Gender differences and inequalities in academia: Findings in Europe

Abstract

Research has shown for some decades now a clear historical trend of women catching up quantitatively in access to academic positions. Far from being homogeneous, this trend differs depending on the countries, the higher education sectors and the disciplines, as well as when considering in a more qualitative way their access to the different academic status. What is today the situation of women in the European higher education systems? Which gender differences characterise academic positions and academic work? How are women dealing with higher education governance? How do they relate to teaching and research by comparison with men? How different is the situation in the various countries? On the basis of a quantitative analysis, this chapter provides an overview of gender-sensitive dimensions in a comparative perspective and offers a country index to compare countries. It shows, for example, that everything else being equal, gender is highly significant in predicting employment status in two third of the countries studies. Furthermore, it identifies some regularities between the characteristics of the academic markets as a whole and the size and type of gender inequalities at play.