Intra-family Engagement? A Study of Female Academic Staff at the University of Belgrade

Abstract

According to the results of various studies, women remain responsible for most household duties. Th is distribution is also refl ected in the position of women in academia, since the family-dominant model tends to be reproduced within the academic community as well. Th is imbalance is refl ected in the distribution of “lower rank” jobs in academia, and the shift ing of most responsibilities for such jobs to women, leaving men with more time to pursue academic work. Th is situation, originating in the issue of family responsibilities, actually raises academic questions. Th e analysis in the paper is based on empirical insights from a 2017 survey conducted among academic staff at the University of Belgrade, and focuses on the following question: what factors lead to engagements within the family which seek to change patriarchal patterns as expressed in the unequal distribution of domestic and family care work, and which indirectly aff ect the distribution of responsibilities between men and women in the academic sphere?