Building experience and breaking barriers

So what’s new?

How can we exploit changes in the law?

What can we do?

What local steps can we take?

Building experience and breaking barriers

Important new legislative leverage:

• the establishment of a positive duty in the major areas of race, disability and gender

• the requirement in many of the laws to have policies and action plans in the public domain

• the requirement to monitor and assess impact

• a resulting increase in the extent to which activity is open to public scrutiny

Building experience and breaking barriersNew EO policy developments for RAE 2008:

• panel briefings, written guidance for panels, requirements regarding panel criteria 01/2005, 02/2005 (January 2005).

• HEI guidance 03/2005 (June ) includes Code of Practice, Annex G.

EU gender-policy requirements for Framework funding

Panel membership at EU and member state level

Targeted research programmes at EU level

Building experience and breaking barriers

Local opportunities in context of positive duty:

• institutional action plans (with outcomes, time frames and responsibilities defined)

• consultation

• open and transparent work allocation

• open and transparent criteria for progression and promotion

• positive action

• training (of manager and managed)

Building experience and breaking barriersChecking mechanisms:

• monitoring, not simply of numbers by employment category, grade and type of contract, but also in relation to grievances, complaints, etc.

• regular public reporting on policies and action plans that now have to be in the public domain

• use of Freedom of Information Act

Building experience and breaking barriersQuestions to be asked:

• gender pay audits within grade?

• recruitment breakdown by gender: enquiry, application, success?

• promotions plotted against (a) available pool; (b) numbers applied; (c) success rate?

• do departments have work-plan allocations that are recognised as fair across the genders?

Building experience and breaking barriersMore questions to be asked:

• do departments have EO action plans that are monitored and regularly revised?

• do EO action plans monitor departmental responsibilities for gender-bias?

• what is the M/F breakdown on each of the whole institution-level committees?

• ditto Senate/Academic Board?

• ditto Governing Body?

Building experience and breaking barriersAnd yet more questions …….

• how, in truth, do you get on to these influential bodies?

• can the system be improved?

• how do you make your mark when you get there and so gain access to influence?

Building experience and breaking barriersPerceived barriers (1): Opportunity Now

%Sen Women %CEOs

Family responsibilities 83 76

Stereotyping and preconceptions 81 65

Lack of visible female role models 70 69

Exclusion from informal networks 66 46

L’ship’s failure to take responsibility

for women’s advancement 63 53

Personal style differences 61 26

Building experience and breaking barriers

Perceived barriers (2): Opportunity Now

%Sen Women %CEOs

Lack of mentoring 58 58

Lack of awareness of organisational

politics 57 35

Lack of professional development

opportunities 54 44

Lack of opportunities for visibility 52 40

Building experience and breaking barriersPerceived barriers (3): Opportunity Now

%Sen Women %CEOs

Lack of opportunities to work on

challenging assignments 45 32

Sexual harassment 40 27

Few women can/want to do what it

takes to get to the top 30 23

Lack of time in the pipeline

(i.e. generically) 28 40

Building experience and breaking barriers

Organisational blockers in HE (1)

• Stereotyped career pathways

• Difficulties in getting experience valued when gained outside the sector

• Rewards are not necessarily those that women value the most

• Gender-mix and assumptions of Governors/Councils, HoDs, appointment panels, head-hunters

Building experience and breaking barriers

Organisational blockers in HE (2)

• Practices of head-hunters/recruitment agencies may not be gender-neutral (tending to tap into existing male networks)

• Long hours culture

• Not having equivalent access to mentors and networking (formal and informal)

• Perception that women will not be tough enough

Building experience and breaking barriers

Personal blockers in HE (1)

• Lack of self-confidence, underestimating knowledge and experience

• Focusing on the negative – the experience and skills one doesn’t have

• Fear of failure

• Wanting to see jobs through to the end, and this staying too long in a post

Building experience and breaking barriersPersonal blockers in HE (2)• Fear of stress resulting from taking unpopular

decisions

• Lacking social skills training/experience for high level meetings, negotiations etc.

• Family responsibilities: work-life balance

• Route to seniority for women often via roles related more to people and teaching than ‘big money’, research ‘empires’, science oriented portfolios

Building experience and breaking barriers

Would it help to form a network?

BUT, if so: what kind:

• Survival?

• Support?

• Voice?

Building experience and breaking barriersWould mentoring be useful?

BUT, if so: what kind:

• Structured and managed?or Informal and personal?

• By a man or a woman (or don’t mind)?

• How close to the immediate working environment?

• Cross institutional?

What are the career goals, personal goals, shared understanding between mentor and mentee?

Building experience and breaking barriersWhat help do we need from:

• trade unions?

• professional groups?

• ECU? (www.ecu.ac.uk)

What help do we need to give ourselves by:

• analysis and planning?

• sometimes saying no?

Building experience and breaking barriersSome steps to take:

• develop a targeted and phased agenda

• build alliances and find voices

• build lines of access to decision making

• know the law and use it

• know the institution’s fact and figures and use them

• be systematic

• focus on actual outcomes