Gendered identities in a university merger – female academics’ identifications in technical fields

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is long-lasting horizontal and vertical segregation between female and male academics in technical fields in Finland. This article takes the lack of female academics as its starting point and focuses on a particular case in Finland: the merger of Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and the comprehensive University of Tampere (UTA), two universities which represented opposite ends in the proportion of female academics in Finland. Interviews of female academics in technical fields in the newly merged university allow studying individuals’ gendered academic identity in the context of a changing organisational identification. Identity is chosen as the analytic tool to approach the interplay and disparities from organisational, disciplinary, and individual perspectives. This research demonstrates the significance of gender for disciplinary and organisational identification in technical fields and in the context of a technical university. Taking a gender-neutral approach relates to identifying with technical disciplines and rejecting identification with the new comprehensive merger university. Whereas, with a gender sensitive approach, the new university may offer more possibilities for the female academics to identify with the organisation.