Volume 19 Number 2 December 1994


Sex, Rank and Qualifications at Australian Universities

James E. Everett

Abstract

Surveys of the demographics of academic staff at four Australian universities in 1978/9, 1984 and 1990 show a steadily increasing female participation. But throughout the period, women tended to occupy lower ranks, and to have lower qualifications, than men. This paper examines the extent to which the lower rank of women than men can be explained by their lower qualifications, specifically age, publication, highest degree and length of service. The results provide strong evidence to conclude that at each of the four institutions there are significant and considerable sex differences in rank, not explained by these qualifications, and that these sex discrepancies in rank did not appreciably diminish between 1978/9 and 1990, despite the increased participation of women in the academic workforce over that period.

Download this article.


Keywords

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY; SEX; GENDER; UNIVERSITIES; RANK.


Contact Details

James E. Everett
Department of Information Management and Marketing
The University of Western Australia
Nedlands WA 6009

The author would like to acknowledge the substantial help provided by a reviewer, many of whose suggestions have been incorporated into this discussion.



This page was last updated in November, 1996. Copyright © The Australian Graduate School of Management
Phone: +61 2 9931 9200; Email: eajm@agsm.unsw.edu.au