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IZOLDA TAKÁCS: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
The second chapter, titled “Women in top leadership positions. Possibilities,
obstacles and the chimera of segregation”, takes into account the general charac¬
teristics of workplace administration, the administrative atmosphere relevant to
gender, and prejudices based on binary oppositions identified by women in lead¬
ership positions, which still limit their opportunities and choices. The career
paths of women, especially in academia and science, are the focus of the chapter.
These include the difficulties faced by women when they move up in the adminis¬
trative hierarchy, if they pursue a career in science, and if they aim for the leader¬
ship position.
The aims of the third chapter, titled “What is behind the academic election?
Between Scylla and Charybdis: Female quotas or natural but slow change that
might take decades?”, is to provide a comprehensive representation of the Hun¬
garian aspects of academy membership for women, based on the contributions of
valuable insight from researchers and academics, while also listing the possible
opportunities and tools that might be of help for raising the proportion of female
academics in our country. The chapter then summarizes their voices articulated
on the pages of Magyar Tudomany [Hungarian Science].
While many women in Hungarian society completely reject all manifestations of
everyday sexism and take collective action to change it, others agree with most of
the gender stereotypes, which can be an indirect obstacle to the areas overrepre¬
sented by men. With this in mind, the fourth chapter, “Women in the scientific
elite. Interrelation of gender identity and sexist beliefs in their careers”, examines
the attitude of the female members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to the
question “What does it mean to be a woman?” It explores what their relationship is
to their own social group in terms of characteristics, qualities, interests and values.
It poses the question of how the essentializing discourse appears in their own ca¬
reer. It also asks whether exceptions (female academics) lead to a further strength¬
ening of traditional perceptions and norms, or conversely, whether a transforma¬
tion of the formerly closed system (of the male majority) has started in Hungary.
Along with this, how do the members of a seemingly more homogeneous group of
women differ, and how do they form different types regarding gender identity?
The final chapter, “Gender history retrospective in Hungary after 1949. Spaces
and opportunities after the Declaration of Gender Equality and the shadow of the
ideology of the Party”, attempts a comprehensive introduction of how historical
changes in the second part of the 20th century affected policies on women and
science, education and employment as well as the family support system in Hun¬
gary. The chapter shows how the contradictory ideological and practical condi¬
tions of the world emerged as a result of the interrupted process of civilisation
(the interrupted development of the middle class), and how these affected the
structure of social roles. By quoting passages of interviews, the chapter intends to
demonstrate the precise traditional and new issues female scientists have/could
have faced during the era of state socialism.
“Se