Disrupting the Status Quo? Discrimination in Academic Promotions

Abstract

In June 2016 the HEA Report of the Expert Group stated that there was a need for “radical action” without which they could not guarantee that Higher Education Institutes would “ever be free of gender inequality”. This report was commissioned in the aftermath of the now high profile case of Sheehy Skeffington v. National University of Ireland Galway (DEC-E2014-078) and the controversy surrounding this decision. This article addresses the decision in Sheehy Skeffington v. NUI Galway, the fallout from that decision and the recommendations of the Gender Equality Review as regards recruitment and promotion. In particular, this article looks at that recommendation considered most radical, yet also considered necessary, namely the introduction of mandatory gender quotas. This article seeks to assess why it was deemed necessary for the Expert Review Group to recommend the introduction of mandatory quotas and to posit the question: what happens if the HEIs do not comply with that recommendation?

Keywords: Ireland; Lecturers; Promotion; Quotas; Recruitment; Sex discrimination; Universities