Women's catch 22 : reaching the top in an academic career

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This paper examines why there is a continual struggle for women in Sweden to reach gender equality within academic professions even after ten years of governmental policies promoting gender equality. The question asked is: Given the recent reforms promoting gender equality and changing context of the work environment, how do women's coping strategies affect her possibility of achieving higher positions within academia? Using statistical data analysis I can show a pattern where women academics tend not to return to their place of work after a period of long-term sick leave. Through empirical analysis of a focus group interview of female academics own experiences of doing career in a male dominated area is evaluated. I conclude that changed working conditions for women, with an increasing amount of deprofessionalizing tasks, have lead to a situation where an increasing number of women lower their work commitment as a coping strategy or exit the profession temporarily or permanently through a period of sick leave. Both these factors, produced by the work place, prevent women from reaching top positions within Swedish universities. Thus, while women's possibilities for making a career in academia formally has been strengthen new obstacles preventing advancement within the organization have appeared. This study brings two of these new and hidden discriminati...