Women in academic profession and male domination

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of women in the academic teaching profession in the context of the Criminal Police Academy, a Belgrade higher education institution of a typically male-dominant type. The aim of the paper is to describe and analyze women's current position and upward career mobility, as well as to discover the causes and mechanisms limiting their weaker (slower) professional recognition. Multiple case method was deployed, on the basis of data collected from various sources: relevant literature on gender inequality of women in the academic profession, official documents of the institution in which the study was conducted, and personal life stories of women research subjects taken through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that women who are part of a masculine climate in their academic teaching profession and in their personal life, are arguably in a subordinate position compared to men, and accept their position as quite natural. The research was limited to six typical cases, so that the conclusions may be generalized only with the greatest care; however, researchers who are interested in checking the study's objectivity and validity are provided with the adequate basis for further testing. The research shows that personal perspectives and testimonies of women can contribute to a deeper understanding of their disadvantage in academia, while at the same time contributing to the sociology of the 'individual' and the 'qualitative' by expanding the database on gender issues.

Rad predstavlja studiju slučaja o ženama u nastavnoj profesiji u kontekstu Kriminalističko-policijske akademije, visokoškolske ustanove tipično maskulinog tipa. Cilj rada je da opiše i analizira aktuelan položaj i vertikalnu profesionalnu dinamiku žena, da otkrije uzroke i ograničavajuće mehanizme njihove slabije (sporije) profesionalne afirmacije. U istraživanju je korišćena metoda višestrukih slučajeva, a podaci su prikupljeni iz različitih izvora: postojeće relevantne literature o problematici rodne nejednakosti žena u akademskoj profesiji, zvanične dokumentacije ustanove koja je kontekst istraživanja, i iz ličnih životnih priča žena koje su bile predmet istraživanja tehnikom dubinskog polustrukturisanog intervjua. Rezultati studije pokazali su da žene koje su deo maskuline klime u nastavnoj akademskoj profesiji, i ličnom životu, realno imaju podređen položaj u odnosu na muškarce i da svoj položaj prihvataju kao sasvim prirodan. Istraživanje je ograničeno na šest tipičnih slučajeva tako da zaključci ne mogu biti šire generalizovani, ali, istraživačima koji su zainteresovani da provere objektivnost i validnost studije, pruža osnovu za dalje i šire testiranje pretpostavki. Istraživanje pokazuje da lična perspektiva i svedočanstva žena mogu da doprinesu dubljem razumevanju problema njihovog lošijeg kotiranja u nastavnoj akademskoj profesiji, a sociologiji 'individualnog' i 'kvalitativnog' pruža doprinos kroz proširenje baze podataka o rodnoj problematici.