IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v30y2023i5p1709-1724.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Cruel optimism” in the universities: A discursive‐deconstructive reading of promising promotional projects of gender equality

Author

Listed:
  • Rosie R. Meade
  • Elizabeth Kiely
  • Órla O’Donovan

Abstract

The article illuminates how gender inequality in Ireland's higher education sector continues to be constituted at policy and at local institutional levels as a problem that requires ‘fixing the women”. It analyses two gender equality projects' discursive materials targeting female academics in Irish universities, showing that while these projects embrace elements of feminist praxis and critique, they ultimately propagate “cruel optimism”. They do this by exhorting women academics' subjectification to burdensome practices of strategizing, self‐auditing and self‐promotion, lured by the promise of awards that only a few will attain. Presented are two cases of what we call “promising promotional projects” that we have encountered in our work in our university. We use the term “projects” to refer to time‐limited, bounded interventions that respond to “gender equality” as a field of government, where problems have been diagnosed and where practicable and pragmatic solutions are seen to be required. Our discursive‐deconstructive reading of these projects' discursive materials highlights how gender equality projects target women for “promotion” through mobilizing gendered technologies of the self.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosie R. Meade & Elizabeth Kiely & Órla O’Donovan, 2023. "“Cruel optimism” in the universities: A discursive‐deconstructive reading of promising promotional projects of gender equality," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1709-1724, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:30:y:2023:i:5:p:1709-1724
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.13008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13008
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.13008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Theresa O'Keefe & Aline Courtois, 2019. "‘Not one of the family’: Gender and precarious work in the neoliberal university," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 463-479, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna‐Liisa Kaasila‐Pakanen & Pauliina Jääskeläinen & Grace Gao & Emmanouela Mandalaki & Ling Eleanor Zhang & Katja Einola & Janet Johansson & Alison Pullen, 2024. "Writing touch, writing (epistemic) vulnerability," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 264-283, January.
    2. Marta Vohlídalová, 2021. "The Segmentation of the Academic Labour Market and Gender, Field, and Institutional Inequalities," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 163-174.
    3. Katherine Doerr, 2024. "“Flying under the radar”: Postfeminism and teaching in academic science," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 710-726, May.
    4. Danielle Docka‐Filipek & Lindsey B. Stone, 2021. "Twice a “housewife”: On academic precarity, “hysterical” women, faculty mental health, and service as gendered care work for the “university family” in pandemic times," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 2158-2179, November.
    5. Joanna M. Davies & Lisa Jane Brighton & Florence Reedy & Sabrina Bajwah, 2022. "Maternity provision, contract status, and likelihood of returning to work: Evidence from research intensive universities in the UK," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1495-1510, September.
    6. Omar Manky & Sergio Saravia, 2022. "From pure academics to transformative scholars? The crisis of the “ideal academic” in a Peruvian university," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 971-987, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:30:y:2023:i:5:p:1709-1724. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.