Gender Stereotypes in Italian Sociology

The gender structure of the academic careers in the Italian Sociology maintains a scissor pattern. Female undergraduate and graduate students outnumber male ones and the proportion of women is higher also among PhD and postdocs. However, the transition into the academic career corresponds to a typical drop of female presence. In 2015, in the field of political and social sciences, only 26% among full professors, 39.3% among associate and 46.7% among assistant professors were women (MIUR, 2016). The persistence of relevant gender differences is reflected in the low importance attributed to gender studies in academia, that in Italy are not recognised as a specific disciplinary field. Together with the peculiar history of Italian feminisms, this explains the low diffusion, also in the field of Sociology, of degree programs, courses, classes explicitly including a gender perspective. On the basis of data collected in the European project GARCIA (Gendering the Academy and Research: Combating Career Instability and Asymmetries), we will offer an overview of gender differences in the discipline of Sociology in the Italian context.