Working for Gender Equality in the Neoliberal Academia: Between Theory and Practice

ABSTRACT In this executive letter, Barbara Poggio reports her experience as vice-rector of equality and diversity at the University of Trento (Italy), emphasizing the issue of gender asymmetries and the current challenges in the academic environment. The text results from a lecture at the Faculty of Business at the University of Lakehead (Canada) in June 2021. The letter’s purpose is to draw attention to the implication that the predominantly male academic environment has important implications for working conditions and quality of life. In addition, it highlights the impact of the current academic transformation and the affirmation of the neoliberal agenda, emphasizing performativity, excellence, and competition, and the implication in terms of increasing precariousness.