Surviving in the Academy: Issues and Challenges in Gender (In)Equality in Science & Engineering Higher Education
- 1. Surviving in the Academy Issues and Challenges in Gender (In)Equality in Science & Engineering Higher Education Eleni Kaldoudi Assistant Professor School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace - Greece kaldoudi@med.duth.gr Women in Medical & Biological Engineering 5th European IFMBE MBEC, Budapest, September 14-18, 2011
- 2. She figures 2009 (looks up to 2006) women in scientific research remain a minority 30% women of all researchers in EU (2006) proportion women researchers in EU-27 (2006) 37% women in Higher Education 39% women in Government Sector 19% women in Business Enterprise Sector progressive studies over the years show that there is a move towards a more gender-balanced research population source: She Figures 2009, EU Commission
- 3. women/men in academia source: She Figures 2009, EU Commission, p. 73 EU-27, 2002/2006
- 4. women/men in science & engineering academia source: She Figures 2009, EU Commission, p. 74 EU-27, 2002/2006
- 5. numbers are not always that clear ... numbers show that universities contain gendered hierarchies of power most men with power and most women without however, literature reports a growing view among academic policy makers & academics that gender discrimination is not an issue in higher education ! Source: P. Cotterill, G. Letherby, Editorial, Women in higher education: Issues and challenges, Women’s Studies International Forum , vol.28 , 109–113, 2005
- 6. senior women academics say… qualitative study amongst UK university senior women academics older women were more sensitive to the subtle homosocial culture, attitudes and norms in the university younger women relied more on a meritocratic approach to their careers, seemingly less aware of the institutional gendered power relations neither group showed signs of collective working or networking in the interests of themselves or women in general Source: S. Ledwith and S. Manfredi, Balancing Gender in Higher Education A Study of the Experience of Senior Women in a `New' UK University, The European Journal of Women's Studies , vol. 7, 7-33, 2000
- 7. design for women vs. women mentoring Nebraska University 1999-2003, Project Muse Empowering Women for Life-Long Success through Computer Expertise initially, with the aim to empower women undergraduates by teaching them technology in single-sex environments findings: empowerment came from peer-tutoring and informal workshops impact came from a computer-lab, where students would become experts and teach peers the lab became a place for socializing Source: L. Fuller, E.R. Meiners, Project Muse: Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Inspiration, Frontiers, A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 26(1), 168-180, 2005
- 8. men’s patriarchal support system UK University qualitative research + literature evidence men interviewed revealed, (but not necessarily openly acknowledged) that the help, support and encouragement of significant men were crucial elements of their own career progress in contrast, within this research group no woman experienced such opportunity (but some reverse cases were reported) Source: B. Bagilhole ,J. Goode, The Contradiction of the Myth of Individual Merit, and the Reality of a Patriarchal Support System in Academic Careers : A Feminist Investigation. European Journal of Women's Studies , vol. 8, 161, 2001
- 9. men’s patriarchal support system findings: 1. “the skills needed for a successful academic career can be exposed as part of a socialization process that some men and virtually no women are allowed to participate in” 2. women presume that someone is going to speak on their behalf, their good work will be recognized and rewarded (they believe in true merit, not self- advertisement) Source: B. Bagilhole ,J. Goode, The Contradiction of the Myth of Individual Merit, and the Reality of a Patriarchal Support System in Academic Careers: A Feminist Investigation. European Journal of Women's Studies , vol. 8, 161, 2001
- 10. men’s patriarchal support system findings: 3. the academic profession does not supply adequate support and guidance for women 4. if and when women receive useful advice and mentoring, usually receive them from other women risk of the small minority of senior women becoming overburdened Source: B. Bagilhole ,J. Goode, The Contradiction of the Myth of Individual Merit, and the Reality of a Patriarchal Support System in Academic Careers : A Feminist Investigation. European Journal of Women's Studies , vol. 8, 161, 2001
- 11. women/men in science & engineering academia source: She Figures 2009, EU Commission, p. 74 EU-27, 2002/2006 ~1:10 in Grade A ~2:10 in Grade B
- 12. so, can women in academia still hope for a transition from surviving to thriving ?
- 13. quantitative study published in 2011 quantitative study (n=1714) in USA contrary to almost published literature, and taking into account factors as tenure, discipline, family status and doctoral cohort, women actually have somewhat more collaborators on average than do men Source: B. Bozeman, M. Gaughan, How do men and women differ in research collaborations? An analysis of the collaborative motives and strategies of academic researchers, Research Policy, July 2011
- 14. social media and networking explosion! online services for building and reflecting social networks FaceBook (750M users) MySpace, Tagged, Twitter, LinkedIn, … Academia.edu (600K), ResearchGate (400K), ScienceStage, Scispace, BioMedExperts, Epernicus, … somewhat more women that men use social networking average age in USA (~48) as compared to UK (~38) Sources: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-on-social- media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/ A. Hoffman, The Social Media Gender Gap , Bloomberg Businessweek, May 19, 2008
- 15. organized around common social objects: research/teaching interests research collaborations published works … publications, projects, teaching, research collaborations, … B current academic networks
- 16. what about… organize the network around women’s needs for mentoring in order to survive and thrive in academia publications, projects, teaching, research collaborations, … women mentoring network?
- 17. women mentoring network ? towards effective and meaningful networking & mentoring to empower women in academia use on-line social networking services focus on women involve men why not keep up with the progress of the 1:10 ratio? only, the other way around … focus on women mentoring use semantic technologies to suggest/enrich/enhance meaningful mentoring relationships
- 18. just “add women and stir” ? should ensure that women’s interests, women’s ways of thinking and acting are an integral part of the scientific & technological enterprise and of the academic environment Source: Byanyima, W.,The Role of Women Engineers in Developing Countries, Daphne Jackson Memorial Lecture’, RSA Journal CXLII (5454):, 57–66., 1994