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Women have been persistently underrepresented in science, engineering and mathematics disciplines in academic institutions, in both the United States and Brazil. Approaches that intend to solve this problem by “fixing women”–steering women to be more like men—have been unsuccessful in resolving underrepresentation, as well as biased in assuming that men’s careers are optimal models for women to adopt. We describe research findings from the US and European institutions of higher education that demonstrate systems-focused approaches to gender equity, especially approaches that seek to change structures and cultures that perpetuate barriers to women’s success and advancement in academic science. These approaches become strategic when they are selected based on data about the local situation and when they are strategically combined to push on multiple levers of change at multiple levels of the organization. https://revistacontemporaneos.com.br/pathways-to-equity-for-academic-women-in-science-research-based-strategies-for-institutional-transformation-toward-gender-equity/ 

Scholars and practitioners in higher education recognize that transformational change of organizations—especially departments and institutions—is difficult but essential to achieve needed, national-scale improvements in access, quality and equity in STEM instruction and career development. Based on studies of change projects in college mathematics education and gender equity on STEM faculties, we identify and describe a suite of common leadership approaches among change agents who led these projects. We propose that these approaches function as constructs for an emerging framework about change leadership. By observing how change agents lead complex change projects in higher education, we seek to develop theory about leadership for organizational change and to offer practical guidance to such leaders. 

This study examines how feminist academic administrators engender solidarity and practice feminist principles as leaders in United States higher education institutions. We draw from qualitative interview data with 27 self-identified feminist academic leaders about how they carry out this work, what obstacles they face, and the ways that their work disrupts—and is disrupted by—the intensifying neoliberal, managerial tendencies in higher education. Respondents shared experiences of promoting solidarity through their leadership and strove to create inclusive and equitable environments to benefit students, staff, and faculty, and especially minoritized individuals within these groups. Our analysis reveals how these feminist administrators applied a feminist ethic, engendered solidarity in their work, and were often keenly aware of—and willing to contest—the neoliberal context of their institutions and higher education more broadly. Our findings contribute to the sociological and cross-disciplinary literature on feminist leaders in academic institutions and the resistance against neoliberalism and managerialism practices from within academia.