Micro-machismo and discrimination in academia: The violation of the right to equality in university

Abstract

The history of the university has been the history of a patriarchal institution traditionally dominated by men. The aim of this article is to show that women have suffered and continue suffering an unequal treatment in academia. The methodology used is qualitative, using forty-three in-depth interviews with academics of a Spanish public university. Experiences and practices that violate the right to equality in academia emerge from their discourses. Among them, we pay special attention to those which can be defined as micro-machismo in labour relationship within the university and related to discrimination against women in the development of professional careers. These results show that gender equality continues being an old aspiration in universities.

Keywords

• inequality
• sexism
• misogyny
• academic career
• higher education
• gender studies