infonet-economy

"Scientific excellence" and "gender equality" have been on
the political agenda for more than a decade now. We have
ample evidence of the existence of gender bias in academic
selection procedures. Furthermore, what counts as "scientific
excellence" has been criticized as inherently problematic. The
"ideal researcher" at work in many disciplines still seems to be
white, male, without family responsibilities and ready to sacrifice
his entire self to the "greedy occupation" of academia.
At the same time, the emphasis on excellence has encouraged
the adoption of formal procedures and transparency
and hence may also have contributed to the advancement of
gender equality. In her talk Prof. Julia Nentwich will explore
the different ways in which "gender" and "scientific excellence"
meet in 12 qualitative interviews conducted with gender
equality experts and/or members of decision-making bodies
in Swiss higher education institutions. Based on a discourse
analysis, she identifies the different consequences of the discursive
interplay between gender and academic excellence