Leadership programmes as gendered professional projects: empowering women in Swedish and UK Higher Education

Leadership programmes as gendered professional projects: empowering women in Swedish and UK Higher Educatio

Coming out and staying in industry: How sexual orientation and gender identity matters in construction employment

Over the last three years the New Civil Engineer, Architects’ Journal and Construction News have conducted a survey investigating the experiences of LGBT workers in the sector. The surveys reveal that homophobia is commonplace in the construction industry, with many gay men and women encountering homophobic comments in the workplace and few feeling that they could be open about their sexuality in the workplace (Ramchurn, 2015a; 2015b). Furthermore, respondents had little faith that their managers would handle such issues effectively. In this literature review paper we explore the theoretical and empirical explanations for the apparent institutionally homophobic situation of the sector. A key concern is what are the experiences of LGBT people and in what ways does gender/sexual identity present challenges in working lives? The results reveal the importance of sexuality in the reproduction of social relations in construction, the nature of sexualised banter and physical harassment of LGBT workers and the effects that this has on equality of opportunity. The cultural landscape represents a toxic environment for those who do not conform to the white, male, heterosexual stereotype of the construction worker and the homosocial relations that surround it. Furthermore, the review highlights how research has evolved to now present a critical perspective on how gender and sexualities are performed in organizational contexts (Rumens, 2013). The results presented set the agenda for empirical explorations of the experiences of workers. The main contribution of the paper is that it begins to unpack the institutional landscape that sustains the status quo and which must be challenged if more inclusive practices are to take hold within the sector

The challenge of contesting structures that reproduce gender inequalities: the dual power of new managerialism and masculine norms in academic settings

Despite attempts to broaden access to higher education in the UK through widening participation policies from the 1990s onwards and more recent national and local prioritising of gender equality in institutional strategic planning via initiatives such as the Athena SWAN charter, radical gender change in numerical and cultural terms is allusive. This paper proposes that universities, in the context of accelerated change, remain ‘conservative’ organisations with regards to working norms and career progression. Increasingly research and higher education institutions have multiple demands laid on them – demands for scientific excellence, demands for organisational innovation, the need to respond to student needs – and gender equality is but one amongst many competing demands that require action and reflection. It is important to understand how multiple demands can reinforce or undermine each other in terms of organisational activities and change. Drawing on empirical and action research in a UK higher education institution, this paper explores managerialism and concepts of excellence and meritocracy through a gender-lens. Excellence can be defined as: high mobility; excellent networks; high citations and; high levels of research funding. The quantitative measurement of performance through instruments like the Research Excellence Framework (REF) recognise and foreground particular kinds of activities at the expense of others. In addition to these aspects, the highly competitive environment in academia may exacerbate inequality as research shows that women are less likely to put themselves forward in competitive contexts and are less likely than men to consider themselves as ‘excellent’. Masculine norms of career and working thrive in the environment of increasing competition and recurring research, teaching and administrative performance indicator measurements: women who adhere to masculine norms can succeed, but real change is sidestepped. The lack of meaningful structural change acts as a barrier to gender equality in the academy. The paper concludes by offering some examples and recommendations on how this issue can be addressed

The development of a cross-national approach to gender equality in higher education institutions: observations from a European project

The development of a cross-national approach to gender equality in higher education institutions: observations from a European projec

A qualitative investigation into the experiences of LGBT workers in the construction sector

A qualitative investigation into the experiences of LGBT workers in the construction secto

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

'They're not girly girls': an exploration of quantitative and qualitative data on engineering and gender in higher education

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students' experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education. © 2012 Copyright SEFI

The impact of the internet of things on mobile workers

Ongoing developments in digital, computer, and communication technologies are likely to have profound long-term consequences for the nature of work and employment (Brynjolfsson & McAfee 2016). One significant area of development concerns the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT can be described as everyday objects, such as cars, fridges or watches, having internet connectivity allowing them to send and receive data. The IoT is predicted to be a major IT-enabled business trend over the next 10 years. Peppet (2014) suggests the potential for 200 billion connected devices by 2020 and a trillion by 2025, and Mishra et al. (2016) note that according to McKinsey (2013), IoT has a potential global economic impact of $36 trillion. A recent Computing (2016) report indicates that in the UK, applications of the IoT in work settings are most likely to involve the use of tracking devices for internal deployment to achieve cost optimization. For example, an English county police force are deploying an IoT platform to create connected vehicles and 4G streaming cameras that are lightweight and wearable and can stream high definition video. Internet-connected police cars allow police officers to use laptops, mobile phones and tablet computers in their vehicles giving them access to important information while working remotely (Palmer, 2015). Thus, the IoT has the potential to have significant impacts on the organization and management of mobile workers. This study will examine the impact of IoT technologies on mobile work in UK organizations. The main emphasis of the project is to develop user-centric considerations of digital technologies to counterbalance techno-centric research on this topic: the users in this study are defined as both organizations and individual workers. This is partly because various concerns have been raised regarding surveillance implications of these technologies for workers (O’Connor, 2015). This exploratory study has two aims: 1) to understand organizational drivers for the adoption of IoT for mobile work; 2) to explore how IoT technologies impact on mobile workers

Using communities of practice to support the implementation of gender equality plans: lessons from a cross-national action research project

Today, in many European countries, research and higher education institutions have made steps to implement gender mainstreaming: integrating the gender issue in management processes, in staff and leadership development programmes and assessment procedures. There are signs of concerted efforts to tackle persistent gender inequality, with varied levels of success. This paper will outline findings of a cross-national action research project that focuses on the implementation of gender equality plans (GEPs) in research and higher education institutions in order to examine how the interactions between researchers, gender equality practitioners and senior managers are socially-situated. A key theoretic lens is communities of practice (CoP), which underpins the analysis of the process of how people can work together to promote gender equality. The paper outlines the various methods used to promote CoP - the generation of knowledge, opportunities for establishing and maintaining relationships, and sharing experiences and expertise – illustrated with concrete examples. We found that through CoP we have identified gaps and common issues that form the basis for collaborative learning to develop better understandings of good practice in supporting GEP design and implementation

A comparative account of women academics’ navigation of crisis: reflections on Covid as ‘career shock’

Presented at the Gender, Work & Organization Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 28-30 June 2023.</p