Female Professors in Sweden and Germany

Abstract

The Research Training Network “Women in European Universities” focuses on career opportunities of women in higher education in seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Within the frame of this network different aspects of career perspectives of women – and also men – are investigated. In a first working step a context analysis was conducted in order to give an understanding of the different systems of higher education, their changes and developments. A second working step provided a statistical overview of women’s participation in higher education systems investigated in this project. During the third work-phase an inquiry of female and male professors was conducted in all participating countries. This working paper is the result of the fourth working step of our research. Quantitative investigations – as done at an earlier working stage – are necessary to understand career opportunities of female professors and processes of glass ceiling. Nevertheless, what can be gained out of a questionnaire is limited to options for answering and coding of answers. Qualitative interviews answer different questions than quantitative surveys. In our case they give the opportunity to understand academic careers in the terms of female professors