Daddies on the Scene, Mommies at the Backstage: The Gendered Nature of German Academia

This article discusses the reasons for the under-representation of women in higher positions in German universities. Besides, the reasons underlying this problem are drawn from the suggestions of academics. The challenges faced by the academics throughout their careers, how these challenges differ by gender, and gender discrimination are also discussed to gain an in-depth insight on marginalization of women in science. The data comes from 24 in-depth interviews with academicians in a German University, which has formal equal opportunities policies and gender monitoring systems in place. System based barriers, the mutual exclusivity of career progress and family, curse of caring, lower self-confidence and efficacy levels of women, reluctance of women, lack of supportive mechanisms are stated as some of the factors, leading to under-representation of women in higher positions by respondents. These factors were mostly linked with the old idea generating from gender roles, either implicitly or explicitly.