Women make up just 18% of the total number of professors at ETH [1]. Unfortunately, a similar pattern can be observed at many other leading academic institutions around the world. One factor contributing to this disproportionately low number is the fragility of womens’ success in such positions.
What is it that makes women’s success in academic leadership fragile? And what can we do to make it more robust?
As Janet Hering, director of EAWAG, writes in her recent reflection, women “must achieve success within academic systems that have been shaped by stereotypical and gender-biased expectations.” They (and other minorities) are part of a system who’s “norms favour the advancement of men.”
Solving this problem requires a collective effort throughout an organization, one for which we cannot afford to wait. According to Janet Hering, “diversifying academic leadership will be critical to ensuring the future success of the academic enterprise”.
Sources
[1] ETHZ Diversity