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Female Academics in a Knowledge Production Society
Author(s) -
Halvorsen Erica
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
higher education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.976
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1468-2273
pISSN - 0951-5224
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2273.00224
Subject(s) - knowledge society , knowledge production , sociology , industrial society , professional association , production (economics) , contemporary society , public relations , social science , political science , law , anthropology , knowledge management , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
In the latter half of the twentieth century, the ‘Professional Society’ was, and continues to be, replaced by a ‘Knowledge Society’. One of the characteristics of the ‘Professional Society’ was its masculine culture and hierarchies. This paper examines the effect that the shift from a ‘Professional Society’ to a ‘Knowledge Society’ has had on the careers of female academics. It considers the career paths of vice–chancellors and goes on to examine the effects of geographical mobility on promotions. In addition, the significance of high proportions of professors in highly–rated research departments, and the gender implications of that, is examined. In the concluding section it is argued that, while universities continue to support the hierarchies of the ‘Professional Society’, it is to the detriment both of women and of knowledge production.