The Trouble with Equal Opportunities: The case of women academics

Abstract

Women's position in the academic labour market remains a largely marginal one, despite equality legislation in the 1970s and subsequent initiatives at national and local level. This paper examines the development of equal opportunities at just one university, Bristol (UK), in the context of contemporary gender divisions in higher education and more general experience with equal opportunity policies in other sectors of employment. In discussing the possibilities but also limitations of equal opportunities, it raises a number of key questions about both the way in which issues of gender equality are often handled, and the terms on which women's place in the academic profession is understood. We argue for more rigorous empirical data on promotion chances, for tighter arguments on discrimination, and for full recognition of the complex cultural and other institutional barriers to equality.