Scaling the mountain: an exploration of gendered experience of academic staff in relation to the Research Excellence Framework 2014

Abstract

This paper will explore the experiences of female academics within the research institution in relation to the recent Research Excellence Framework in 2014 (REF 2014). Pursuant to the Equality Act 2010, there is now a legal duty (the Public Sector Equality Duty or PSED) for public bodies and therefore Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination; advance equality of opportunity; and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2015). It is considered that the PSED thus requires individual institutions to consider and explore the experience of female academics with a view to generating qualitative data about the experience of this group in relation to the REF 2014. This paper will explore some of the early findings of an institutionally funded research project in relation to the gendered experience of academic staff in the research institution in relation to the REF 2014 process and provide the opportunity for local perspectives in this regard to feed into lessons learnt at a national and global level