ABSTRACT
It has been well established in the literature that universities are patriarchal institutions where male hegemony is seen as natural and unproblematic (Blackstone and Fulton, 1975; Spender, 1982; Simeone, 1987; Stiver-Lie and O’Leary, 1990; Acker, 1992; Heward and Taylor, 1992; Bagilhole, 1993; Davies et al., 1994; Morley, 1994; Morley and Walsh, 1995, 1996). Universities, as with other organizations, may be perceived as gendered cultures, made up of a network of interwoven discourses, which permeate the entire organization and which work to subordinate women. The notion of a gendered university culture covers all the taken-for-granted, unquestioned attitudes, behaviour, values and basic assumptions about the nature and role of the institution and the role of women within it. It includes the wealth of practices which render women academics’ participation undervalued, unrecognized and marginalized, leading to an overwhelming feeling of ‘otherness’ (Acker, 1980). University cultures can therefore be seen to present a set of problems for women in terms of forming their identity as academics. They are confronted with a whole range of discourses which shape their notions of femininity but at the same time face organizational rules and practices which are male dominated (Mills, 1993). The recent changes in the management of universities and the academic profession present new challenges and opportunities for women academics. The research presented in this chapter questions to what extent, and in what ways, the new discourses of higher education management have intensified the problems facing women academics.’
