Gender, language, and discourse in academia: Reflections from academic staff on an EU-driven gender equality plan at a Polish university
2025, 70, Numer 2
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This mixed-method sociolinguistic study explores the influence of EU-driven Gender Equality Plans on language and discourse within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Poland, with a particular focus on a case study from a university in Warsaw. Using research data from internal survey and focus group discussions, we examine the transformational journey of a medium-sized specialist university of social sciences, education, and special pedagogy. Historically, this institution, predominantly composed by women, saw positions of power traditionally held by men. However, since the implementation of the gender equality plan in 2022, a notable shift has occurred, with more female professors emerging and women occupying positions of authority. It was the right moment to reflect on staff attitudes and experiences related to their work and the language used at work. Despite over 90% of students and 70% of staff being female, the language of documents and administration within the university still reflects patriarchal patterns rooted in Latin-derived Polish. Through discourse analysis and interviews, we uncover the subtle yet significant changes in attitudes towards language practices within the academic community. This research not only contributes to the growing body of literature on gender equality in academia but also sheds light on the complex interplay between language, power structures, and social change. By examining how language reflects and shapes societal norms, we aim to offer insights into the ongoing process of gender mainstreaming within HEIs in Poland and beyond. Ultimately, this study advocates for linguistic inclusivity as a crucial aspect of achieving gender equality in higher education.
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Aboubichr, B., & Conway N. (2023). The gaming of performance management systems in British universities. Human Relations, 76(4), 602–628.
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 2, 139–158.
Acker, J. (2009). From glass ceiling to inequality regimes. Sociologie du travail, 51(2), 199–217.
Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej (APS). (2022). Gender equality plan for APS. Warszawa: Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://www.aps.edu.pl/media/fkofx-qsw/gender-equality-plan-for-aps.pdf
Babbie, E. R. (2009). The practice of social research (12th ed.). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Bustelo, M. (2023). Resilience and gender-structural change in universities: How bottom-up approaches can leverage transformation when top-level management support fails. Sociologica, 17(2), 17–36.
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.
Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
De Melo Resende, V. (2012). Critical discourse analysis and ethnography: The crisis in the national street children’s movement in Brazil. Qualitative Research, 13(5), 511–527.
Hanson, W. E., Plano Clark, V. L., Petska, K. S., Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2005). Mixed methods research designs in counselling psychology. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 52, 224–235.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (2019). She figures 2018, Publications Office. Retrieved from: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/936
EURAXESS (2020). Gender Equality Plans. Retrieved from: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/euraxess/ gender-equality-plans
Filek, J., Kmieciak, R., & Sekuła, P. (2022). Zmiany kulturowe w uczelniach w zakresie zakazu dyskryminacji, równego traktowania oraz kultury pracy. In J. Woźnicki (Ed.), Trendy, modele i perspektywy rozwoju szkolnictwa wyższego w Polsce: 2021-2025 z projekcją do roku 2030 (pp. 102–119). Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Politechniki Śląskiej.
Harding, S. G. (2004). The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies. New York: Psychology Press.
Hekman, S. (1997). Truth and method: Feminist standpoint theory revisited. Signs, 22(2), 341–365.
Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2009). Wzbierająca fala. Równouprawnienie płci a zmiana kulturowa na świecie. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Järvinen, M., & Mik-Meyer, N. (2024a). Turning social capital into scientific capital: Men’s networking in academia. Work, Employment and Society, 39(1), 24–42.
Järvinen, M., & Mik-Meyer, N. (2024b). Giving and receiving: Gendered service work in academia. Current Sociology, 73(3), 302–320.
Kaczmarska, E. (2020). The functioning of feminativum in the Polish linguistic reality. A case study. Humanities and Social Sciences, 27(3) 51–60.
Kopciewicz, L, & Rzepecka, K. (2009). Uniwersytet, kobiety i władza – o obecności kobiet w okolicach szczytu akademickich hierarchii. Teraźniejszość – Człowiek – Edukacja. Kwartalnik myśli społeczno-pedagogicznej, 47(3), 87–104.
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Lipsitz Bem, S. (2000). Męskość, kobiecość: o różnicach wynikających z płci. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
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O’Connor, P., O’Hagan, C. & Brennen, J. (2015). Exploration of masculinities in academic organisations: A tentative typology using career and relationship commitment. Current Sociology, 63(4), 528–546.
O’Meara, K. A., Kuvaeva, A., Nyunt, G., Waugaman, C., & Jackson, R. (2017). Asked more often: Gender differences in faculty workload in research universities and the work interactions that shape them. American Educational Research Journal, 54(6), 1154–1186.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2019). Socio-educational Factors and the Soft Power of Language: The Deluge of English in Poland and Portugal. Rowman & Littlefield.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2018). The soft power of language: Inclusion and exclusion mechanisms of English as a second language in Poland and Portugal. Language, Discourse & Society, 6(2), 15–30.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2015). Is gender neutrality a post-human phenomenon? The concept of ‘gender neutral’ in Swedish education. Journal of Gender and Power, 3, 113–133.
