"That's not how I see it": Female and male perspectives on the academic role

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a piece of empirical work that examines gender differences in how academics make sense of performance within university business schools in the UK. Design/methodology/approach - The research reported draws on data collected using a life history and repertory grid methodology with male and female interviewees from two university business schools. Findings - The findings are discussed in relation to how academics understand what is valued about their role and what they believe the organisation rewards and values when it comes to promotion. Gender differences are shown to exist in the ways women and men define the academic role and in what they think is important both to themselves and the institution. Originality/value - The paper presents original data on gender differences within a business school context.