Gender Bias in Appointment Procedures for Full Professors: Challenges to Changing Traditional and Seemingly Gender Neutral Practices

Women have conquered the universities but their way into top positions is still stopped by a class ceiling. Focusing appointment procedures for full professors the chapter examines why policies aiming at gendered practices have only shown moderate success.

The analysis follows a praxeological approach and draws on material derived from case studies covering all 22 universities in Austria. The aim of these case studies was to analyze the implementation of a new legal framework for appointment procedures at Austrian universities.

In this chapter, the effects of specific measures to tackle gender bias in appointment procedures for full professors in the Austrian context are analyzed. It is evident that despite gender awareness and a comprehensive set of regulations, regularly traditional practices remain stable and unreflected with regard to an inherent gender bias. The analysis presented thus reveals the limitations of existing equality policies. We can assume that reflexivity is a precondition for a change of unreflected practices, but does not form a part of existing policies.

We conclude that policies aimed at changing gendered practices have to (1) built up gender awareness as well as gender competence and (2) encourage reflexivity as well as agency among all stakeholders involved in a practice. Although there are cases where reflexivity arises from an individual conviction with regard to equality, most stakeholders have to be convinced – or even forced – by a superior authority to change their practices. Such a change can be forced by legal obligation or set down as a clear requirement by university management. It becomes evident that any guideline or regulation addressing gendered practices have to be accompanied by features that create room for reflection and reflexivity.