While there are many women at Czech universities and in research, they are not among the decision makers. Only 25% of associate professors and 15% of full professors are women. This makes us something of an oddity in Europe, notes Danuše Nerudová, the rector of Mendel University. So what can be done to address this? Universitas asked five women – two rectors and three deans – for their opinions. The solutions proposed include supporting female academics and researchers who decide to have children, looking for women conference guests as well as men, and being aware of sexism and belittling the ambitions of women.
1) Do you think there should be more women in university management?
2) What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
3) What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
prof. Ing. Hana Machková, CSc.
Rector of the University of Economics in Prague
Do you think there should be more women in university management?
Definitely. Women can have the same roles in Czech university management that men have. For example, bursars have traditionally been men, as it is a top position that involves managing finances. Nowadays, a number of bursars are women, including at the largest universities with billion crown budgets such as Charles University and Masaryk University. However, the office of bursar is not an elected office; bursars are selected through a regular recruitment process.There is a problem with the office of rector as the top position in university management. At public universities, there are only two female rectors – at the University of Economics in Prague and at Mendel University in Brno, even though there are more female rectors at private universities. In the Czech Rectors Conference, 25% of rectors in the Chamber of Private Higher Education Institutions are women. There is also a low ratio of women among deans, which is another elected office vested with high authority and responsibility. I think women are largely discouraged by the election process itself because they are less competitive, but also mainly because they are worried about the factors that go with elections, such as aggressive forms of campaigns on social media, which are unfortunately often associated with elections.
I am a great fan of supporting young women once they have come back from parental leave. This is where the whole problem starts.
What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
I am not in favour of quotas or any other preferential treatment for women in their careers and I think it would be demeaning to use these types of support at universities. However, I am a great fan of supporting young women once they have come back from parental leave. This is where the whole problem starts because it means a career delay for women. This is why we already have a kindergarten, which is now being expanded with a new section to help older children prepare for school, and we are considering introducing other types of support to help women restart their research careers after parental leave. Another problem that needs to be mentioned is the lack of care services for the elderly. The women who aspire to become part of top university management usually have grown-up children, but they also have to deal with problems related to taking care of their parents, which is another reason why they are reluctant to aim for the top positions. I am speaking from personal experience.
What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
None. However, I believe that my story will inspire my female colleagues to become more interested in the top positions. By the way, I am the second woman to be elected rector in the modern history of the University of Economics and I am still in touch with Professor Durčáková, who was the first. She has supported me for a long time, actually, for my whole professional career.
prof. Ing. Danuše Nerudová, Ph.D.
Rector of Mendel University in Brno
Do you think there should be more women in university management?
First of all, I have to say that we are a bit of an oddity in Europe. In the European Woman Rectors Association, there are many more women from other countries than from the Czech Republic. We recently welcomed a delegation from the Bavarian Rectors’ Conference in Brno, including their chairwoman. As you can see, Germany is proof that you can have not only a female prime minister but also a chairwoman of the rectors’ conference. But to get back to your question: yes, I think there should be more women in university management. And that’s because any disproportion like this is unnatural and results in more disproportions.
We are a bit of an oddity in Europe. In the European Woman Rectors Association, there are many more women from other countries than from the Czech Republic.
What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
Personally, I am against quotas and see them as something almost demeaning. I think that the key factor is the internal culture at the university and accepting the fact that the equal opportunities problem is real. Obviously, the second step is that the university and faculty leaders have to serve as role models and ask questions – such as why is there no woman on the main panel at this particular conference. It is rarely the case that there are no experts on the topic who are women – it’s simply that the organiser did not think about it from this perspective. Other steps also have to be taken with regard to the career options for women at universities, such as supporting part-time positions etc.
What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
We are currently the only university in the Czech Republic undertaking a gender audit in cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Based on the results of the audit, we will, of course, take measures to improve equal opportunities. Another project I would like to implement is offering mentoring to talented women and motivating them to compete for leadership roles. Together with other women in the university management team, I am already planning that we will try to identify promising female colleagues and share our experience with them. Another tool I would like to introduce is something called “be compliant or explain”. This means that, in general, you must follow the rule of equal opportunities, and if you have to break it, you have to explain why. Experience shows that this positive approach works better than restrictions.
