A Standard Academic Career?

Abstract

It is very strange, in some ways, to think of my academic career as standard, and yet in many ways it illustrates some of the typical issues, challenges and opportunities which characterise women’s careers in male-dominated organisations. There are particularities of time, location and background, characteristics which at first glance do not appear to be transferable to other contexts, but which may actually be so. There are also organisational particularities and, of course, interactional and personal ones. The critical moments in my life will be different from many others. I fully appreciate that the opportunities that opened for me did not open for many women in the past, and especially not for women like me. I feel deeply privileged to be working in the public educational system. I still believe that education is important and that, despite the heartaches and reversals, there is no more satisfying arena for a life. Other women may perhaps be less naïve than I, and more adept at learning the lessons of life in the world of higher education. But the similarities are there. This, then, is my story.