An analysis of the impact of gender microaggressions on the leaky pipeline in the social sciences

Sexism and gender inequality is a topic of concern for many universities. Although universities and other academic institutions make an effort to mitigate the obstacles and troubles that women academics experience, gender equality still exists. Unfortunately, cultural issues and problems go unnoticed and the leaky pipeline, resulting in few women at the top levels of academia, remains
present. While formal and structural are a frequently studied aspect of gender and diversity, equality and inclusion policies, cultural aspects of academia are not. Therefore, framework of gendered organizations and microaggressions will be applied to a Belgian case study of a social sciences department in a Dutch-speaking university. By focusing on this group of disciplines, the research adds
to the understanding of gender inequality in academia, because the chosen areas mostly concerned STEM or medicine.
This research will look further into the cultural aspect of inequality, by examining how interpersonal interactions can be a possible cause for academia as a hostile environment for women. In the analysis, the perception of the working environment will be taken into account because this is the background in which interpersonal interactions take place. Of great influence herein are the constant
competition, the "publish or perish" culture and socialization into existing gender stereotypes. Building further on these stereotypes, we will look at the existence of gender microaggressions as potentially harmful for women academics. The analysis shows us that open, blatant sexist comments are something from the past, while invalidation and insults still occur. Examples are a lack of respect towards women's authority, being forgotten or performing smaller, yet crucial tasks without being acknowledged. As a final part of this research, we will thus look at how women cope with microaggressions and the reactions of colleagues, both men and women, to these incidents. These coping strategies can be focused on both the problem itself or on the emotion that is the consequence of it.