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Excellent and gender equal? Academic motherhood and ‘gender blindness' in Norwegian academia
Author(s) -
Thun Cecilie
Publication year - 2020
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.12368
Subject(s) - norwegian , gender inequality , inequality , blindness , gender equality , perspective (graphical) , sociology , gender studies , gender bias , work (physics) , demographic economics , political science , psychology , social psychology , economics , medicine , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , mechanical engineering , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , optometry , engineering
This article explores Norwegian female academics' experiences with academic motherhood in an organizational perspective. A main finding is that academia as an organization is greedy, uncertain, and has ‘blind spots' that reveal gender bias related to gender and parental status, especially mothers. By analysing the link between gendered organization of work and the legitimatizing of gender inequality, the article reveals ‘gender blindness' in the academic organization concerning gender and parental status. The article concludes that changes in academia — in line with academic capitalism — may indicate that the Norwegian model of work–life balance is under pressure. This article suggests that the organizational conditions for academic motherhood are important factors in order to understand the persistence of gender inequality.