© European Communities, 2009
Women today form the majority of university students but few stay on to become professors or reach other higher academic positions. This “leaky pipeline†phenomena is most often associated with science and technology fields but also concerns research positions in the private sector.
What causes this steady attrition of women? A report by the European Commission suggests that women may drop out at the beginning of their careers due to lack of support, role models and mentorship. At later stages, women abandon their work mainly because they find it too hard to balance career with personal life. Flexible working arrangements are proposed at some places, but women taking advantage of these benefits are often seen as less committed to the job.
Women also often find a “chilly climate†at higher levels with unequal opportunities, isolation and exclusion due to the usual clichés and stereotypes of a “man’s worldâ€.
What is the situation in your country? How can the “leaky pipeline†be fixed?
Source: Women in science and technology
KANN, the Network of Nordic University Women, ran a workshop during the 6th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education (Stockholm, August 2009). The second speaker at this workshop was Dr Steven Sampson from the Department of Social Anthropology (University of Lund). His analysis differed from the usual aspects. He reformulated the question to: What kind of people remain at the universities? During the last 15-20 years universities have become part of a new management culture which includes a different steering process which diminishes peoples’ ability to develop and increase their knowledge. Sampson also said that university employees have become exposed to an “audit cultureâ€, where transparency, quantification, evaluation, competition, and an “excellence ideology†are the steering criteria. Everything is to be weighed and measured, which does not strengthen creativity and development. Perhaps women are critical of this new way and that is why they leave. Both men and women are suffering under the change of paradigm.
This statement reflects the difference between developed and developing countries. It is not true in Rwanda that women are the majority of university students – in most universities there are barely 25 percent of female students. Graduates need to have a masters degree to become a lecturer. There are very few masters degree programs in Rwandan universities. Most bachelors graduates have to go overseas to study. This is very difficult for women with family responsibilities. One of the intitiatives that will address this situation is the provision of masters programs in Rwanda. The Centre for Gender, Culture and Development Studies at the Kigali Institute of Education in Rwanda will be offering a Masters program in GDS in 2010. At this time universities in Rwanda are indeed a chilly climate for women, with no women rectors in 18 universities, two vice rectors and very few female deans or directors or even lecturers. The lack of role models affects aspiratons and progress of female students.