JUDr. Zdenka Papoušková, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty of Law at Palacký University in Olomouc
Do you think there should be more women in university management?
I think the number of women anywhere does not really matter. I cannot see any reason why there should or should not be more women in Czech university management. What matters is the quality of work and whether the person working in university or faculty management does a good job and works for the good of the university and in line with the overall social trends and the economic situation at universities.
The question we should actually ask is whether women want to be in university management? Unfortunately, I am convinced that women mostly do not want to get into university management, just as they do not want to get into politics. This does not mean that they do not have the right skills. They do! But they face a number of challenges today and want to tackle them as best as they can. It is very difficult to balance family life with a position like this. And the attitude of male academics is also important. If there is a competent woman who can take on this responsible and demanding job, men should not take her aspiration as an attack on themselves. They should work together with her and create a trusting working relationship. Only then can her work be beneficial not only for her university or faculty but for the whole university system in the Czech Republic.
The attitude of male academics is also important. If there is a competent woman who can take on this responsible and demanding job, men should not take her aspiration as an attack on themselves.
What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
I think that academia has a tradition of not distinguishing between women and men. Just look at the conditions for habilitation and PhD study programmes… Nevertheless, I do not think it would be right to give women preferential treatment with quotas or grants, because, in the end, it would have the exact opposite effect. Women certainly deserve to get support from universities as their employers. However, I think it should take the form of creating favourable conditions and a social environment, such as offering child care, so that women can focus on their work, whether they work in the top positions or not. And the situation would probably also improve with better financial conditions. Salaries at universities should be at a level that would allow women to take care of the support needed themselves. I think that this could also lead to a higher number of women in management.
What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
When I was choosing my vice-deans three years ago, I wanted to have skilled people on the team from the whole faculty, across all the departments and fields. Another criterion was the gender balance. The result is that three of the five vice-deans are women. Our faculty currently has eight departments and their management is balanced too, with four women and four men. This situation is a natural result of the process – no extra measures were necessary. And I believe it will continue to be this way. I can honestly say there are very capable and competent men and women at our faculty, and I am very grateful for that.
Mgr. et Mgr. Pavlína Springerová, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hradec Králové
Do you think there should be more women in university management?
It would be nice if there were because women usually have to overcome more obstacles on their way to top positions than men and have to deal with a lot of preconceptions and gender stereotypes. With such an experience, they are then more likely to make sound and unbiased decisions.
Despite the current situation, I am not in favour of quotas. Universities must create an open and non-discriminatory environment that will motivate all those who have the right potential to compete for top positions.
What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
While I think the current situation – where women are sorely lacking in the top roles and their position is not entirely equal – is very unfortunate, I am not in favour of quotas or any form of positive discrimination. Universities must create an open and non-discriminatory environment that will motivate all those who have the potential to compete for top positions. The example of my own faculty, where there were three women and one man in my dean's office last year (and now the ratio is fifty-fifty), tells me that we do not need institutionalised incentives. An equal approach that simply looks for the best people will suffice.
What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
The University of Hradec Králové has not taken any special measures. The candidates for the managerial positions are elected by academic senates in accordance with the Higher Education Act. In the case of vice-deans and vice-rectors, they are chosen by the respective dean or rector and the candidates are also approved by the senate. In other words, it depends on whether the gender balance is reflected in the rector’s or dean’s decision and whether the academic senate chooses to take it up as an issue and exert pressure in this area.
PhDr. Alice Němcová Tejkalová, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University
Do you think there should be more women in university management?
