The under-representation of women in computer science education courses is well documented, and the social and commercial need to address this is widely recognised. Previous literature offers some explanation for this gender imbalance, but there has been limited qualitative data to provide an in-depth understanding of existing quantitative…

The dire implications of navigating the overwhelming whiteness of the education system for Black women is foregrounded by the author's autoethnography about her educational journey and experiences. Within it, the author illustrates the key role of her Black identity - despite being immersed in whiteness-- to provide a strong sense of self, pride…

Gender equality is a high priority for UK universities with research showing that female academics do not progress at the same rate as their male counterparts. Research has been carried out to analyse data across the academic career pathway, from undergraduate student to professorial level, using Uni A as a case study. This research has taken a…

This paper analyses the pedagogical pathways of a group of first-generation Iranian migrant doctors in the UK. It explores the complex system of class production and growing up as a classed subject in Iran, a process that ties young women's educational aspirations to female independence on the one hand and to the modern feminine, heterosexual…

I look at the changes in higher education (HE) and women's lives over the last 50 years, drawing on my recent book "Feminism, Gender & Universities: Politics, Passion & Pedagogies" which is a life history of feminism entering academe. The Robbins Report (cmnd 2154 1963) on HE was published in the same year that I went to…

This paper explores the role played by part-time Women's/Gender Studies (WGS) courses in women's lives in the UK through interviews with 35 women who were among 8000 students who studied one of the UK Open University's undergraduate interdisciplinary WGS courses between 1983 and 1999. A thematic analysis of these interviews shows how these mainly…

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is a public sector organisation, operating at the leading edge of technology and with a 38,000 strong workforce deployed at locations in the UK and overseas. Around 50% of its personnel are technically employed and 40% of all annual vacancies are for the technically competent. Currently, 13.5% of the workforce is female.…

Visual images of students and academics in the UK have traditionally featured men, reflecting the historical predominance of men in these positions. When women were represented, sexist imagery and traditional constructions of femininity were not uncommon. This article explores the ways in which students and academics are constructed in a selection…

The purpose of the present research was to study gender inequality in British and German universities. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with female academics in each country (UK, N = 40; Germany, N = 47). A generational difference of attitude was perceived in academe, with the younger generation clearly more strategic in career…

This paper explores ways in which gendered approaches have limited women's experience of higher education. Using a historical lens with primary examples from the United States and Britain, it demonstrates how beliefs about women over time led to three expectations about their educational participation: initially, that women were not interested in…