International events
May 2004 - UK Conferences
Dr Colleen Chesterman (Australian Technology Network Women's Executive Development Program) presented a paper based on a major research project on senior women and cultures of management at the conference of the Women's Higher Education Network (UK) or WHEN (held on Friday 14 May at Bolton Institute) with a theme of work-life balance. In interviews with 47 senior women from 5 Australian universities it was discovered that a high proportion had not applied for their current positions. Some were reticent about their abilities, others ambivalent about moving away from teaching and research into management, and others were wary of the high demands imposed by senior positions. The paper concluded that sustained efforts had to be taken to ensure qualified women applied for senior positions; these included explicit encouragement from superiors, searches for suitable women and provision of opportunities to act in senior positions. See the 'Not Doable Jobs' [.pdf] paper for more information.
Among the other excellent papers presented were:
- Dr Liz Doherty and Simonetta Manfredi, from Oxford Brookes University, on results of an audit of employees at the university and their experience of flexible working. The project has evolved into an action research one, developing a stronger policy framework and establishing workshops with staff and line managers on flexible employment options.
- A presentation of the HEFCE funded occupational stress in higher education pilot study from Dr Michelle Tytherleigh from Plymouth University.
- Dr Marion Birch, Bolton Institute on the North West Universities Mentoring Scheme involving 7 institutions on a inter-university mentoring scheme for female academics in science, engineering and technology subject areas.
- Dr Deborah Lee from Derby University on women academics who had experienced student bullying of teachers and her evidence that in dealing with this issue management often resorted to gender stereotyping, suggesting for example that women could not handle this.
- Dr Pam Cotterill, Staffordshire University and Gayle Leatherby (Coventry) on the impact of 'open access' policies in institutes of higher education on lecturers' loads and the negative implications in terms of increased teaching and support and less time for research
- A workshop by Shirley Silcock and Sharon Germaine-Cox on Bolton Institute's Diversity Workbook 'Respect for People'. Bolton Institute was the first Higher Education Institution to roll-out this sort of diversity training and other universities are now following suit. The presentation considered the effectiveness of this staff development.
Some papers involving gender in higher education were presented at the European Academy of management at St Andrews in May 2004. Professor Jim Barry, Elisabeth Berg and John Chandler developed a concept of academic shape-shifting which they saw as developing when academics faced the challenges of new public management and increased pressures in universities. The considered the gendered aspects of this process in universities in Sweden and England. Dr Anne Ross-Smith, Dr Colleen Chesterman and Dr Margaret Peters outlined the findings of their recent Australian project on senior women and managerial cultures, focusing on perceptions that women are better at handling emotion work in organisations. Using examples, some drawn from higher education, they outlined women's roles in development emotion work, defined as work establishing a supportive environment, to 'maintenance' emotion work, characterised by gendered expectations that women nurture, play mother and stop fights. Such work increases pressures on women executives.