Academia and the Reproduction of Unequal Opportunities for Women

Despite the introduction of equal opportunities (EO) policies by many UK universities,
academic staff continue to be male dominated, particularly at the higher levels
and in the more prestigious universities. This paper draws on data from a qualitative
research study undertaken in a pre-1992 UK university. The main aim of the study
was to measure the effectiveness of its EO policies for women. It uses Ball’s (1993)
idea of problematising policies by looking at their ‘underlife’ in their ‘localised complexity’.
The paper argues that distinctive aspects of academia produce and reproduce
gender inequality. These aspects include: professional autonomy, an isolationist
culture, and lack of good management. It is concluded that pre-1992 universities
in the UK prove to be sites, which are particularly resistant to the change demanded
by EO policies because of the special conditions of academia.

Keywords: women, academia, policies