Who gets ahead? Gender and university culture

Patricia Harris and Bev Thiele
School of Social Sciences, Murdoch University

This paper reports on some of the findings of a research project comparing the position of men and women in relation to organisational culture at Murdoch University. The study looked at the institution's academic, general/administrative and managerial staff, and explored their perceptions of the university and the place of women within it. Rather than simply document the location of women (as a minority, more junior, isolated, temporary, in support roles, etc) the study asks how women and men find their work experiences and careers shaped by the organisation's institutional and cultural practices. Amongst these practices, the study examined how male culture and attitudes act to exclude or marginalise women. One series of questions concerned the community's perception of who was likely to get ahead, and who was not. We asked our respondents to describe the characteristics of those who are and are not rewarded in the university; the attributes of those who are seen to have power. We also asked whether they thought any barriers were placed in the way of individuals developing careers within the university. Several images emerged: that of the ruthless, competitive careerist who know the rules and how to play the game; and that of the dedicated, decent hard worker who was prepared to sacrifice their personal life for their work and thus deserved the rewards they reaped. Women were seen to be unwilling or unable to make that complete sacrifice of their lives. While few formal barriers to advancement could be identified, many women were convinced that there were informal, subtle but deeply entrenched barriers to their success.

Authors: Associate Professor Jan Currie, School of Education Associate Professor Patricia Harris, School of Social Sciences Dr Bev Thiele, School of Social Sciences Murdoch University, Australia Please cite as: Currie, J., Harris, P. and Thiele, B. (1996). Who gets ahead? Gender and university culture. Different Approaches: Theory and Practice in Higher Education. Proceedings HERDSA Conference 1996. Perth, Western Australia, 8-12 July. http://www.herdsa.org.au/confs/1996/currie2.html