I was never in favour of social engineering in the sense of – ok, let’s do this, let’s increase the number of women here or the representation of minorities there. However, it only seems right to me to compare the statistics, to say how many women and how many men there are in university management, and to ask why. When you look at the number of female associate professors and full professors at Charles University, which is obviously the pool of female candidates for top university management, you can see that the numbers have been steadily rising, which is great. At the same time, when you look at the ratio of men to women twenty years ago, it is not surprising that women are in the minority in university and faculty management. For a long time, academia was extremely prejudiced against women. I have heard dozens of alarming stories about the behaviour towards my female colleagues or their friends, often on the part of respected authorities in their field. This included belittling their ambitions, making unsavoury jokes or underestimating their abilities when they needed to balance careers and family. At the same time, I can feel that the atmosphere has changed in recent years. I once experienced something similar in the Czech TV sports department. You have to start somewhere, and the important thing is that the people who manage an institution are not prejudiced and choose their colleagues based on their abilities and not their gender.
At the same time, I can feel that the atmosphere has changed in recent years. The Charles University management team of the current rector Tomáš Zíma includes several highly-capable female vice-rectors, who made it clear that there is no reason to undervalue women and paved the way for others to follow.
The Charles University management team of the current rector Tomáš Zíma includes several highly-capable female vice-rectors, who made it clear that there is no reason to undervalue women and paved the way for others to follow. When I ran for the office of director of the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, one of the prominent representatives of our faculty asked me whether I ran for the office to wage a “Maiden’s War”. I managed to stay cool and told him that I would have to be very stupid to do that since anyone who knows anything about Czech legends also knows how badly that war ended for the maidens. At that point, he began to take me seriously and the atmosphere of the interview completely changed. However, I have to say that at that moment, I could not believe that it was the beginning of the 21st century. On the other hand, I did win his vote and I think I also partly convinced him that his stereotypical thinking is wrong. Moreover, I never once felt underrated and never met with inappropriate behaviour from the other directors at the Institute – I was the first woman among them. When I then ran for the office of dean, gender was not a publicly discussed topic during the campaign and the rumour is that even though this line of argument was suggested, it was rejected as inappropriate, which shows some progress in thinking. But to return to your question: I think there could already be more women in university management, but I also think that their number is already increasing and that this trend will intensify with the increasing number of women among associate and full professors in academia. The important thing is to have an academic environment that is free of prejudice against women in management and to have selection committees and academic senates that are not prejudiced against female candidates to allow fair competition.
It is also more and more common for male colleagues to ask for changes in their working arrangements, as men are becoming increasingly involved in taking care of children and the household. I cannot see any reason why we should not accommodate their requests as well, for example, by offering working from home.
What measures should universities take to improve the ratio of women?
As regards the career conditions for women at universities, the important thing is to make it possible for them to work on their own terms when they come back from parental leave. This means creating an environment that is flexible enough (in social sciences, this is entirely possible) so that women can work part-time during maternity or parental leave or come back early to their full-time jobs if they want to. Alternatively, if a woman would like to use the full “standard” three years of parental leave to be a stay-at-home mother, there should be someone filling in for her full-time for those three years. This individual approach is definitely worth it when you have motivated employees. However, it can only work if the women concerned play fair as well. They have to clearly state their wishes and then both parties have to come to an agreement and keep it. As regards climbing the career ladder, the reality is that when you are not out of touch with your field for years and maintain at least some contact with it, the ladder is easier to climb. It is also more and more common for male colleagues to ask for changes in their working arrangements, as men are becoming increasingly involved in taking care of children and the household. I cannot see any reason why we should not accommodate their requests as well, for example, by offering that they can still work from home when they have to take care of a sick child or by allowing them to work part-time.
What measures has your university taken to help get more women into university or faculty management?
Besides supporting flexible working arrangements, our faculty also offers kindergarten allowances for the parents of children between two and four years old. This is a measure I implemented when I was in charge of social affairs as a member of the rector’s board. Recently, we also started offering one day per week of working from home to administrative workers with children under ten years old and when their children are sick. And we offer the same option to those who are taking care of an elderly family member. And as regards hiring people, when I ask some of my colleagues for recommendations, they always come up with a male name. Only when you specifically ask whether they also know of any competent woman, they frequently mention a teacher or researcher who is just as good as or even better than the previous person. But the first choice for them is always a man. It will be wonderful when questions like this and the increasing number of women in leadership roles finally make these people think differently. However, you cannot achieve that by trying to artificially balance numbers and ratios.
The author is a journalist in Hospodářské noviny Daily.