Last name analysis of mobility, gender imbalance, and nepotism across academic systems

In biology, last names have been used as proxy for genetic relatedness in pioneering studies of neutral theory and human migrations. More recently, analyzing the last name distribution of Italian academics has raised the suspicion of nepotism, with faculty hiring their relatives for academic posts. Here, we analyze three large datasets containing the last names of all academics in Italy, researchers from France, and those working at top public institutions in the United States. Through simple randomizations, we show that the US academic system is geographically well-mixed, whereas Italian academics tend to work in their native region. By contrasting maiden and married names, we can detect academic couples in France. Finally, we detect the signature of nepotism in the Italian system, with a declining trend. The claim that our tests detect nepotism as opposed to other effects is supported by the fact that we obtain different results for the researchers hired after 2010, when an antinepotism law was in effect.

A Marriage Rooted in Reason

Chapter six presents a case study of one of the most famous and influential academic couples of the era: Johann Christoph and Luise Adelgunde Viktorie Gottsched. In addition to Frau Gottsched’s successful career as an author, she was also an avid amateur musician. For much of her life, keyboard and lute playing served as a means of expressing optimism that human beings could improve themselves and the world around them by cultivating their unique rational faculties. In later years, as her relationship with her husband began to fray, her faith in rationalist philosophy suffered, and she endured a crisis of both body and spirit. This chapter presents an account her musical activities within the framework of her courtship and marriage. Though Bach was a neighbor and collaborator, the Gottscheds seem to have preferred the music of other composers.

Dual Career Academic Couple in the Higher Educational Institutions: Women Academic Perspective

Recently, dual career academic couples are increasing in the higher educational institutions in Malaysia and across the globe. Migrant dual-career academic tend to have a positive impact on the academic world with regards to diversity and competitive workforce. However, dual career academic couples particularly the women academic face a unique set of challenges within the academic world and family. These couples may work separately with different organizations to thrive toward their career goals. Studies showed that one of the problems of pursuing two careers in the different geographic area is often encountered by dual-career couples, especially for women in academic dual-career marriages in balancing familial roles and professional responsibilities. Some studies suggested that couple hiring policy is necessary for the universities that would impact on quality of work and diversity. In line with, the goals of the discussion are: (a) to discuss the importance of dual career couples (b) to know the common barriers are encountered by dual career academic couples in their work and families (c) to review the Dual Hire Policy for effectively managing their two careers and work-life balance.

Academic mobility in the context of linked lives

Academic mobility is usually perceived and discussed as a positive phenomenon — as a prerequisite for building a competitive and successful economy and quality science. Academic mobility has now become essential to building a successful academic career in many research domains. On the policy level the negative impact of academic mobility on researchers’ lives and especially women’s is usually overlooked and marginalized. In my paper I focus on academic mobility in the context of academics’ relationships and family lives. I ask two research questions: What is the impact of mobility on researchers’ relationships? How does mobility affect the lives of the partners of mobile researchers? The analysis is based on i) 16 in-depth interviews with academics from various fields of research about their experiences of long-term fellowships abroad in the early stages of their academic path and on ii) 16 in-depth joint interviews with Czech dualcareer academic couples. The analysis shows that academic mobility has a great and significant impact on the family and partnership lives of migrating researchers. For many, especially the partners of migrating researchers, mobility means they have to make many concessions in their private and family lives. I conclude that the impact of academic mobility on people’s partnership lives is highly gendered because couples’ work and family lives are closely intertwined.