Researching cultures in science, engineering and technology: an analysis of current and past literature. Research Report Series for UKRC No.7

This report is a literature review of published research on the cultures of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) and the impact they have on women professionals employed in the sector. The report focuses primarily on the UK perspective, with reference to other Western countries where relevant

Interdisciplinary content, contestations of knowledge and informational transparency in engineering curriculum

With the introduction of key information sets (KIS) for all university programmes in the UK from 2012, the character, content and delivery of university degrees may be increasingly used by potential students to differentiate between degree programmes. Therefore, developments in curricula and the relationship to the profession are of growing importance. In this paper, we explore the role of programme content in prospective students’ decision-making and describe the prevalence of interdisciplinary content in civil engineering curricula. Following this, we detail student perceptions of interdisciplinary content. It is found that universities currently operate a varied approach to transparency regarding curriculum; students pay little attention to programme content before embarking on their chosen degree; and engineering students view interdisciplinary content in the curriculum with ambivalence, usually ascribing its necessity in the preparation for post-university employmen

Interdisciplinary content, contestations of knowledge and informational transparency in engineering curriculum

This article is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Teaching in Higher Education, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2013.836089With the introduction of key information sets (KIS) for all university programmes in the UK from 2012, the character, content and delivery of university degrees may be increasingly used by potential students to differentiate between degree programmes. Therefore, developments in curricula and the relationship to the profession are of growing importance. In this paper, we explore the role of programme content in prospective students’ decision-making and describe the prevalence of interdisciplinary content in civil engineering curricula. Following this, we detail student perceptions of interdisciplinary content. It is found that universities currently operate a varied approach to transparency regarding curriculum; students pay little attention to programme content before embarking on their chosen degree; and engineering students view interdisciplinary content in the curriculum with ambivalence, usually ascribing its necessity in the preparation for post-university employmen

Genders at Work: Gender as a Geography of Power in the Academy

This chapter discusses contemporary research investigating how gender operates as a geography of power in the contemporary academy, particularly in relation to notions of ‘career’. Massey’s understanding of space as ‘a simultaneity of stories-so-far and places as collections of those stories’ (2005, p.11) shapes the research questions and a methodology of ‘spatial storytelling’ which foregrounds relationships between space and power in considering lived experiences of work and career. The chapter presents a selection of participants’ ‘stories-so-far’ which illustrate the complexity and dimensionality of lived, gendered experiences in the workplace and provide a basis for reflection on the opportunities these afford to resist sexism in the academy

An analysis of male cultural hegemony in senior management in UK academia

This article examines how academia in the UK is created and perpetuated by men for men. It is based on three of the author’s research projects whose findings indicate patterns of discrimination in UK Higher Education (HE) institutes. The research projects collected both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative research involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 80 academics, both women and men at all levels in the UK academic hierarchy. The quantitative research was undertaken via a website survey of the profiles of senior managers in UK HE institutes. The hypothesis is explored that an important mechanism for the continued narrow male-dominated senior management of HE is the disjuncture between formal and informal processes around university promotion. On the one hand, while transparent formal processes seek to locate promotions policies within Equal Opportunity (EO) legislation, other important informal processes are opaque, if not invisible, e.g. definitions of merit, and ways of fostering career development. Rather, these latter rely on particular forms of self-promotion, promotion by certain influential others, and subjective interpretation of policies in a way that tends to marginalise women. It is argued that male cultural hegemony, in replicating itself, perpetuates structures and practices that are insular and designed to primarily benefit a narrow group of men in senior management. These tend to be predominantly, from the disciplines in the physical sciences or engineering where men predominate. It argues that women need to challenge these structures and processes to make universities more compatible with the aspirations of women in academia and to make them more successful institutionally

Academia and the Reproduction of Unequal Opportunities for Women

Despite the introduction of equal opportunities (EO) policies by many UK universities, academic staff continue to be male dominated, particularly at the higher levels and in the more prestigious universities. This paper draws on data from a qualitative research study undertaken in a pre-1992 UK university. The main aim of the study was to measure the effectiveness of its EO policies for women. It uses Ball’s (1993) idea of problematising policies by looking at their ‘underlife’ in their ‘localised complexity’. The paper argues that distinctive aspects of academia produce and reproduce gender inequality. These aspects include: professional autonomy, an isolationist culture, and lack of good management. It is concluded that pre-1992 universities in the UK prove to be sites, which are particularly resistant to the change demanded by EO policies because of the special conditions of academia

Lyčių lygybės ir slinkties nuo kolegialumo prie vadybiškumo aukštojo mokslo politikoje tarptautinė analizė

This paper reports on part of a comparative eight-country study of higher education (HE) policy across Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, and UK. It explores the uneven shift from the traditional collegial to a new managerialist organisational form both between different countries and even within the countries. It provides an overview of each country’s HE system and then analyses the gendered character of academic leadership. Finally, it comes to the conclusion that there is no indication that either the collegial or the managerial system is more conducive to gender equality. It is clear that the strength or absence of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action frameworks has a greater impact on gender equality in universities.Professor of Equal Opportunities and Social PolicyDepartment of Social SciencesLoughborough UniversityLE11 3TU [email protected]+44 (0)1509 223380Šiame straipsnyje pateikiama aštuonių šalių – Australijos, Airijos, Naujosios Zelandijos, Pietų Afrikos, Švedijos, Turkijos ir Jungtinės Karalystės – lyginamosios aukštojo mokslo politikos studijos dalis. Straipsnyje nagrinėjami nevienodi poslinkiai nuo tradicinės kolegialios prie naujos vadybinės organizacinės formos ne tik skirtingose šalyse, bet ir šalių viduje. Jame pateikiama kiekvienos šalies aukštojo mokslo politikos apžvalga, tuomet analizuojami lyčių skirtumai akademinėje lyderystėje. Straipsnyje parodoma, kad Jungtinėje Karalystėje ir jos buvusiose kolonijose vadybinis valdymo modelis labiau įsitvirtino, o žemyninėje Europoje vis dar išlieka kolegiali valdymo sistema. Anglosaksiškose šalyse bei Švedijoje daugiau moterų valdymo organuose nei Viduržemio jūros šalyse (Portugalijoje, Turkijoje). Tačiau moterų profesorių daugiausia yra Turkijoje. Bet vis dėlto moterų mažai ir tarp profesorių, ir universitetų valdyme. Daroma išvada, kad nei kolegiali, nei vadybinė sistema nėra palankesnė lyčių lygybei. Kolegialaus valdymo sistemoje vyrų socialiniai tinklai išstumia moteris. Esant vadybiniam valdymui, lyčių lygybė labai priklauso nuo centrinės valdžios požiūrio, kuris nieko gero nežada, nes centrinės valdžios atstovai dažnai būna išeiviai iš verslo. Tampa akivaizdu, kad lygių galimybių ir skatinamųjų veiksmų struktūrų stiprumas ar jų nebuvimas turi didesnę įtaką lyčių lygybei universitetuose. Daroma išvada, kad moterų lyderystės universitetuose ateitis priklausys nuo visuomenės nuomonės ar politinio spaudimo, nepriklausomai nuo to, ar valdymo modelis vadybinis, ar kolegialus. Šis tyrimas patvirtina anksčiau gautus rezultatus, kurie rodė, kad moterų pažangą akademinėje bendruomenėje labiausiai skatina atviras ir skaidrus įdarbinimas. O uždari sprendimai, kad ir kur jie būtų priimami, ar tai būtų vyrų tinklai, ar rektoratas, neskatins moterų įdarbinimo