Tackling Gender Challenges in UK Business and Management Schools

Dr Natalya Radko, Prof Valerie Stead and Dr Yunyan Li

At the forefront of educating our future leaders and managers, Business and Management Schools (B&M Schools) are well-placed to shape the development of inclusive cultures in organisations and to influence national and global policy and research agendas. However, women’s progress in academic roles, both globally and in the UK, lags behind men’s, especially at the professorial and senior leadership levels. This reflects a persistent overall pattern of gender inequality in Higher Education. This blog illustrates the scope of gender inequality in academic roles in UK B&M Schools and how research being undertaken by Lancaster University as part of an EU-funded international project is working to tackle gender challenges in their organisation.

In UK Higher Education, academic careers progress through several stages, typically entering as doctoral researchers studying for a PhD, through to early career positions such as research assistant and lecturer (also termed assistant professor), with progression to senior lecturer (or associate professor), through to reader, with professor as the top rank. Statistics show that the percentage of women at the top of their academic career in professorial roles has seen minimal progress in the UK over the past decade, increasing only by one percentage point year over year from 2013/14 to 2019/20, and in 2020/21 the number of women in professorial roles has remained at 28% (Figure 1). Academic staff employed on other senior academic contracts (Head of School or Senior manager) comprised 40% of women in 2020/21. This has gradually increased from 33% in 2013/14 (HESA, 2020/21).

Regarding UK B&M Schools, there is a 6% gender imbalance in favour of men; double the imbalance in the UK universities’ labour market. Early career gender parity disappears with career progression: 48% of lecturers are women, while only 26% of professors are women, at 2% less than the overall number of women professors in HE (Śliwa et al., 2022).

Research projects such as the international EU funded research project Transparent and Resilient Gender Equality Through Integrated Monitoring, Planning, and Implementation (TARGETED-MPI)[1] are therefore vital to address these persistent challenges. TARGETED-MPI aims to tackle gender inequality issues in Business and Management (B&M) Schools across Europe and beyond through the development, implementation, and monitoring of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs). This four-year project with partners from B&M schools in five countries includes a UK research team at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS). In the UK, the Equalities Act of 2010/2017 offers significant oversight regarding gender equality and broader EDI concerns and shapes policy at B&M Schools. This is complemented by a growing recognition of the size and shape of EDI and gender equality issues through initiatives such as the Athena SWAN award which supports actions to advance gender equality within higher education (HE). LUMS has an Athena SWAN Bronze award, which demonstrates its commitment to gender equality with an action plan to measure progress moving forward.

The TARGETED-MPI research at LUMS has been instrumental in taking forward a commitment to gender equality through the development of a Gender Equality Plan (GEP). The GEP is based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted by the project to identify six areas of focus for action: Gender-disaggregated data development, career development, policy: work-life, internal and external communications, culture and values, and gender equality awareness raising.

This bespoke approach has highlighted the potential to increase understanding of where gender imbalance and inequality occur at LUMS. An important aim is to enhance consistency and transparency across practices and processes to enable and sustain equitable ways of working. For example, a key target of the LUMS GEP is to develop and harmonise gender-disaggregated data to provide a comprehensive and regularly updated set of numerical indicators to assess the status of gender equality in LUMS. This initiative includes the generation of datasets that will provide measures of gender balance in different aspects of academic life. A Gender Equality (GE) data report has been developed to communicate data for the last three years (2019-2022), identifying trends and areas for improvement and providing a basis to monitor the ongoing progress of GE at LUMS. Another key initiative is focused on career development, with a series of career development workshops, support for promotion information and guidance, and the establishment of a LUMS mentoring programme. These actions aim to enhance equal access to career development across career stages and tracks.

Engaging in the TARGETED-MPI project is providing us with valuable lessons about gender equality planning and implementation that can help to tackle persistent gender inequalities in B&M schools (Leitch et al, 2021):

• A bespoke approach. Focusing on specific areas of importance to our own B&M school has been important in gaining commitment to implement actions that are integrated into the broader institutional practice of LUMS. Taking a bespoke approach at LUMS has enabled close collaboration with internal stakeholders and leveraging existing GE initiatives such as Athena SWAN to realise actions;
• The commitment of senior decision-makers. The participation and commitment of key decision makers are central to the success of Gender Equality Plans. At LUMS, this commitment has been to resource an EDI infrastructure including an EDI committee, action groups and a termly EDI forum to drive forward change and monitor progress;
• Communication and engagement. Communication strategies that engage internal stakeholders have been essential in the development, implementation, and monitoring of gender equality plans to encourage inclusivity and overcome resistance.

This blog is adapted from a case study of the TARGETD-MPI project developed for the LUMS Gender Matters project.

[1] The TARGETED-MPI project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 872260) for the period 2020-2024 with partner universities from 5 countries: Athens University of Economics and Business (Project Lead, Greece), Lancaster University Management School (UK), Stockholm School of Economics (Switzerland), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), Brunel University (UK).