Is it Still More Difficult for Top

1
Is it Still More Difficult for Top Senior
University Women than their Male Peers?

• Kerry Tilbrook - PhD student at Macquarie
  Graduate School of Management
• Project Manager, Division of Law,
• Macquarie University

2
Women are Still Under-represented in Senior
Positions

• Women are clustered in the more junior positions
  in academia and management
• Still apparent in recent studies (Singh, 2002
  Carrington Pratt, 2003 Winchester et al, 2004)
  
• Despite recent progress at top level i.e. VCs
  this is threatened by replacement of women by men
  (5 universities)
• 2006 are 7 women VCs, were 11 in 2004
• No women VCs in Group of 8, previously 2
• Particular problem in professoriate

3
Definition of Senior

• Aust. Academics Assoc Prof or Above
• US Academics tenured Assoc Prof
• Aust. Admin. Level 9 or higher
• US Admin. Assistant Dean or higher
• Executive Admin Level 10 or Above
• Executive Academic Dean or Above
• Higher than current DEST descriptors

4
Why under-representation?

• 1980s-1990s Pipeline is not enough
• Australia slower progress than US
• Aust. much larger gap in Professoriate
• US more even progress through the academic and
  executive ranks
• move to equity for female professors still
  glacial (Healy, 2006)

5
Organisational Culture (trad.)

• Based predominantly on male managerial norms
  (Wajcman,1999)
• Separation public private spheres
• Favours hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 2002)
• Womens leadership often invisible (Eveline,
  2004)
• Tagged as equity change agents (Yeatman, 1995)
• Women less represented in prestige areas of
  research, entrepreneurial activity

6
New Organisational Culture

• Threat that new culture may no longer favour
  equity diversity (Yeatman, 1995)
• Tough times return to basics and tried true
  traditional leadership
• Older academic machismo replaced by newer
  machismo of business culture (Spurling, 1997)
• Growing corporate managerialism, competitiveness
  often less attractive to women (Harman, 2002
  Marginson Considine, 2000 Brooks and
  Mackinnon, 2001 Singh, 2002)

7
GREATER EXPECTATIONS

• Senior women function as role models
• Equity change agents diverted from their own
  career goals
• Sometimes expected to behave as men
• Token or represent their gender in a way that
  male CEOs are not made to
• Expected to nurture others in a way that men
  are not

8
WORK (public) HOME (private) SPHERES

• It is at the interface between home and work
  that gender differences are most stark. The data
  reveal that the domestic arrangements necessary
  and sufficient to sustain the life of a senior
  manager are very different for men and women,
  giving the lie to the myth that equality has been
  achieved. The problem was summed up by one woman
  saying We all need a wife but they only come in
  one sex. My basic argument is that, for all the
  company initiatives designed to promote equal
  opportunities, the managerial career is still
  largely dependent upon the services of a wife at
  home. Indeed, it presupposes a male worker
  freed by the sexual contract
• (Wajcman, 1999 132 see also Pateman, 1994
  Bittman and Pixley, 1997 Maushart, 2001 Bittman
  et al, 2004).

9
DESIRE FOR BALANCE - 1

• I spent many a night after putting children to
  bed up until two in the morning grading
  papersdoing my college work of some sort or
  another and I think you just make those choices
  (Interview US 8 6 Acker and Armenti, 2004
  Armenti, 2004a, 2004b).
• Its your total lifebut I think women do, give
  the job their total commitment, single women and
  indeed the sad thing is that it is almost
  impossible to be married and have a family and be
  a manager at that level were all like
  divorced (Interview AUS 6 11).

10
DESIRE FOR BALANCE - 2

• But my point is that the difficulty in keeping,
  maintaining a balance in ones career when you
  care passionately about your career but you care
  equally passionately about your family. And I
  think there was a whole generation of us whocame
  of age in the late 60s and 70s which really did
  believe that you could have it all (Interview
  US 8 5).

11
INTERVIEW COMMENTS -1

• my experience has been, with a few exceptions
  what happens is not thatobstacles are put in
  your way, or that you are held to a different
  standard or tested pause youre just watched
  (Interview US 39)
• Yes, you are always aware of the gender
  element (Interview AUS 75)
• I believe that women have to be much better than
  men to get to the same level (Interview AUS 25)
  

12
INTERVIEW COMMENTS -2

• I just have a view that the difference between
  men and women is that men go into a job and they
  have to fail to have people question themwomen
  go into a job and they have to succeed for people
  to stop questioning them (Interview AUS 25)
• And so I had to assume thats a function of
  being more black and not a function of being more
  female those issues are issues that in this
  society if youre born when I was born and youre
  looking like I look, then you know that you
  couldnt be average and be where I am now it
  wasnt an option (Interview US 5 27-8)

13
INTERVIEW COMMENTS - 3

• but equally it also means that all the
  observers out there are waiting if you win or
  fail So theres even more pressure to get it
  right And thats a gender thing So both
  genders need to plan strategically but the
  audience is watching with an extra bit of relish
  (Interview AUS 25)

14
CHANGES TO AUS. WOMEN

• Chancellor resigned, replaced by man
• VC sandstone resigned, replaced by man
• VC sandstone - retired, replaced by men (2)
• VC regional retired, replaced by man
• DVC NGU promoted VC of ATN
• PVC ATN promoted DVC of Innovative
• Professor NGU now at Group 8 also as HOD
• Director of Institute ATN - promotion in scope
• Dean returned to Professor, replaced by man
• Administrator resigned not known

15
UNCHANGED POSITIONS

• VC Australian Technology Network
• VC New Generation University
• Associate Professor - NGU

16
POSITIVE STRATEGIES

• More women minorities in top jobs
• Mentoring Networking
• Structural interventions financial help for
  child care housekeeping
• Women-friendly HR policies, flexibility, access
  to functional training
• Support for non-traditional definition of
  management teamwork, life balance

17
CHANGES TO US. WOMEN

• President retired, replaced by woman (SD)
• President retired, replaced by man (P)
• President retired, replaced by man (AH)
• President retired, search current (Q)
• Provost retired, replaced by woman (BC)
• Assoc. Prof Private research, promoted to
  Professor internally

18
UNCHANGED POSITIONS

• President State CA networked
• Assistant VP State research in CA
• Dean Private research Uni
• Associate Dean Private research Uni
• Assoc. Prof Private research now Professor