Glass slippers, Holy Grails and Ivory Towers: gender and advancement in academia

Abstract

Australasia, as with other western countries, has experienced gender differentials in the advancement of women through academia. Some of the barriers to advancement that have been identified in the literature include unconscious attitudes towards work organisation and the value of work performed by men and women. Further, concepts of ‘meritocracy’ may in fact hide gender discrimination and also obscure the role of informal networks in disseminating information and knowledge that privilege some groups over others in the appointment processes. This article draws on in-depth interviews with 32 male and female research active academics across all faculties of a New Zealand university. This article uses the metaphor of fairy tales to explore and explain gendered experiences of academic advancement. The use of a different context to analyse our findings not only protects the anonymity of participants, but uncovers assumptions of work and merit in academic advancement.