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Gender and management in HEIs: changing organisational and management structures

WHEM

Associate Professor Ozlem Ozkanli, Ankara University, Turkey•Dr Maria de Lourdes Machado-Taylor, CIPES, PortugalDr Kate White, Monash University, Australia•Professor Pat O’Connor, University of Limerick, • IrelandDr Sarah Riordan, HER-SA, South AfricaAssociate Professor Jenny Neale, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand,

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Women in HE Management Network WHEM Participating Researchers

Dr Kate White, Monash University, Australia Dr Liisa Husu, Helsinki University, Finland Professor Pat O’Connor, University of Limerick, Ireland Professor Jenny Neale, Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand Dr Maria de Lourdes Machado, CIPES, Portugal The late Professor James Taylor, CIPES, Portugal Professor Pedro Teixeira, CIPES, Portugal Professor Teresa Carvalho, Uni of Aveiro/CIPES, Portugal Dr Sarah Riordan, HER-SA, South Africa Professor Anita Goransson, Linkoping University, Sweden A/Professor Ozlem Ozkanli, Ankara University, Turkey Professor Barbara Bagilhole, Loughborough University,UK

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WHEM Outline

Introduction The broader context Higher education systems and gender equity Background and literature review Approach Findings

Getting into and on in senior management (SM) Doing senior management The broader management culture

Discussion Implications Conclusion

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WHEM Introduction

Paper presents findings of the second phase of a multi-country study on cross cultural perspectives on gender and management in higher education institutions (HEIs)

It compares the experiences of senior managers in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey

While the historical and cultural contexts of women’s participation in HEI in each country are different, there are similar issues for women, including inflexible structures and organisational cultures that contribute to the under-representation of women in senior management

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WHEM The broader context

Paper examines participation of women as undergraduates, academics and senior managers in Portugal and Australia

CIPES Center for Research in Higher Education Policies http://www.fup.pt/cipes/en_index.php

TABLE 1: Gender profiles of Portugal and Australia Global

Gender gap index*

Labour force participation f/m ratio

Professional & technical workers, f/m ratio

Women in parliament, %

Fertility rate (births/ Woman)

Sweden 1 0.95 1.04 47% 1.70

Finland 3 0.95 1.17 42% 1.70

New Zealand

5 0.85 1.08 32% 2.00

Ireland 9 0.77 1.04 13% 1.90

United Kingdom

11 0.85 0.85 20% 1.70

Australia 17 0.83 1.22 25 % 1.36 South Africa 20 0.60 0.89 33% 2.80 Portugal 37 0.85 1.08 21 % 1.50 Turkey 121 0.36 0.45 4% 2.40 128 countries ranked by World Economic Global Gender Report

* 128 countries ranked by World Economic Forum Global Gender Report Source: World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2007 http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2007.pdf

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WHEM The broader context

Large variations between WHEM countries in labour force participation

Women in most of these countries comprise over half of the professional and technical workers

Women in some countries are paid significantly less than men

Policies supporting women in the labour market differ in each country

The representation of women in senior positions in the private and public sectors is low in most of these countries

Gender equality is mostly enshrined in national EEO legislation and in some also in AA legislation

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WHEM HE systems and gender equity

HE in some of the countries developed through a similar pattern – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were former British colonies and HE developed on the British university model

In Portugal and Turkey the development of mass HE has been a recent phenomenon

New managerialism has had an impact on higher education systems in most countries

The proportion of women at professorial level in the nine countries studied was generally low

The representation was significantly lower at full professor than at associate professor level, which is consistent with the OECD (2006) finding that women make up less than 20% of senior academic staff in most EU countries

Promotion and appointment to professorial positions is still an important issue for female academics and creates a barrier to further advancement

Representation of women in HE senior management is low

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WHEM HE Systems and gender equity

Country % Full professor

% Associate Professor

Australia 19 25

Finland 23 35

Ireland 11 14

New Zealand 14 20

Sweden n/a

South Africa 18 30

Portugal 22 32

Turkey 27 31

UK 16 27

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WHEM HE systems and gender equity

Country Rector/VC ViceRector/DVC

Pro-Rector/PVC

Dean

Australia 21 26 31 25

Finland 25

Ireland 0 29 25 12

New Zealand 12 17 17 17

Portugal 7 27 16 23

South Africa 17 20 22 21

Sweden n/a

Turkey 8 7 4 13

UK 8 6 21 20

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WHEM Background & Literature Review

o Women remain outsiders in university leadershipo Discipline base, career mobility, other responsibilities,

experience outside academic, recruitment/appointment processes are factors (Husu 2000, Kloot 2004, Neale & White 2004, Bagilhole & White 2008, van den Brink 2007, Ryan & Haslem 2004, Ozkanli & White 2008, Thomas & Davies 2002, Woodward 2007, Wyn et.al. 2000)

o Male hegemony/masculine organisational culture is central to women’s low representation

o Link between under-representation of female full professors, especially in SET, and low representation of women in senior management

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WHEM Approach

o Each investigator conducted 20 open ended interviews with both male and female university senior managers using a common interview schedule

o De-identified summaries were forwarded to the project coordinator and analysed in relation to key concepts: career paths, support, gate-keeping, management skills, gendered leadership styles, organisational cultures, structural and cultural barriers, and policy and practice

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WHEM Getting into and on in SM

o Definition of senior management variedo Most had no difficulty becoming senior managers.

