Premium
Let the right one in: A Bourdieusian analysis of gender inequality in universities’ senior management
Author(s) -
Gander Michelle
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/gwao.12327
Subject(s) - habitus , symbolic capital , cultural capital , sociology , inequality , social capital , capital (architecture) , diversity (politics) , representation (politics) , the symbolic , gender studies , social science , political science , psychology , law , psychoanalysis , history , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology , politics , anthropology
This article examines the lack of gender diversity in senior management positions in professional staff in universities. These results are analysed via a Bourdieusian analysis of economic, social, cultural and symbolic capital. Through a purposeful sample of senior professional staff working in universities in three countries: Australia, Canada and the UK, six career‐enhancing strategies needed for career success were determined. The article critiques the resource‐based view of career capital and argues that capitals accumulation for career success can be understood by considering the concepts of symbolic violence and habitus as a way of understanding intra‐cohort differences. It proposes that by considering both the subjective and objective cultural constructs via habitus, and by acknowledging the importance of symbolic capital and symbolic violence towards women, this may be one way of increasing female representation in senior management.