Support Networks of Women in Higher Ed: A Crucial Pit Stop in Busy and Challenging Paths

"Women in higher education are navigating complex paths in academic fields, paths that see a steady increase in participation by women but still have more men in leadership positions. Support networks play a crucial role in helping women advance. Tessens, White and Web explain in “Senior Women in Higher Education Institutions: Perceived Development Needs and Support” that allocating resources, setting up of networks and gatekeeping for leadership positions is considered a gendered activity in academia.

Through my informal conversations with women faculty, staff and graduate students at the University of Minnesota, I saw how women in higher education engage with and react to support networks. The focus of my conversations was four-pronged: why women participate in support networks, what they get out of it, what makes the groups work and what are some of the tensions and challenges faced."

Read the rest of the piece here (I am the author :) and thus the link love) : http://qap2.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/whe.20193/full