Studentships
Business School
Gender Asymmetry in Creative Sectors in Poland: Institutional and Political Implications for Feminization of the Sector
Dr Katarzyna Kosmala
katarzyna.kosmala@uws.ac.uk
This application reflects multidisciplinary on-going research activity in the University, particularly but not exclusively in the Business School and the School of Media and Languages as well as strategic continuing research developments at the Centre for Contemporary European Studies: a recognised Centre in the Business School and the University that received 4 rating in the last RAE.
Research staff at the Centre also contributes to CRCEES, an inter-institutional Centre of Excellence funded under the Languages Based Area Studies initiative, a joint funding programme by the ESRC, the AHRC, the HEFCE and the SFC. This Centre has an established research profile in the areas of identity and culture and their socio-economic, political and organisational implications.
Doctoral studentships are offered in the broad areas of gender, identity and creative industries.
This studentship may focus on the following areas below. However, the precise nature of the research will be dependent on the expertise and interests of the candidate.
The research sets out to examine career and work strategies in the arts sectors within the specific context of Poland. Creative sectors have been characterised as gendered-biased with regards to work patterns and in the context of conservative political climate locally: ‘Democracy in Poland is gendered as male. People who dare to say this out loud are courageous’ argues Maria Janion, a Polish feminist theorist.
To improve understanding of these issues, of particular interests will be the identification of work strategies which have the potential to break traditional work patterns and gender roles within the creative working environment in Poland (covering such issues as unequal treatment, poor working conditions, and barriers to accessing developmental opportunities).
The project and so methodology will be qualitative in nature, operationalised by studying the life stories of creative practitioners. The aim is to investigate what kind of work strategies can be developed for career progression and professional success where they can be coded as ‘other-than-masculine’ within the existing institutional frameworks in creative practice, and beyond the repetition of the discourse that assigns success and leadership in management to a masculine position.
The objectives are
to create a wider view of why women are less visible in ‘creative positions’ in Poland
to understand how women negotiate and navigate for change in creative fields
The candidates should be familiar with qualitative research methods and have an interest and/or experience in the arts and organization interface.