Abstract
In this article, we investigate how the globalized academic labor market has changed the composition of teaching and research staff at Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish universities. We use national statistical data on the gender and country‐origin of universities’ teaching and research staff between 2012 and 2018 to study how the globalized academic labor market has influenced the proportion of women across career stages, with a special focus on STEM fields. We pay special attention to how gender and country‐origin are interrelated in universities’ academic career hierarchies. The findings show that the proportion of foreign‐born teaching and research staff rose substantially at the lower career level (grade C positions) in the 2010s. The increase was more modest among the most prestigious grade A positions, such as professorships. The findings show significant national differences in how gender and country‐origin of staff intersect in Nordic universities. The study contributes to research on the gendered patterns of global academic labor markets and social stratification in Nordic universities.
Highlights
Gender equality has long been one of the key objectives in European research policies
The key argument in this article is that the con‐ sequences of a more globalized academic labor market for staff composition, with regard to gender and origin, will be context dependent and vary by country, career level, and scientific field
Whereas previous research on global academic labor markets has largely neglected the intersectional perspective (Crenshaw, 1989), we apply this perspective to draw attention to how gender and country‐origin are interrelated in academic careers in the Nordic countries
Summary
Gender equality has long been one of the key objectives in European research policies. The key argument in this article is that the con‐ sequences of a more globalized academic labor market for staff composition, with regard to gender and origin, will be context dependent and vary by country, career level, and scientific field. Whereas previous research on global academic labor markets has largely neglected the intersectional perspective (Crenshaw, 1989), we apply this perspective to draw attention to how gender and country‐origin are interrelated in academic careers in the Nordic countries. This approach should affect how we study and measure recruitment and promotion pat‐ terns in universities. The co‐investigation of these stages provides insights into the inclusion of women and foreign‐born TR staff in higher and lower sta‐ tus positions in universities, and forms a basis for further hypotheses on the intersectional nature of global university careers
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