The academic career in physics as a "deal": Choosing physics within a gendered power structure and excellence as an extra hurdle for women

TL;DR

This study investigates how gendered power structures and the demand for excellence create barriers for women pursuing academic careers in physics, highlighting social, familial, and institutional challenges.

Contribution

It reveals the hidden ways gender influences career choices and experiences in physics, emphasizing excellence as an additional obstacle for women.

Findings

Gender operates as a hidden power structure in physics academia.

Women face social and familial barriers impacting career decisions.

Excellence demands act as invisible hurdles for talented women.

Abstract

The absence of women among academic staff in physics is in the focus of our research. To explore the causes of this gender imbalance, we conducted a nationwide representative survey among Ph.D. students and interviews with Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows. Studying both context factors and agency, we reveal the multiple and hidden ways in which gender operates as a power structure, putting up barriers to women's academic careers. This latent power structure influences women's decision-making and experiences in several ways. In the academic field, it produces unequal competition in a male dominated playground. In the social sphere, choosing a demanding academic career is seen as disrupting gender order. Within the family, women carry a greater burden of family work and give precedence to their partner's career and preferences. Within this social structure, women who decide to follow an academic career feel that they must excel. The demand for excellence acts as an invisible barrier within the gender power structure that prevents talented women from pursuing an academic career in physics.