Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
College/Unit
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department/Program/Center
Geology and Geography
Abstract
The rise of neoliberalism is creating inequalities for women as they balance their private lives and career trajectories. Geography as a middle sized discipline bridging the social and physical sciences offers insights into the ways neoliberal policies are felt by early career women (ECW). Using a life course model, this study presents the results of a workshop which sought to explore the ways in which women geographers, in Sweden, perceive and experience obstacles in their career advancement and which coping strategies they put in place to overcome those. The results show the blurring of the ECW ́s work and private lives. We find the experiences of ECW in Swedish geography departments are consistent with those of women in other countries. We conclude that ECW carry extra burdens in their career trajectories as academics due to increasingly neoliberal working environments, lack of mentorship, and an increasing pressure to produce measurable outputs and precarious employment. We argue that initiatives and programs aimed at retaining women in academia need to take on a broader perspective acknowledging the entanglement of women ́s private and public spheres.
Digital Commons Citation
Caretta, Martina Angela and Webster, Natasha Alexander, ""What made me continue was stubbornness": Perspectives of Swedish Women at the Beginning of their Academic Career in Geography" (2016). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2393.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2393
Source Citation
Caretta, M. A., & Webster, N. A. (2016). “Lo que me hizo continuar fue la cabezonería”: Perspectivas de las mujeres suecas al inicio de su carrera académica en Geografía. Investigaciones Feministas, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.5209/infe.52911