ABSTRACT
In previous publications, the authors have described the psychological and identity-related issues associated with the international publishing process expressed by Icelandic scholars (Ingvarsdóttir & Arnbjörnsdóttir, 2013, 2018). This chapter focuses on how these issues are mediated by gender. The findings are based on 1) a survey of 238 members of the faculty at the University of Iceland that included questions about respondents’ English academic writing proficiency, amount of international (English) publications, and if and where from they received English writing support; and 2) in-depth interviews with ten male and ten female faculty members about their views and experiences publishing internationally. The survey responses show a clear gender bias, as women evaluate their English writing skills as poorer than men do, women say they write less in English than men do, and women feel less prepared and require more assistance than their male counterparts in the publishing process. Preliminary results from interviews with men and women from different disciplines and different stages in their professional lives support these findings. Interviews also suggest that gender-based differences are part of systemic institutional barriers that hamper academic publication in a second language across gender.
