Introduction to special issue on gender and leadership and a future research agenda

Despite the feminisation of universities in terms of their student intake [1,2], formal positions of academic leadership in higher education remain concentrated in male hands. Thus, for example, in the EU, 79 per cent of those in (Grade A) professorial positions in higher educational institutions (HEIs) are men, as are 79 per cent of those in the most senior leadership position of Rector/President/Vice Chancellor [3]. Little attention is paid by HEIs to the masculinisation of leadership in higher education, although this lack of diversity is seen as inhibiting research innovation [4]; limiting economic growth [5]; while research on business contexts [6] suggests that it is unhelpful in terms of governance, sustainability and the utilization of talents, however defined. It is also of course a social justice issue since in open competitive educational systems women are typically the high educational achievers, although they are under-represented in formal leadership positions globally. Since horizontal segregation continues to exist at academic staff level in HEIs in Western Society, women’s under-representation in leadership positions has implications for the normalisation of gendered constructions of valued knowledge

Young people's constructions of the self :late modern elements and gender differences

This article looks at the ways in which young people reflexively construct their self within a rapidly changing society. Drawing on texts written by young people aged 14–17 years, it explores the existence of patterns identified by theorists of late modernity as regards relationships, fateful moments, a search for authenticity, life plans and life styles and looks at gender-differentiated trends in these areas drawing on a ‘weak cultural feminist tradition’ (Evans, 1995: 91).These texts are part of a sub-sample of approximately 34,000 texts written by young people in a school context in response to an invitation to ‘tell their life stories’ by writing a page ‘describing themselves and the Ireland they inhabit’.The article suggests that gender is a repressed but crucially important framework in the construction of young people's sense of self, while also identifying areas where consumer society is eroding gender difference

Good jobs - but places for women?

This article is concerned with men and women's experience of elite positions and with the extent to which such positions are seen as places for women, so as to provide an insight into their commitment to continuing in them. Senior management in universities are elite positions in terms of income; those who occupy them are relatively powerful internally, although relatively powerless in relation to the state and the market. Drawing on a purposive study of those at the top three levels (i.e. presidential, vice-presidential, and dean) in public universities, it finds little difference between men and women's perceptions of the advantages/disadvantages of these positions. However, in a context where roughly four-fifths of those in university senior management are men [O'Connor, P. 2014. Management and Gender in Higher Education. Manchester: Manchester University Press.], at the level of organisational narratives and at the interactional level, gender differences persist. These differences are reflected in variation in commitment to continuing in senior management positions

'Doing boy/ girl' and global/ local elements in 10-12 year olds’ drawings and written texts

Irish society has been undergoing very rapid change involving increasing globalisation, potentially declining localisation and changing gender roles (Tovey and Share, 2003; O’Connor, 1998 and 2,000; O’Toole, 2003). There is evidence to suggest that in this context Irish young people are using escapist mood altering drugs (particularly excessive alcohol and cannabis) to a greater extent than their European counterparts (HBSC, 2003; ESPAD, 2004). This study was concerned with looking at texts written by young people aged 10-12 years old in response to an invitation, to ‘tell their life stories’, to write a page ‘describing themselves and the Ireland that they inhabit’ ‘to provide a national data base’ ‘an invaluable archive’, with the option of using the reverse side of the sheet creatively for drawings, poems, songs, or lyrics. This paper is concerned with three issues: firstly with the relationship between the visual content of the drawings and the written texts; secondly with the relevance of a global/local dimension to understanding both; thirdly, with looking at gender variation in both of these and more broadly, at ways of ‘doing boy/girl’ (Haywood and Mac an Ghiall, 2003; Connnell, 2005)

Is senior management in Irish Universities male dominated? What are the implications?

Universities present themselves as gender-neutral meritocracies, concerned with the creation and transmission of scientific, objective knowledge. Yet such structures are overwhelmingly male dominated (Husu, 2001a). This article firstly outlines the gender profile of those in senior management in Irish universities; secondly explores the extent to which those in senior management see a gendered organisational culture or women themselves as ‘the problem’; and thirdly locates these patterns within a wider organisational and societal context. The qualitative data is derived from a purposive sample of 40 people in senior management (85 per cent response rate) from Presidential to Dean level; including academics and non-academics; men and women; and across a range of disciplines. It suggests that organisational culture is seen as homosocial, unemotional and conformist mainly but not exclusively by women; whereas men were more likely to focus on women as ‘the problem’. These trends reflect those in other studies (for example Currie and Thiele, 2001; Deem, 1999; Deem et al, 2008). Drawing on Grummell et al’s (2009) work, it suggests that homosociability is an important process in creating and maintaining these patterns. Furthermore, although the President is seen as having the power to affect the gender profile of senior management, there is ambivalence about him actually doing this. The extent to which other stakeholders seem likely to encourage this is also explored

Gender imbalance in senior positions: what is the problem? What can be done?

Global scholarship has documented gender discrepancies in power in higher education institutions (HEIs) for several decades. That research is now supported by wider gender equality movements such as those concerned with unequal pay and sexual harassment. Underlying these is the under-representation of women in senior management and full professorial positions. Thus, for example, in the US and the EU men make up the overwhelming majority of those in senior management (Rectors/Presidents/Vice Chancellors) and in full professorial positions. Variation within and across countries and types of institutions suggests that it is necessary to go beyond explanations for this at the individual level. Drawing on research in the sociology of education; higher education studies; management and leadership studies; gender studies; science and policy studies, and using quantitative data, experimental studies, individual case studies and comparative qualitative studies of HEIs, this article focuses on three discourses which legitimate the under-representation women in senior positions namely excellence, fit and national relevance. It evaluates interventions to deal with this including unconscious bias training, mentoring, gender mainstreaming interventions such as Athena SWAN and ADVANCE and ‘nudging’ leaders to end gender inequality. It concludes that a fundamental transformation of HEIs is required and suggests ways forwar

Public intellectuals in times of crisis: what do they have to offer?: reflections on the public intellectual’s role

Public intellectuals in times of crisis: what do they have to offer?: reflections on the public intellectual’s rol

Setting agendas on gender equality in the higher education sector in Ireland. Getting in but not getting on: women in top jobs in universities

Third-level institutions in western society are educating an increasingly feminised student body, with female students now outnumbering males. Professor Pat O’Connor’s research has highlighted the gap between the increasingly feminised student body and the ongoing masculinisation of senior academic staff/ management positions in higher education. O’Connor’s work has particularly focused on the scarcity of women in such ‘top jobs’ in universities, and the factors which have contributed to it. Her research is concerned with the importance of institutional leadership; the gendered construction of what constitutes valued knowledge; issues related to social justice; the contribution of diversity to innovation; and the consequent absence of role models for junior faculty and students. O’Connor’s research has set a gender equality agenda in higher education, influenced national/European policy, and informed public debate on this issue

Women in the academy : a problematic issue?

Women in the academy : a problematic issue

Irish children and teenagers in a changing world

Irish children and teenagers in a changing worl