On Hierarchies and Interdependence in Academia

• This interview study of a Swedish Faculty of Education investigates the experience of the employees in an organisation with a distinct order of rank. In this faculty the full time researcher (usually a man) is perceived to be higher up in the hierarchy compared to the full time teacher (usually a woman). The feeling of being in a position of dependency to a superior and to owe that person loyalty is another theme expressed during the interviews. According to the informants any possible criticism concerning scientific agenda as well as the spoken and performed attitudes towards employees is silenced by the power relations. As a consequence, gender stereotypical expectations of male and female employees are reported to be left unquestioned during seminars, courses and other work meetings. We discuss how these power relations are given different meanings by the informants. The descriptions given by the PhD students constitute our main interest. We argue that these ranks of power will affect discussions concerning the work place as well as the production of science, and that these discussions entail strong restrictions for what and whom you may criticise. These restrictions may reproduce, rather than change, well known relations of power inside and outside Academia.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

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