Ninth Level Ireland

“After 429 years, the male dominance of the leadership of Irish universities has been shattered with the election of Linda Doyle as provost of Trinity College. Women now head up four of the 10 universities, or 40%. It is a striking figure when compared with the European average of 14%. This will help break the equation between masculinity and power and it is symbolically important. But will it make a difference? …” (more)

[Pat O’Connor, Irish Times, 15 April]

“Do you ever think about why your degree is called a Bachelor’s or a Master’s? Where did these titles come from? Why do university degrees confer such male-orientated titles? How does this make our graduates feel? …” (more)

[Christine Broughan and Tahereh Riahi, Wonkhe, 9 April]

“This weekend will mark a momentous occasion in the history of Trinity College Dublin. For the first time in its 429-year history, Ireland’s oldest university will elect a female leader. The appointment of a new, female provost reflects a welcome trend in higher education leadership, with four of the last seven presidential appointments in Irish colleges being women …” (more)

[Ross Woods, Irish Times, 6 April]

“In Ireland for the first time, after 429 years, the male dominance of the Presidency of Irish public universities has been shattered. Women have been appointed to head up four of the 10 public universities (University of Limerick – Prof Kerstin Mey; Munster Technological University, Prof Maggie Cusack; Maynooth University, Prof Eeva Leoinen; and one of the three women in contention in Trinity College Dublin) …” (more)

[Pat O’Connor, Irish Examiner, 28 March]

“Until last summer, no Irish university had been led by a woman. Next week, four of 10 universities will be led by women. The election of Trinity College Dublin’s first female provost will cap a remarkable 12 months for Ireland’s traditionally male-dominated higher education leadership, with almost half of the country’s universities soon to be led by women. Until last summer none of Ireland’s universities had ever appointed a female president, but that 428-year tradition of male leadership was brought to an end last July …” (more)

[Jack Grove, Inside Higher Ed, 2 April]

“I was genuinely excited when I got my timetable this term, because it looked like one of my lecturers might be a woman. I had never had a female lecturer in that subject before. In fact, I had never had a female lecturer in most subjects before. When it turned out that the timetable was wrong and that all of my lecturers for this term are men, I was disappointed – but only mutedly so …” (more)

[Megan O’Driscoll, University Times, 17 March]

“his week, Maynooth University announced that Prof Eeva Leinonen will begin her term as president of the college next October, making her the third-ever female president of an Irish university. Despite its considerable importance in the context of higher education, it obtained comparatively little media attention. This Editorial Board previously wrote that the University of Limerick’s appointment of a female interim president was a step in the right direction, but would not ‘shatter the glass ceiling’ …” (more)

[University Times, 14 March]

“Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD has today marked International Women’s Day by launching the National Gender Equality Dashboard for Higher Education Institutions. The dashboard, developed by Maynooth University, provides an invaluable resource on gender equality in Higher Education Institutions …” (more)

[gov.ie, 8 March]

“Sir, – A decision has been made to use predicted grades again for the 2021 Leaving Certificate, as well as optional actual exams. When teachers and schools are predicting the grades of their students, they should be aware that in 2020 there was a bias in favour of female students and against male students. How do I know there was bias against males? The Department of Education report on the predicted grades in 2020 says so and has some interesting data to illustrate it …” (more)

[Oliver Murphy, Irish Times, 2 March]

“It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that the first woman to be elected to a certain office will be subject to more scrutiny than her male predecessors. Supposedly acting as a litmus test for the suitability of any and every woman for the role, the first woman will be watched carefully by those waiting to seize upon something that can be used to justify their assumptions about women in general …” (more)

[Ellen McHugh, Trinity News, 13 February]

“A new report, published by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) today, has revealed that the number of students at Irish higher educational institutions has steadily increased and that there is now a higher proportion of female students attending Universities or Associate/Affiliate Colleges than men. The report – The Social and Living Conditions of Higher Education Students in Ireland – is part of the Eurostudent VII Report, which collates comparable data on student life across Europe …” (more)

[Maura O’Shea, HEA, 10 February]

“The University experience for Irish women has progressed drastically over the past century. Isabel Marion Weir Johnston, the first woman to register to study at Trinity, was not allowed to attend lectures and she was only permitted to sit exams. For decades women were not allowed to join all-male societies, had to dine separately from men and were subject to curfews …” (more)

[Emma Nevin, The College View, 10 February]

“Yesterday, the three candidates for the upcoming Provost election were confirmed. For the first time ever, all three candidates are women and Trinity will see its first female provost in its 429-year history. My immediate response was to celebrate this incredible feat. The pandemic has made ‘living through history’ a daily occurrence, but the significance of this news was not lost on me …” (more)

[Mairead Maguire, University Times, 7 February]

“In academia gender bias is often figured in terms of research productivity and differentials surrounding the academic work of men and women. Alesia Zuccala and Gemma Derrick posit that this outlook inherently ignores a wider set of variables impacting women, and that attempts to achieve cultural change in academia can only be realised, by acknowledging variables that are ultimately difficult to quantify …” (more)

[LSE Impact Blog, 26 January]

“Earlier this year Prof Kerstin Mey shattered one of the highest and hardest glass ceilings there is in Ireland. Her appointment as president of University of Limerick in July ended a 428-year tradition of men only running Irish universities. By her own admission, the full significance of it only sank in later …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 24 November]

“The IUA welcomes the launch of the Gender Equality Enhancement Fund of €300,000 annually and the approval of the second cycle of 15 SAL Initiative posts. Our universities are fully committed to working with Minister Simon Harris and the HEA to further promote gender equality across the sector as part of a broad-based equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) agenda …” (more)

[IUA, 9 October]

“Gender stereotyping is resulting in girls’ performance at maths being significantly underestimated by teachers and parents from primary school onwards, according to new research. A study of 8,000 pupils in Ireland concludes that the perception that girls are not as good as boys is occurring at all levels of achievement, with the gap widest for high-performing girls …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 9 October]

“New research shows that female graduates in Ireland expect to earn up to 14% less than their male counterparts a year. The latest global talent market research by Irishjobs.ie, in partnership with employer brand specialist Universum, reveals a significant difference in the annual salary expectations of male and female graduates …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 22 September]

“Data gender has only been provided for three core subjects, leaving education experts blind as to the true picture, say Professors Pat O’Connor, Delma Byrne, and Selina McCoy. The Leaving Certificate was cancelled on May 8 to be replaced by the teachers’ subjective judgments on what percentage mark they thought each of their students might have received in the Leaving Certificate …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 8 September]

“Women researchers are less likely to comment on academic work, and it shows a subtle gender bias in academia. If women are less likely to comment, they could be excluded from or marginalized in important scholarly debates and networks …” (more)

[Cary Wu, Rima Wilkes and Sylvia Fuller, Academic Matters, 19 August]