Women in Academia How to shatter the glass ceiling

1
Women in Academia How to shatter the glass
ceiling?

• Professor Fanny Duckert
• Department of Psychology
• University of Oslo

2
My own position

• Head of Department of Psychology, University of
  Oslo
• Various previous experiences from leadership
  positions

3
Common strategies for promoting women in Academia

• Earmarked positions
• Moderate favouring of women
• Qualification Scholarships
• Mentoring programs

4
Challenges for the universities

• Moving beyond comfort zones
• Awareness of female competencies
• Descriptions of jobs and qualifications
• Infrastucture
• Active search for women
• Keeping potential female candidates informed
• Responsible senior female academics

5
Senior female academics

• Education was for liberation, independence and
  personal interests
• Leadership ambitions not stated openly
• Leadership positions offered - not actively
  sought
• High degree of self-dimishing strategies
• Queen bees

6
Using female competency as an active resource

• Strategic planning is essential
• Use active networking as a tool
• Check out for subtle discriminating in job
  descriptions and definitions of qualifications
• Ask for female candiates when committees,
  important working groups etc. are to be
  established
• Inform about competent women whenever the
  opportunity
• Keep lists of female candidates
• Look for talent and mentor female candidates
• Nuture ambitions among female colleagues

7
Wording in advertisements

• Masculine appeal
• Result oriented
• Efficient
• Competitive
• Strategic
• Titles
• (Chief/Head/Director etc)

• Feminine appeal
• Cooperative
• Empathic
• Socially competent
• Flexible
• Quality conscious
• Intuitive
• Networking
• Titles (Coordinator/Responsible/In Charge etc.)

8
Be a good role model for female candidates

• Stop self-diminishing strategies
• Be willing to face conflicts
• Work hard and tell people what you do
• Voice own ambitions and nurture ambitions in your
  female colleagues
• Inform about opportunities and encourage female
  colleagues to apply

9
Basic reminders for surviving organizational life

• Perfection is not usually neccessary It is
  enought to be good
• Criticism does not destroy it can be useful
• Ambitions are not unfeminine
• Usually it takes several nos for each yes
• Disagreements and conflicts are a natural part of
  any organisation and can be dealt with in
  constructive ways
• Active networking is essential

10
Dysfunctional thought patterns

• Beliefs in telepathy
• Black/white thinking
• Disqualification of the positive
• Scapegoating
• Labelling

11
Patterns of awareness