The research aims at examining the agency of women in the higher education system in Serbia, as well as strategies and ways in which women come to decision-making positions or are prevented from reaching them.
The key research questions are:
- What are the similarities, and what are the differences between the career developments of women and of men who are in decision-making positions in the higher education system in Serbia?
- What practices/strategies (institutional and personal, formal and informal) are in foundations of careers of women and men in decision-making positions in the higher education system in Serbia?
- Are there specific conditions of family life of female scientists that are more suitable for the development of their careers i.e. that support their career progression?
- What attitudes are at the heart of the alliances that women in leadership positions make with their colleagues, subordinates and superiors, in order to improve working conditions in the scientific community? And what attitudes are at the heart of the alliances of men in leadership positions?
- Are there institutional policies that support women in leadership positions to engage in improvement of positions of women in higher education? And what drives men in leadership positions to engage in such activities?
- What are the differences between the time consumption of men and women? What are the sources of these differences?
Our aim is to map work-family reconciliation practices of men and women, further, support and obstacles to personal advancement in the higher education system, and their career paths. We also expect research to provide data important for the Government’s work in the area of the reconciliation of the private and professional sphere of the academic workers in Serbia. The research conclusions will serve as a basis for the formulation of recommendations in order to improve multisectoral cooperation and capacity building of institutions active in the field of education and social policies.
We also expect results to contribute to the promotion of principles of gender equality in all aspects of scientific and educational work, and consequently to the advancement of the position of women in science and education, in particular women engaged in technical-technological sciences, as these are the fields where they are the most underrepresented.
The project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, University of Fribourg Switzerland, Performing and Responsive Social Sciences PERFORM, HELVETAS Swiss Cooperation and Republic Secretariat for Public Policy.