, thus negatively impacting career advancement (Bartel et al, 2017;McCutcheon & Morrison, 2018).…”

Gender equity in university students in Mexico City, after 20 months of remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The gender perspective is indispensable to understanding the inequity that occurs in all areas of women's life, including university education, not only in aspects such as access to education, gender stereotypes, discrimination, and gender biases, but also in relation to opportunities to advance in their career, the type of places they have access to, unequal participation in research spaces, and lack of representation in positions where relevant decisions are made. All those matters prevail and mark the trajectory of women in university spaces (Leahey et al, 2008;Morley, 2013;Le Feuvre, 2015;Drew and Cavanan, 2021;Morales-Robles et al, 2023).…”