Generation and Gender in Academia

Despite advances in women’s educational achievement and labour market participation, gender inequality remains within academia, across national contexts (Probert, 2005; Knights and Richards, 2003; HESA, 2013). We also see that those women academics who identify as feminist may face additional difficulties in their relationships with students, faculty and the broader research community (Chilly Collective, 1995; Davidson and Langan, 2006). “Generation and gender in academia” adds to this body of knowledge through an intergenerational and cross-cultural exploration of women’s careers within academia. This collected edition of personal narratives of five senior women academics from the Women in Higher Education Management Network, and reflections from younger women explores what it is like to be a woman academic across national boundaries. The book begins by setting out the national contexts for the study and the changes in higher education, namely, moves towards managerial models. The main body of the book takes the form of individual chapters from five senior women feminist academics who reflect on their career experiences. These narratives are then reflected upon by four younger (earlier career) women academics. This then allows for the book to finish with an intergenerational reflection of women’s careers in academia across eight countries. The editors and authors hope that this text will be useful for those women academics in early and mid-career stage, through the identification of strategies for surviving/thriving within academia.

As Bagilhole and White reflect in Chapter 1, Higher Education is moving towards managerial forms of control, which has implications for academic autonomy, with associated impact on the identity of academics. While, on the surface, these moves may indicate separation from informal old-boys network academic careers, they do not represent a shift towards gender equality. Rather, they may perpetuate gendered academic careers in two ways. First, through a reliance on masculinised forms of control. Second, the erosion of the status of academics, may lead to a “feminisation” of profession which becomes less desirable for men. Within this context, this book explores the intergenerational effects of gender on academic careers, drawing also on intersection with class for working and middle class women.

The five senior women are all experts in gender in addition to identifying as feminists. As they point out this identification and gender awareness often occurred later in life, often after a sort of crisis or key turning point. The narratives through the book show the heterogeneity of women’s experiences. It is welcome, for example, to learn of the experiences of women without children. Much of the literature on women’s careers neglects these women’s perspectives, as such the life and work history of Pat O’Connor (Chapter 2) challenges implicit assumptions that women’s careers are affected solely by childcare duties. While each woman’s narrative is different, a number of key themes emerge. In addition to the heightened gender awareness identified above, the women identify the importance of supporters. These may be men and women in senior positions, but can also be those who are friends, family and colleagues in less privileged positions. These stories of solidarity, support and love are warming to read and highlight the importance to readers of social support. Another theme which emerges is the complex relationship with power these women express. As Mauthner and Edwards (2010) argue, being a feminist and engaging with academic hierarchical power may be difficult to navigate, if not mutually exclusive. The women in “Generation and Gender in Academia” demonstrate the importance of maintaining personal integrity and feminist awareness while successfully undertaking these roles. For those women undertaking feminist gender research, they may find the academic and intellectual credibility of such work questioned (see, for example, Edwards, 2000). The women in this book report similar experiences, where despite international research successes, their work is still under-valued by those in senior positions.

Balancing work and family were key features of the working lives of women throughout the book – however, for the younger women these dynamics may be changing, if not improving. As Carvalho et al. point out in Chapter 7, women can no longer rely on grandmothers to assist with childcare. These women may have their own careers, their own caring work and may live considerable distances from their daughter. In addition, men are undertaking greater care work, albeit this change is slow. This latter point opens up an avenue for future research. From other sectors, we know that men who follow “female” career paths or working patterns face considerable penalties (Sang et al., 2014). Less is known about what it means to be a male academic. While men feature in “Generation and gender”, they are supporters, detractors, fathers, husbands and friends. The gendered working experiences of male academics is largely absent in the literature. Further work in this area could reveal the mechanisms of how certain men maintain dominance in the academy, would allow for an understanding of the hierarchy of masculinities (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005).

Overall, “Generation and Gender” adds to our understanding of gender in academia, specifically the experiences of women in senior and more junior positions. While the senior women recall difficult experiences, their successes are inspiring to read. Academic writing usually requires depersonalisation, objectivity and detachment from the subject of study. This book challenges this academic orthodoxy. From these highly personal narratives, we can learn of the heterogeneity of women’s experiences and chart the changing national, cultural and managerial contexts of working lives in academia. It provides the basis for further work, which was outside the scope of the book, including understandings of men’s careers in academia and intersectional analyses, charting the effects of multiple sources of advantage and disadvantage.