Speaking in a Different Voice: The Gendered Nature of Promotion Applications in Academia Event

Abstract: There continues to be slow progress in tackling the gender pay gap in UK Higher Education Institutions. This paper takes the case study of one post 1992 University Faculty of Business and Law who successfully obtained the Athena Swan Bronze award in 2020 and analyses in depth our findings regarding promotion processes. Our research revealed some huge positives statistically for female colleagues with women being consistently promoted at a higher rate than men across the faculty. Yet the gender focus group which was an important element of staff consultation prior to the final application, revealed that current promotion criteria were viewed by some to be ‘inherently masculine’. This paper investigates current barriers to women’s progression, considers reforms to promotion policies, procedures and management practices already introduced and concludes that gender pay gaps in academia arise at least in part because reforms implemented to date, neglect to adapt male orientated promotion criteria. Following the model of the Feminist Judgments Project (as led by Hunter, McGlynn and Rackley, 2010) we propose that rewriting of promotion criteria and exemplars of excellent successful applications would be beneficial, in order to further articulate feminist views of excellence in academia.

Speaker Bio:

Dr Frances Hamilton , Associate Professor, University of Reading
Dr Elisabeth Griffiths , Associate Professor, Northumbria University

The book this talk was based on is now published through Routledge: "The Evolution of the Gender Pay Gap - A Comparative Perspective."