Ostaszewska A., Pietrusińska M. J., Lignar-Paczocha K., & Szafranek M. (2022). Raport z badań. Kobiety na uniwersytetach i pandemia Covid-19. Badania porównawcze na temat pracy kobiet. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.55226/uw.NAWA2021.2022.0
Pawłowska, J. (2019). Gender asymmetry in the Polish language system when using profession and function names. Survey of opinions. Conference Proceedings, International Scientific Conference RC25 ISA “Language and Society. Research Advances in Social Sciences”.
RAD-on (2022). Kobiety w nauce. Raport. Retrieved from: https://opi.org.pl/kobiety-w-nauce/
Ryan, M. K., & Haslam, S. A. (2005). The Glass Cliff: Evidence that women are over-represented in precarious leadership positions. British Journal of Management, 16(2), 81–90.
Sekuła, P. (2022). Country dossier Poland. In A. Löther, F. Freund, and A. Lipinsky (Eds.), Zugänge, Barrieren und Potentiale für die internationale Mobilität von Wissenschaftlerinnen. Köln: GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften.
Solera, C., Balzano, A. & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023a). Gender imbalances at the macro-level: A comparative analysis of partners’ legal and policy contexts. Zenodo.
Solera, C., Balzano, A., Sanseverino, D., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023b). Gender imbalances at the meso-level: A multi-indicator approach to organisational gender data. Zenodo. Solera, C., Sanseverino, D., Tattarini, G., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023c). Gender imbalances at the meso-level: Gathering insights from researchers through a web survey. Zenodo.
Tagliacozzo, S. & Di Tullio, I. (2021). Gender equality plans (GEPs) as a framework to devise gender equality measures for disaster research. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 60, 102294.
Taylor, C. (2003). Modern social imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press. Titkow, A. (2007). Tożsamość polskich kobiet. Ciągłość, zmiana, konteksty. Warszawa: IFiS PAN. Titkow, A., Duch-Krzystoszek, D., Budrowska, B. (2004). Nieodpłatna praca kobiet. Mity, realia, perspektywy. Warszawa: IFiS PAN.
Turco, F. (2021). To be mother or not? Cultural models of motherhood and their meaning effects on gendered representations. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 35, 1393–1406.
Williams, J. C. (2003). Litigating the glass ceiling and the maternal wall: Using stereotyping and cognitive bias evidence Aboubichr, B., & Conway N. (2023). The gaming of performance management systems in British universities. Human Relations, 76(4), 602–628.
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 2, 139–158.
Acker, J. (2009). From glass ceiling to inequality regimes. Sociologie du travail, 51(2), 199–217.
Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej (APS). (2022). Gender equality plan for APS. Warszawa: Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://www.aps.edu.pl/media/fkofx-qsw/gender-equality-plan-for-aps.pdf
Babbie, E. R. (2009). The practice of social research (12th ed.). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Bustelo, M. (2023). Resilience and gender-structural change in universities: How bottom-up approaches can leverage transformation when top-level management support fails. Sociologica, 17(2), 17–36.
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.
Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
De Melo Resende, V. (2012). Critical discourse analysis and ethnography: The crisis in the national street children’s movement in Brazil. Qualitative Research, 13(5), 511–527.
Hanson, W. E., Plano Clark, V. L., Petska, K. S., Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2005). Mixed methods research designs in counselling psychology. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 52, 224–235.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (2019). She figures 2018, Publications Office. Retrieved from: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/936
EURAXESS (2020). Gender Equality Plans. Retrieved from: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/euraxess/ gender-equality-plans
Filek, J., Kmieciak, R., & Sekuła, P. (2022). Zmiany kulturowe w uczelniach w zakresie zakazu dyskryminacji, równego traktowania oraz kultury pracy. In J. Woźnicki (Ed.), Trendy, modele i perspektywy rozwoju szkolnictwa wyższego w Polsce: 2021-2025 z projekcją do roku 2030 (pp. 102–119). Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Politechniki Śląskiej.
Harding, S. G. (2004). The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies. New York: Psychology Press.
Hekman, S. (1997). Truth and method: Feminist standpoint theory revisited. Signs, 22(2), 341–365.
Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2009). Wzbierająca fala. Równouprawnienie płci a zmiana kulturowa na świecie. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Järvinen, M., & Mik-Meyer, N. (2024a). Turning social capital into scientific capital: Men’s networking in academia. Work, Employment and Society, 39(1), 24–42.
Järvinen, M., & Mik-Meyer, N. (2024b). Giving and receiving: Gendered service work in academia. Current Sociology, 73(3), 302–320.
Kaczmarska, E. (2020). The functioning of feminativum in the Polish linguistic reality. A case study. Humanities and Social Sciences, 27(3) 51–60.