Males more likely to be invited to applyo Most had not planned SM careerso Support from Rectors/VCs important +

management experience and team worko Most, especially Australian and New Zealand

respondents, said the jobs adversely affected work-life balance: long hours, time away from family

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WHEM Getting into and on in SM

o Advantages of the job: prestige, respect (Turkey); influencing the strategic direction of the university and making a significant contribution (Aus/NZ/South Africa)

o Disadvantages: research suffered, role conflict (Turkey); huge time commitment “risk of destroying family life, the constant tension and the 70 hour week” (Aus/NZ) ; loss of authority “over your own voice”, being isolated and lonely, masculine culture (South Africa)

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WHEM Doing senior management

o How they were regarded by male & female colleagues: no gender differences (Turkey); more collaborative process with other females (Aus/NZ); “in our country we first see race, then gender, then ask what does she do and how does she perform”; stronger relationships with other males (South Africa)

o Predominantly male V female management team: Did not matter (Turkey); preferred balanced teams (Aus/NZ). “I probably value working more with teams of women than men. I find them focussed and their points of view creative and divergent” (male VC). Female SMs (Aus/NZ) experienced hostility in predominantly male teams: “they think women will be a push over and can be ignored”.

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WHEM Doing senior management

o Differences in working with men and women: little difference (Turkey); women brought added skills and qualities, were better communicators, more aware of interpersonal dynamics, less “footy club” mentality (Aus/NZ), more empathy, strength, authentic, consistent (South Africa) female VCs micro-manage (Aus)

o Needing to adopt male management style: women have moved beyond such paradigms because management culture had shifted (Aus/NZ); Women expected to act like men: “authorisation of culture is masculine and in order to be successful…one has to adopt…masculine behaviour”; others believed this culture had shifted (South Africa); in gendered organisational culture and processes, conformity was valued (Ireland)

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WHEM Doing senior management

o Where are academic women in the organisation: mostly no difference in male/female representation in disciplines (Turkey); Education, Health Sciences, Arts and Humanities (Aus/NZ); not in hard sciences because of “cultural issues and career interruptions” (South Africa)

o Barriers to promotion: none or create own barriers (Turkey); lack of mobility, interrupted careers, promotion processes (Aus/NZ); the ‘boy’s club”, “the selection of HODs is where it plays out”; lack of assertiveness, breaking into established networks, not understanding process (South Africa)

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WHEM Broader management culture

o Typical SM career path: academic one – Professor, HOD, Dean. In the Irish context: “Virtually no-one explicitly referred to the fact that requiring academics to be at professorial level dramatically reduced the availability of women for appointment to senior executive positions” (O’Connor, 2008)

o Typical Rector/VC: must be experienced and democratic (Turkey); strong academic research record +provide strong internal/external leadership “strategic vision and a passion for HE, and dedicated to hard work” (Aus/NZ); black male with at least one overseas qualification + possibly politically active in the struggle against apartheid (South Africa)

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WHEM Broader management culture

o Characteristics/personal qualities: hard working, vision, respectful, democratic, good communication and team skills (Turkey), strategic vision, strong research reputation, interpersonal skills, openness, transparency, resilience, collaboration, consultation (Aus/NZ); + transformational leadership, courage, ability to balance conflicting interests, financial acumen (South Africa)

o SM appointment process: Rector elected (Turkey); University Council or Senate has key role + recruitment consultants (Aus/NZ). For DVC/PVC appointments VC influences the process (Aus); “race plays a very strong role in selection decisions” (South Africa); Ireland, the President has a pivotal role: “positions were filled not by application, promotion, selection or election, but by the blessing of the President (female senior manager)

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WHEM Broader management culture

o Role of Rectors/VCs: Rectors very powerful, “omnipotent” (Turkey); provide vision and setting direction, positioning the university externally (Aus/NZ), delegating internal management to DVC (Aus); determining senior appointments (Ireland); in older universities power devolved to faculties and tension between Deans and VCs/DVCs (South Africa)

o Role of VCs in gender profile of SM: can influence (Aus/Ireland/NZ) through interventions such as appointing women in acting role and then encouraging them to apply for the position (Aus)

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WHEM Discussion

o Historical and cultural factors shape attitudes to gender and university management

o Career paths are still traditional male academic model, and differentiate HE senior managers from leaders in other sectors

o Gendering of support received in moving into SMo Gate-keeping is a factor on the way up and in SM

(Husu 2004). Women are not equal partners around the table. Less prevalent when there are several women in SM teams (Barker & Monks 2003)

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WHEM Discussion

o Skills required to be an effective manager are not necessarily gendered, but when considered in conjunction with gendered leadership styles interesting differences emerge

o While women’s different leadership style is valued, there are limited opportunities in senior management for transformational leadership (Alimo-Metcalfe 2004)

o Organisational cultures have not shifted (Hearn 2004)o Rectors/VCs powerful in shaping the organisational cultureo Universities need to pay more attention to policies and

practices that discriminate against women in senior management

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WHEM Implications of research

o While new managerialism has led to a review of organisational and management structures to deliver their objectives more efficiently this had not necessarily extended to women in HE senior management

o The research indicates HE senior management in the countries studied is based on organisational structures and cultures that are inconsistent with the values that many interviewees claim their universities espouse, and which many female managers find challenging

o HEIs need to address under representation of women in senior management within the context of organisational and management cultures that often remain inconsistent with core values

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WHEM Conclusion

o Representation of women in SM has improved in recent years, but barriers to their full participation in university management remain

o Career paths still based on academic modelo Women experience gate-keepingo Skills for effective university management not

necessarily genderedo Women’s leadership style strengthens managemento Organisational cultures have not shiftedo Greater focus required on HE equity policies and

practices