Abstract:
This research uses the work of Pierre Bourdieu as a starting point for an
examination of women's experiences during the pre-tenure stages of their
academic career. This thesis is based on six semi-structured interviews with six
tenured academic women in the Faculty of Social Sciences at a medium sized
Ontario University. I explore the ranges of experiences that the women report
encountering during their pre-tenure years, as well as demonstrate how these
experiences are gendered. Through my analysis, I find that women's
experiences in academia are shaped by a culture that legitimates their existence
in the academic field insofar as they embody the dispositions that reinforce the
gendered structure of the academic institution. I argue that being measured
according to a prototypical male standard creates difficulties for academic
women during their pre-tenure years.
