Page 154 - Through the gate of the neoliberal academy • Herschberg
P. 154

152 CHAPTER 5
they seemingly did not want to risk a situation that she would be hired. Here I show how internal politics can be used to change outcomes a committee made collectively. Interestingly, a reason why the women committee members had been asked to join the committee was to help hiring a woman staff member. After the formal deliberations had taken place, the men committee members negated the women’s ostensible valuable position in the committee, as they did not include them in the informal deliberation.
5.7 Discussion
The aim of this study was to capture the practicing of gender as it unfolds during academic hiring procedures for early-career positions. Studying the practicing of gender in real time helps making visible what normally remains invisible (Martin, 2001). This study answers to the call for more insight into practicing gender in collective contexts, such as hiring committees (Martin, 2006). Through observations of five hiring procedures I got unique insight into group dynamics and the way committee members practice gender collectively as well as the role of power in the collective practicing of gender. Collective practicing of gender in hiring committee settings can be harmful, as the outcomes of collective deliberations have a considerable effect on the applicants. I have shown how committee members practice gender in relation to other committee members when they compose committees, have discussions, and make decisions, and how committee members practice gender in the evaluation of candidates who are deemed ‘above the bar’. This study shows the complexity and the multiple layers of practicing gender in academic hiring. I will discuss two inter- related practicing dynamics. First, the practicing of gender as a group process in academic hiring and, second, the power processes in the collective practicing of gender. For analytical purposes, I will disentangle gender practicing and power, but I acknowledge that this is an analytical distinction, as in practice they are intertwined.
Practicing gender as a group process
I will first elaborate on the practicing of gender in hiring procedures for assistant professors. I have shown how the committee members in my study more often supported qualified men candidates than qualified women and how they more often disqualified qualified women candidates than qualified men. What I could uncover because of my observations is how committee members practice gender in interaction with each other and how they influence each other. I have observed how the course of the decision-making process and the outcomes are very much





























































































   152   153   154   155   156