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Towards a New Gender Agenda and a Model for Change

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Gendered Success in Higher Education

Abstract

Diversity in higher education and research organisations is conducive to research innovation and economic growth Yet, male-dominated educational institutions have been remarkably resistant to change. Little attention has been paid to the identification of ‘best practice’: that is, universities which in their gender profile at senior academic and management level, their organisational culture, their formal and informal leadership and the embedding of gender in their purpose, curriculum and research agenda, exemplify a new gender agenda. Building on the case studies in this book, this chapter focuses on definitions of success and on a model of gendered change, including key external and internal factors as well as specific interventions. It provides important insights into a new gender agenda and how it can be created.

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Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the support of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation for FESTA (2012-2017) (grant number 287526) which provided the context for the writing of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Pat O’Connor

  2. Geary Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Pat O’Connor

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  1. Pat O’Connor
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Correspondence to Pat O’Connor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Arts, Federation University Australia, Mt Helen, Australia

    Kate White

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Pat O'Connor

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O’Connor, P. (2017). Towards a New Gender Agenda and a Model for Change. In: White, K., O'Connor, P. (eds) Gendered Success in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56659-1_13

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