Exploring Contemporary Challenges to Equality in Academia

This book offers a comprehensive and global examination of the persistent gender-related challenges universities face in their pursuit of equality, diversity, and inclusion across teaching, research, management, and leadership. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from sociology, political science, gender studies, education, law, and more, it critically explores the pressures of corporatization, neoliberalization, and the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education institutions. Through a diverse range of quantitative and qualitative research, the book delves into key issues such as gendered divisions of academic labor, work-life conflict, sexual harassment, institutional change, and the inequalities perpetuated by neoliberal demands. It also highlights innovative approaches, including feminist perspectives on care, and transnational analyses, while featuring testimonials on groundbreaking gender equality initiatives and a critical review of work-life balance in academia. This book is an essential resource for scholars, policymakers, academic leaders, and students interested in gender studies, higher education policy, organizational studies, and social justice. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in the Journal of Gender Studies and are accompanied by a newly updated Introduction.

Rodrigo Rosa is a sociologist with extensive experience in projects focused on gender equality, work-life balance, and family policies across Europe. He has served as an external expert on gender, diversity, and inclusion for the European Commission and is the (co-)author of numerous publications addressing gender-related issues.

An Introduction to Exploring Contemporary Challenges to Equality in Academia 1. Sexual and sexist harassment in Spanish universities: policy implementation and resistances against gender equality measures 2. Navigating unChartered waters: anchoring Athena SWAN into Irish HEIs 3. Gender mainstreaming in Swedish academia: translating policy into practice 4. Gender back on the agenda in higher education: perspectives of academic staff in a contemporary UK case study 5. Fostering collaborative approaches to gender equality interventions in higher education and research: the case of transnational and multi-institutional communities of practice 6. The trouble with 'work-life balance' in neoliberal academia: a systematic and critical review 7. Women and gender equity in academia through the conceptual lens of care 8. Sojourning as a wife, a mother and a daughter: a critical autoethnography of a Vietnamese doctoral student in New Zealand 9. Go the extra mile: a gender approach towards parenthood in early-career academics 10. Never the right time: maternity planning alongside a science career in academia