EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

126 Equality Guide
confronted with the reluctance of the older staff and the shortage of funds. The productivity
was hampered by feuds between departments and professors and nothing was
done to mend matters. They did not have a say in certain matters and felt they needed
new challenges.
Three men were also disappointed with the atmosphere at work, although it was not
their main motive to leave. They complained about the absence of intellectual debate,
their uninterested colleagues, the absence of an international network, the time-consuming
meetings etc. Five men said the relationships with their superiors were very
hierarchical and even dictatorial. Co-operation was not always appreciated.
5.4.2.2. Views on gender in academic circles 138
Most of the interviewed women (11) and men (10) think gender plays an important
role in the advancement of an academic career, as they can derive from the low number
of women at the academic top. However, very few people gave a circumstantial
explanation. Most researchers think it is not due to overt discrimination, but point to
individual choices, social and cultural factors and organizational aspects. Besides the
explanations below, two men blame the patriarchal atmosphere between supervisors
and PhD-students, others think women are less self-confident in a male-dominated
world or have to fight more to advance to a higher position. Some women said that the
prototype of a scientist is still male and strongly believe that female researchers have to
be better than their male competitors.
5.4.2.2.1. Competitiveness and ambition
Three men and three women think women’s restraints with regard to heavy competition
are crucial for the under-representation of women. They think women are less
competitive and withdraw more often from the race. However, as became clear above,
as many men as women considered the fierce competition a motive to leave the university
and seven male researchers equally regretted this aspect. Moreover, although
eight men clearly chose to do a PhD, seven of the interviewed men did not aspire a
professorship and six of them did not start their research with a clear goal of what they
wanted to achieve. Three men were still in doubt whether to go on or not. What is
striking, is a general absence of career planning and a dim view on the future.
This is different for the female researchers. Although slightly more women (8) than men
said they did not aspire a professorship, only three women did not have a career planning
in mind, and three would have liked to become a professor. As many women as
men made a well-considered choice to do a PhD. Many more women (10) than men
(4) emphasized the necessity of support in the advancement of a career, rather than
ambition or merit. Comparably, eight women sometimes asked themselves whether
they would be able to make it, whereas only three men doubted their capacities.
138 See table 2.8 in the Appendices.