Gender-sensitive PhD supervision: A tool to address the leaky pipeline?

Abstract

In this short paper, we explore the potential need and benefits of a gender-sensitive supervision approach as a means to fix the ‘leaky pipeline’ in academia. First, we introduce a literature review that outlines some of the most central gender differences prevailing academia. Subsequently, we present the results of our qualitative case study, which comprises of four interviews with experienced supervisors. We first discuss them separately and then identify cross-cutting themes in the discussion. We end by identifying three cornerstones of a gender- sensitive supervision approach that could help to prevent women from leaving their academic careers shortly after their PhD.