It\u2019s International Women\u2019s Day. Another year when many of us are thinking how amazing it would be if we didn\u2019t need such a day any longer, specifically celebrating women, because people of whatever gender, colour, age, health status\u2026.. were celebrated according to what they\u2019d actually done. That the day is still needed tells us how far we are from equality. One day \u2013 as somebody once wisely said \u2013 we\u2019ll know we\u2019ve reached equality when mediocre women get top jobs at the same rate as mediocre men. That will be the time when men are as likely to stay at home with the kids\/meet them from school as women so that we no longer take note of which way round these things are done. When there is no gender pay gap and equal pay for equal work really means exactly what it says. When women are no longer encouraged not to report rape because it will merely prolong the pain and trauma without leading to an appropriate outcome. When the world of everyday sexism has vanished.<\/p>\n
However, although I may dream on that my grandchildren will see such a day, it\u2019s not coming anytime soon. So, let us celebrate International Women\u2019s Day once more, and remember not only those outstanding women in every walk of life, but also the women who have no choice but just to get by, along with all those who support those women, day by day, around the globe.<\/p>\n
The higher education sector is riddled with hurdles that are slowly being unmasked as just that much higher for women than for men. Be it double standards \u2013 a topic I wrote about previously<\/a>, where the perceptions of identical performance from men and women are not treated equally \u2013 or a higher bar for women for publishing articles, as highlighted recently by the RSC\u2019s analysis<\/a> of its own publications. Or maybe it\u2019s the way letters of reference are written, with so-called \u2018stand-out\u2019 adjectives significantly more likely to be used for men in letters written by women just as much as by men, a fact identified in a wide range of studies (e.g. here<\/a>) across the disciplines. Or perhaps it\u2019s how often their papers are cited \u2013 again there are numerous studies in different disciplines showing how men are less likely to cite papers with women as lead authors (e.g. here<\/a>). All these are factors which will feed into promotion prospects and accompanying pay. All these systematically disadvantage the typical woman.<\/p>\n Fixing the women, getting the women to lean in as Sheryl Sandberg would have us do, simply isn\u2019t going to transform the world around us. And until that world is transformed the numbers of women who rise through the ranks to senior positions will remain unrepresentative of the talent that starts out. Brains will be wasted and collectively our impact, solutions to the challenges of the world as well as pure intellectual output, will be diminished to everyone\u2019s detriment. Finding (male) allies to speak up in appointment and promotion meetings, at editorial boards or as co-authors on papers, is \u2013 regrettably \u2013 still the best hope for eradicating the tilt of the playing field. I am pleased to note how many men in leadership positions do seem to have grasped the basic fact that the problem is not the women but the system.<\/p>\n I am quite sure when I was mid-career this was not the case; few of my male colleagues \u2018got\u2019 this. If I wasn\u2019t persuasive I (like Maggie Thatcher before me) should apparently have been thinking about having voice coaching. If I was attacked in a committee meeting by someone whose pet candidate I was not sticking up for, it nevertheless seemed to be assumed I should have been the one doing the apologising afterwards. The sense of injustice those two events provoked in me still lurks, because the responses seemed so unreasonable and yet I had no defence. How could anyone feel an apology was due from me after I was the one verbally attacked? Nevertheless, for women who are \u2018difficult\u2019 \u2013 i.e. not fulfilling the role assigned to them by wider (predominantly male) society \u2013 that is not an uncommon position in which to find themselves.<\/p>\n Progress is slow towards the mythical utopia of equality, and nowhere more so than in coping with those who work, not just not 24\/7, but not even \u2018full time\u2019, whatever that phrase may mean in academia. A visit to another university last week highlighted just how challenging working 60-80% (for instance) can be for some. Naturally the \u2018some\u2019 will be predominantly women. One thing is clear, you only get paid for the hours for which you are contracted (regardless of how many more you actually work). However, not all employers \u2013 or peers \u2013 recognize that all parts of the job should get cut back proportionately. If the teaching load you are expected to do is the same as for a full-timer, it inevitably means everything else gets hit. That, naturally, includes time for research \u2013 which is what is most likely to matter when it comes to progression. But a woman who says, hang on I don\u2019t want to do more<\/u> than my fair share of teaching in proportion to what I\u2019m paid overall, is likely to be labelled \u2013 yet again \u2013 as difficult. She may even be accused of shirking her work. (Never mind those other members of the department who somehow seem to get out of teaching because they\u2019ve managed to convince the leadership that their research is too important).<\/p>\n I remain convinced the only way to get near to parity is for more men to occupy the same spaces as women \u2013 by being the ones with caring responsibilities (and not just parental leave, but caring for teenagers and parents too) \u2013 and, in this case, working part-time so they know what it\u2019s like at the sharp end and can spell it out to the senior leadership. So, by all means let us celebrate International Women\u2019s Day, but please can we remember the women on every other day of the year too, and remember that it is the system that needs fixing if we are to progress beyond mealy-mouthed promises for change in the decades to come.<\/p>\n Here<\/a> are some ideas of actions every single one of us can do to help, from several years ago, but just as relevant today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s International Women\u2019s Day. Another year when many of us are thinking how amazing it would be if we didn\u2019t need such a day any longer, specifically celebrating women, because people of whatever gender, colour, age, health status\u2026.. were celebrated … Continue reading