Gender quotas in the academic world.

Summary What can be the effect of introducing quotas in the face of gender inequalities in higher education and research? In a recent study, Pierre Deschamps looked at the impact of the implementation since 2015 of a 40% quota for women in university selection committees in France. He relied on administrative data on 455 academic committees and 1548 candidates belonging to 3 French public universities. Published in LIEPP's Working Paper n°82 "Gender Quotas in Hiring Committees: a Boon or a Bane for Women", the results of this study question the conception and effects of equality policies in higher education and research. Indeed, if the quota is indeed respected, the increase in the proportion of women on committees seems to have been accompanied by a decrease in the chances of recruitment of women candidates. These findings were the subject of an interdisciplinary discussion at a "LIEPP Debate" held on April 5, 2019. Drawing on work from law and political science, Anne Revillard revisited the origin and objectives of the reforms instituting the quota. Marie Sautier put the results of this study into perspective through a sociological analysis of the mechanisms of production of gender inequalities. Mathieu Arbogast, representing the Mission pour la place des femmes at the CNRS, pointed out the specific obstacles to the implementation of quotas in the world of research, and presented several avenues for reform in the wake of this work.