Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) and Università Cattolica (UNICATT) study the role of physical spaces (i.e., workspaces) on scientific productivity and well-being of women and men in academia.

It is well known that a gender gap exists in academia. Compared to men, women obtain fewer funds, have less prestigious positions, and experience lower scientific productivity and well-being (e.g., Flores Niemann et al., 2020). A broad research stream shows that workspaces are gendering and gendered; namely, they influence gender differences and reproduce gendered norms and work practices. Accordingly, workspaces differently influence women’s and men’s productivity and well-being (e.g., work-life balance, job satisfaction).

Literature on the causes of the gender gap in academia has under-remarked the role of workspaces. The project puts forth 3 research questions:

1. Do gendering and gendered workspaces exist in academia? Do female and male academics use different workspaces (mostly home and university offices) differently?
2. How do female and male academics interpret and negotiate the use of different workspaces with other users (e.g., family members and colleagues)? Do gendered power relations affect this negotiation?
3. What effects do the workspaces have on the productivity and well-being of male and female academics? Which mechanisms explain these effects?

To answer our research questions, the research group will

• Develop a conceptual framework (WP1) integrating the literature on i) the different uses of the workspaces by men and women; ii) their negotiation processes on the use of these spaces with other users; iii) the mechanisms explaining the effects of workspaces on productivity and well-being.
• Resort to two empirical approaches. POLIMI will build a database with data on the use of workspaces, productivity, and well-being of Italian academics. Data on workspace use and well-being will be collected through a survey of Italian academics, while data on academic productivity will be collected through secondary sources. They will run econometric analyses on this database to answer the first and the third research questions; specifically, they will focus on salient physical characteristics of workspaces (e.g., size, layout, lighting, and comfort).

UNICATT will conduct dyadic studies on how female academics negotiate the use of home working spaces with their family members and university offices with their colleagues, and whether and how gender role prescriptions affect the negotiation.

The project impacts relevant stakeholders, i.e., academics, university leaders, and policymakers in university education. First, they will gain new knowledge of the role of the workplace, a topic that has gone so far under-remarked. Second, they can leverage this knowledge to understand the different workspace needs of female and male academics. Third, they can champion designing workspaces aligned with these needs to enhance academics’ productivity and well-being. This will empower women to close the gender gap.