ABSTRACT
The book has presented sixteen autobiographical accounts of women’s careers in higher education. What has been fascinating and intriguing are both the similarities and differences in their lives. In this final section we want to consider some of these issues, to argue that although women’s lives in academia may each be seen as a unique blend of the personal and professional, from childhood, family and education matters through to subject, institutional and organizational questions, there are some critical opportunities and obstacles or constraints which warrant particular attention. Our aim is to draw out these threads and themes from the essays, by focusing first on childhood, education and family issues and second, professional and organizational matters, indicating how they may both provide opportunities and present obstacles to personal and professional development.