Kopciewicz, L, & Rzepecka, K. (2009). Uniwersytet, kobiety i władza – o obecności kobiet w okolicach szczytu akademickich hierarchii. Teraźniejszość – Człowiek – Edukacja. Kwartalnik myśli społeczno-pedagogicznej, 47(3), 87–104.
League of European Research Universities (LERU). (2024). Impactful gender equality plans and how to get there in FP10. Retrieved July 3, 2025, from https://www.leru.org/news/impactful-genderequality-plans-gep-in-horizon-europe-and-fp10
Lipsitz Bem, S. (2000). Męskość, kobiecość: o różnicach wynikających z płci. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
Mind the GEPs Project. (n.d.). Mind the gaps. Gender equality in research. Retrieved July 3, 2025, from https://www.mindthegeps.eu/w/home/results/gender-equality-plans
Naldini, M., Musumeci, R., Balzano, A. & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023). Gender imbalances at the meso-level: Gathering insights through interviews with key informants and researchers. Zenodo. Neumann, A. & Terosky, A. L. (2007). To give and to receive: Recently tenured professors’ experiences of service in major research universities. The Journal of Higher Education, 78(3), 282–310.
O’Connor, P., O’Hagan, C. & Brennen, J. (2015). Exploration of masculinities in academic organisations: A tentative typology using career and relationship commitment. Current Sociology, 63(4), 528–546.
O’Meara, K. A., Kuvaeva, A., Nyunt, G., Waugaman, C., & Jackson, R. (2017). Asked more often: Gender differences in faculty workload in research universities and the work interactions that shape them. American Educational Research Journal, 54(6), 1154–1186.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2019). Socio-educational Factors and the Soft Power of Language: The Deluge of English in Poland and Portugal. Rowman & Littlefield.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2018). The soft power of language: Inclusion and exclusion mechanisms of English as a second language in Poland and Portugal. Language, Discourse & Society, 6(2), 15–30.
Odrowąż-Coates, A. (2015). Is gender neutrality a post-human phenomenon? The concept of ‘gender neutral’ in Swedish education. Journal of Gender and Power, 3, 113–133.
Ostaszewska A., Pietrusińska M. J., Lignar-Paczocha K., & Szafranek M. (2022). Raport z badań. Kobiety na uniwersytetach i pandemia Covid-19. Badania porównawcze na temat pracy kobiet. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.55226/uw.NAWA2021.2022.0
Pawłowska, J. (2019). Gender asymmetry in the Polish language system when using profession and function names. Survey of opinions. Conference Proceedings, International Scientific Conference RC25 ISA “Language and Society. Research Advances in Social Sciences”.
RAD-on (2022). Kobiety w nauce. Raport. Retrieved from: https://opi.org.pl/kobiety-w-nauce/
Ryan, M. K., & Haslam, S. A. (2005). The Glass Cliff: Evidence that women are over-represented in precarious leadership positions. British Journal of Management, 16(2), 81–90.
Sekuła, P. (2022). Country dossier Poland. In A. Löther, F. Freund, and A. Lipinsky (Eds.), Zugänge, Barrieren und Potentiale für die internationale Mobilität von Wissenschaftlerinnen. Köln: GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften.
Solera, C., Balzano, A. & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023a). Gender imbalances at the macro-level: A comparative analysis of partners’ legal and policy contexts. Zenodo.
Solera, C., Balzano, A., Sanseverino, D., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023b). Gender imbalances at the meso-level: A multi-indicator approach to organisational gender data. Zenodo. Solera, C., Sanseverino, D., Tattarini, G., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023c). Gender imbalances at the meso-level: Gathering insights from researchers through a web survey. Zenodo.
Tagliacozzo, S. & Di Tullio, I. (2021). Gender equality plans (GEPs) as a framework to devise gender equality measures for disaster research. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 60, 102294.
Taylor, C. (2003). Modern social imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press. Titkow, A. (2007). Tożsamość polskich kobiet. Ciągłość, zmiana, konteksty. Warszawa: IFiS PAN. Titkow, A., Duch-Krzystoszek, D., Budrowska, B. (2004). Nieodpłatna praca kobiet. Mity, realia, perspektywy. Warszawa: IFiS PAN.
Turco, F. (2021). To be mother or not? Cultural models of motherhood and their meaning effects on gendered representations. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 35, 1393–1406.
Williams, J. C. (2003). Litigating the glass ceiling and the maternal wall: Using stereotyping and cognitive bias evidence to prove gender discrimination. Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 7, 401–547.
Van Helden, D. L., den Dulk, L., Steijn, B., & Vernooij, M. W. (2023). Gender, networks and academic leadership: a systematic review. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 51(5), 1049–1066. to prove gender discrimination. Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 7, 401–547.
Van Helden, D. L., den Dulk, L., Steijn, B., & Vernooij, M. W. (2023). Gender, networks and academic leadership: a systematic review. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 51(5), 1049–1066.
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Antycypowany obraz ucznia cudzoziemca w deklaracjach studentów na kierunku pedagogika przedszkolna i wczesnoszkolna
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