Work

The silence/ing of academic women

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: The underrepresentation of women in the most senior ranks, and senior leadership positions in the academy, is a global phenomenon. How and why women academics experience the higher education profession differently to their male colleagues has been the subject of extensive research. This paper brings a new, original conceptual dimension to our understanding of this complex and enduring issue. Based on the rigorous analysis of 35 interviews with women academics from three world leading research-intensive universities, the paper introduces the concept of the silence, and silencing of, academic women. The theoretical frame of ‘micro-inequities’ – that is ‘small events’ which are hard to prove and covert – is used to analyse why academic women remain silent and how academic women are silenced.

Source: Gender and Education

DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2020.1716955

Authors: Sarah Jane Aiston, Chee Kent Fo

Institution: University of Birmingham

Language: English

Topic: Gender Diversity and Inequality

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee