Gender, Networks and Career in Academia: Reevaluating Evidence from Germany and Sweden

The issue of gender and career advancement in academia has been raised in a number of European studies and publications. Although research has enhanced our understanding of inequalities faced by women who pursue academic careers, they have only to a very little extent highlighted the link between academic career advancement, social networks and their role in dynamics of inequalities for further career trajectories. In contrast, the intensification of meritocracy related discussions shapes the current notion of academic performance and eclipses the meaning and importance of personal connections and networks for career progression and scientific excellence.

This contribution aims at extending and systematising more thoroughly the relationship between social networks and females’ academic careers by reviewing the scope of pertinent literature on networks and academic labour market. Specifically, it seeks to identify the dominant patterns and intersections of gender, social networks and career progress in academia. By doing so, this contribution challenges the significance of the idea of excellence for career success, measured by obtaining a professorship or demonstrating academic achievement. Moreover, it emphasises the process of career advancement from early career stage to professorship and exemplifies evidence from Germany and Sweden. German academia has historically large proportion of junior staff in contrast to a dramatically small amount of senior scholars at tenure positions. In Sweden, increasing focus on excellence combined with management reforms and cut-backs in teaching begin to undermine the country’s previous reforms aiming at equal changes and levelling out hierarchies in academia – at the same time affecting academic identities, in particular for women (Berg, 2010).

At this juncture, special attention is paid to interactions between networks effects and expectations towards social actors, family formation of academics and different fields of study.