Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study

Diversity is one of the main characteristics of social groups, including work-teams. At the same time, gender is an important aspect of diversity in organizations, and gender diversity deals with the equal representation of men and women in the workplace. This article aims to analyze the issue of ge...

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Main Author: Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Administrative Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/10/3/41
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author Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska
author_facet Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska
author_sort Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska
collection DOAJ
description Diversity is one of the main characteristics of social groups, including work-teams. At the same time, gender is an important aspect of diversity in organizations, and gender diversity deals with the equal representation of men and women in the workplace. This article aims to analyze the issue of gender diversity in the academic sector and to evaluate the organizational maturity of particular universities in gender diversity management. To do so, the method of comparative case studies is used—Polish and Spanish higher education institutions are compared. First of all, the author describes the status of men and women in Poland and in Spain, in general (considering different socio-economic factors). In the next part of the article, the gender structure of employment in both the Polish and the Spanish academic sector is presented. Finally, the analysis of gender diversity in two universities is conducted. Additionally, the author introduces the model of organizational maturity in gender diversity management (OMDM), to evaluate organizational attitudes toward gender diversity and the type of gender diversity policy in universities. The findings reveal that, in both Polish and Spanish societies and economies, there still are barriers that cause inequalities between men and women in the labor market. Considering the situation in the academic sector, it can be said that the gender structure of employment is more balanced in Poland than in Spain. At the same time, the highest positions of full professors are mainly occupied by men both in Poland and in Spain. When analyzing the situation in the organizations, employment is more diverse in the Polish university, but both universities face the same problem—too little representation of women in top job positions. Consequently, both institutions are classified as those which are in the preliminary stage in the model of gender diversity management. This study contributes to a better understanding of the issue of gender diversity by comparing the status of men and women in the academic sector in two countries and in two universities. Additionally, the model of OMDM presented in this article can be a useful tool to assess the policy of gender diversity in different organizations.
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spelling doaj.art-ffd7590a1b8f41f482dca3a14eb099862023-11-20T06:27:27ZengMDPI AGAdministrative Sciences2076-33872020-07-011034110.3390/admsci10030041Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case StudyAnna Wieczorek-Szymańska0Faculty of Economics, Finance and Management, Institute of Management, University of Szczecin, 70-453 Szczecin, PolandDiversity is one of the main characteristics of social groups, including work-teams. At the same time, gender is an important aspect of diversity in organizations, and gender diversity deals with the equal representation of men and women in the workplace. This article aims to analyze the issue of gender diversity in the academic sector and to evaluate the organizational maturity of particular universities in gender diversity management. To do so, the method of comparative case studies is used—Polish and Spanish higher education institutions are compared. First of all, the author describes the status of men and women in Poland and in Spain, in general (considering different socio-economic factors). In the next part of the article, the gender structure of employment in both the Polish and the Spanish academic sector is presented. Finally, the analysis of gender diversity in two universities is conducted. Additionally, the author introduces the model of organizational maturity in gender diversity management (OMDM), to evaluate organizational attitudes toward gender diversity and the type of gender diversity policy in universities. The findings reveal that, in both Polish and Spanish societies and economies, there still are barriers that cause inequalities between men and women in the labor market. Considering the situation in the academic sector, it can be said that the gender structure of employment is more balanced in Poland than in Spain. At the same time, the highest positions of full professors are mainly occupied by men both in Poland and in Spain. When analyzing the situation in the organizations, employment is more diverse in the Polish university, but both universities face the same problem—too little representation of women in top job positions. Consequently, both institutions are classified as those which are in the preliminary stage in the model of gender diversity management. This study contributes to a better understanding of the issue of gender diversity by comparing the status of men and women in the academic sector in two countries and in two universities. Additionally, the model of OMDM presented in this article can be a useful tool to assess the policy of gender diversity in different organizations.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/10/3/41heterogeneity of work-teamsdiversity managementgendermodel of gender diversity management
spellingShingle Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska
Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
Administrative Sciences
heterogeneity of work-teams
diversity management
gender
model of gender diversity management
title Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
title_full Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
title_fullStr Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
title_short Gender Diversity in Academic Sector—Case Study
title_sort gender diversity in academic sector case study
topic heterogeneity of work-teams
diversity management
gender
model of gender diversity management
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/10/3/41
work_keys_str_mv AT annawieczorekszymanska genderdiversityinacademicsectorcasestudy