To be selected, survive and succeed. Careers and gender in universities

Author(s):

Elisabet Öhrn(presenting / submitting)Lisbeth Lundahl(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 03 D, Trajectories in HE and Work

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-10

17:15-18:45

Room:

GCONF - Conference Hall

Chair:

Jon Kjaran

Contribution

This paper takes as a starting point the proposed changes of contemporary gender relations within the academia, suggesting on the one hand that traditional masculinities are losing ground as growing numbers of women position themselves in research (see Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, 2011), and on the other hand that present pressures from the currently dominating performative and competitive culture strenghten structures working to the disadvantage of women (see Acker & Armenti, 2004).

Method

The paper draws on a recently completed Swedish project, Gender and career in the Academia, funded by the Swedish Research Council, and building on theories and previous research that emphasise the need to study the gendered nature of institutional life and its implications for the positions of various groups (e.g. Connell, 2011; Ducklin & Ozga, 2007; Højgaard & Søndergaard, 2003; Murray & Maguire, 2007). The study set out to explore relations, positions and career trajectories in educational departments by focussing on research groups and doctoral programmes, and the experiences and views of doctoral students and junior researchers. These groups were chosen for interviews because they are in the process of establishing themselves within the research community, and thus assumed to be well suited for reflecting on power/gender relations in universities. In addition to the interviews, analyses of various kinds of texts, including web presentations, have been carried out.

Expected Outcomes

In all, departments from six Swedish institutes were chosen to include different subjects within the education sciences, different research traditions and milieus with different extent of externally funded research. The paper provides an overall analysis of the six institutes to discuss some general patterns and variations. These include the selection and admittance of doctoral students; the support and general conditions for research careers in various contexts; the implications of various kinds of networking; and the relations between external research funding and teacher education.

References

References: Acker, S & Armenti, C. (2004) Sleepless in academia, Gender & Education, 16(1), 3-24. Connell, Raewyn. (2011). Gender in world perspective. Second edition. Cambridge: Polity press. Ducklin, A & Ozga, J. (2007) Gender and management in further educaiton in Scotland: an agenda for research, Gender & Education, 19(5), 627-646. Højgaard, L., & Søndergaard, D. M. (Red). (2003) Akademisk tilblivelse : akademia og dens kønnede befolkning. København: Akademisk forlag. Murray, J & Maguire, M. (2007) Changes and continuities in teacher education: international perspectives on a gendered field, Gender and Education, 19(3), 283-296. Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (2011). Universitet och högskolor. Högskoleverkets årsrapport 2011, rapport 2011:8R. Stockholm.

Author Information

Elisabet Öhrn (presenting / submitting)

University of Gothenburg, Dept of Education and Special Education

Gothenburg

Lisbeth Lundahl (presenting)

Umeå university, Dept of Applied Educational Science, Sweden

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