Gender and academic career trajectories in Spain: From gendered passion to consecration in a Sistema Endogámico ?

The purpose of this research is to illuminate the processes that give rise to gendered career pathways in Spanish academia, tracing how individuals might move from academic "passion" to academic "consecration" in a setting in which both visible and veiled discrimination persist. By examining academics' testimony, the paper aims to explore the production and reproduction of complex dynamics of power and gender inequalities through informal processes. Qualitative study, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 33 academics (16 female and 17 male) working in academic departments of psychology (17) and engineering (16) in three Madrid universities. Although the percentage of professors in Spanish universities who are female is relatively high, compared to many European countries, this quantitative feminization does not appear to be associated with clear institutionalization of formal gender equality policies or the elimination of tacit discriminatory practices. Despite recent measures to reform the recruitment patterns in Spanish universities towards a more meritocratic model, the tradition of a sistema endogámico (an "inbreeding" system) persists, under which appointments are frequently made on the basis of internal (departmental) networks.