(She) Woman and (He) University. Attraction Fatale or L'amour Réciproque? The Academic Careers of Women

Abstract

The phenomenon of insufficient women representation in science and the problem of female academics “disappearing” from careers in the humanities and social sciences is the main area of the author’s reflection. The analysis is made within two perspectives: academic and feminist. The first one is organizational and locates reasons for the lack of female academics and postgraduate students in situational and personality factors in women, highlighting the problem of their individual competences and individual choices, between career and family life. The second, feminist/organizational orientation indicates presence of discrimination, with its manifestations in structures of higher and primary/secondary education. They are seen in context of numerous stereotypes and gender prejudices, generated by the essentialist perspective on gender, which influences how women’s cognitive abilities are assessed (the case of school mathematical competencies).