Page 136 - Through the gate of the neoliberal academy • Herschberg

134 CHAPTER 5
candidate, doubts were often considered insurmountable by the committee.
None of the men who were recommended for hiring fulfilled all criteria the committee was looking for (as illustrated in the section ‘Championing candidates’), but in the decision-making this was never considered as a problem and never led to a lower ranking of the men. In two cases (SSH2 and SSH3), men candidates had published their work in journals that were either classified as low quality or in a different discipline than the particular vacancy. Committee members expressed doubts about whether or not these candidates would be able to make a “switch” to higher quality journals or journals in another discipline. In both cases, the men were recommended for hiring. This suggests that both men and women committee members had enough trust in the potential of men candidates to surmount their
doubts even though they did not meet all the selection criteria.
In the STEM1 case, the committee was divided about the appointment of
candidate Frank, because some committee members argued he did not fit the profile well and the majority of the committee did not applaud his performance the interview and the lecture he had given. They also questioned Frank’s motivation to apply for the position. Yet, Frank’s champion, Derrick, made a continuous effort to convince the other committee members of the suitability of Frank. As Catherine, an external committee member, could not join the final decision-making meeting, she was asked to send her opinion by e-mail. She argued that she would rank another candidate as number one, after which Derrick replied with an extensive answer as to why he wanted to appoint Frank, ending his message with:
I am convinced that the interview setting did not bring out the best in him, but that he certainly looks forward to join our group.
Derrick attributes Frank’s low performance in the interview to the “interview setting”, instead of to Frank. Derrick seemed willing to overlook the doubts of other committee members and made a big effort to convince them of Frank’s suitability for the position. As Derrick was the head of the group and the one who would work closely with the appointed candidate, he had the power to advocate his preferred candidate. Based on Derrick’s arguments, the other committee members agreed on recommending Frank for the position. From the HR advisor I learned that the dean rejected the committee’s recommendation of hiring Frank because the dean did not see Frank as a qualified candidate for the position.
The following exchanges within the STEM3 committee illustrate how doubts are raised for Laura, one of the three remaining candidates in the final evaluation