Women ‘take 15 years more than men’ to become professors

It takes women almost 15 years longer than men to progress to full professorships at top UK universities on average, according to a new study.

The paper, published in Applied Economics, analyses Higher Education Statistics Agency data for Russell Group universities from 2004-05 to 2019-20.

It finds that it took female employees 8.5 years longer than their male colleagues, on average, to achieve associate professor status.

It then took a further 6.1 years more for women to secure full professorships, according to lead author Richard Harris, professor of economics at Durham University.

A theoretical model developed by Professor Harris with Mariluz Mate-Sanchez-Val and Manuel Ruiz Marín, both of the Technical University of Cartagena in Spain, indicated that female academics in Russell Group universities were 6 per cent less likely to be full professors over the period, 4 per cent less likely to be associate professors and 10 per cent more likely to remain in other grades.

The study suggests that discrimination and cultural bias can lead to gender gaps in promotion and increased chances of exiting the sector at each academic grade.

Professor Harris said women’s publications were often discounted and “given a lower weight compared with men”, while they also faced “cultural bias” because they were not afforded the same time and resources to invest in their careers.

“The cost of investment you need to make to be able to achieve career grade steps to get a strong publication record…women find it more costly to make those investments, costly in time, costly in effort,” he said.

“They’re undervalued, so it’s sort of the age-old story really. Women have to prove themselves twice to show that they are as good as men.”

The paper also highlights that institutional equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategies often incorrectly focus on changing women rather than addressing structural issues.

“In EDI policies, you’ve got to actually change the culture, allow for the fact that the system is innately biased, discriminatory,” said Professor Harris.

“EDI policies in universities need to be changes in the culture, not systems for promotion or recruitment that are looking at individuals and take out the gender.”

Campus resource collection: Gender equality in higher education - how to overcome key challenges

In order to improve gender parity, the paper recommends acknowledging gender differences in publication rates and research grant success, which disadvantage women in promotion applications.

It also calls on UK universities to emphasise the importance of organisational culture, evaluation practices and institutional procedures when hiring and promoting both men and women.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com