Yoanna Yankova, Jens Ambrasat (RMZ, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)

The study examines whether and to what extent academic culture is gendered. The gendered implications of academic culture are analysed through academics‘ perceptions of workplace culture, their experiences of discrimination and abuse of power, and their reported stress levels. Gender biases are evident across all dimensions examined, leading us to argue that academia operates as a gendered system in which unfavourable working cultures emerge that disproportionately—and more negatively („chilly“)—affect women compared to men. We further demonstrate that gender bias is particularly pronounced at the professorial level, exceeding that observed at earlier career stages. With regard to career conditions, we show that stress levels are especially high among postdoctoral researchers who aspire to a professorship—and higher still among women compared to their male counterparts. We interpret these findings to suggest that the gendered implications of academic culture are closely linked to the ways in which competition in academia is structured, institutionalised, and subjectively experienced.

*recorded and presented on 13.05.2026