We Women Are No Good at It’: Networking in Academia Cover Image

We Women Are No Good at It’: Networking in Academia
We Women Are No Good at It’: Networking in Academia

Author(s): Zdenka Šandl
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: AV ČR - Akademie věd České republiky - Sociologický ústav
Keywords: academia; gender; networking; informal social capital

Summary/Abstract: In this article the author investigates networking in an academic milieu in Slovenia to obtain information on the academic staff’s perceptions of how formal and informal connections in academia influence the success of a person’s academic career. The analysis is based on ethnographic research and in-depth interviews with academics in the middle of their academic career. The results of the analysis reveal the existence of two kinds of social networks: one based on patron-client relations, and another based on equal and ‘floating’ partnership cooperation and autonomy. The article focuses on gendered dimensions of academic networking and criticises the existance and impact of a male network on male and female academic career progression.

  • Issue Year: 45/2009
  • Issue No: 06
  • Page Range: 1239-1263
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: English