Gender segregation: narratives of women from the academy

Abstract

This article analyzes the narratives of women in the academy regarding the disadvantages they face in relation to their male peers. To this end, three discussion groups were held with the participation of female academics and administrators. In order to contextualize the stories, quantitative data on gender gaps in undergraduate and graduate education in Chile were analyzed. The questions formulated for this work were: what are the narratives that women construct around the practices of domination in the academy? How do they explain the position of disadvantage that they face? The analysis carried out shows the presence of androcentric structures and symbolisms that reify traditional relations and gender stereotypes. Symbolic gender boundaries are visualized in a generalized and commodified labor space, which devalues women’s contributions and promotes a hegemonic-masculine conception of success and productivity.