Suiting Ourselves: Research Governance in a New Generation University

Abstract

We explore research governance through the case of a new generation university, identifying faultlines, tensions and possibilities in the gender regimes shaping participation in research and research management. The university compares well with other Australian universities for the number of women at senior levels, but has it required women to “pose” as men in order to achieve those aspirations? The university's research development is mixed, with a lack of research depth that is, in part, an effect of gender – unrealised research potential in “pink pockets” of teaching and nursing, though there are similar underperforming “blue pockets” such as accounting. The paper explores gender equity politics in relation to the consequences of a contradiction between a mission and history that value teaching and a policy environment that valorises research.