How Gender Equity Schemes Might Inadvertently “Gender‐Wash” Universities, Provoke Backlash, and Propagate Inequality

Gail Crimmins; Sarah Casey; Kate Carruthers Thomas; Maria Tsouroufli

doi:10.1111/gwao.70032

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How Gender Equity Schemes Might Inadvertently “Gender‐Wash” Universities, Provoke Backlash, and Propagate Inequality

Gail Crimmins, Sarah Casey, Kate Carruthers Thomas and Maria Tsouroufli

Gender, Work and Organization, Vol.33(1), pp.234-245

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70032

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

Athena swan

equity-backlash

gender regime

gender-washing

microaggression

UniSC Diversity Area - Gender Equity

This paper explores the work experience and career trajectories of people working across 12 UK‐based universities awarded an Athena Swan Charter, an international scheme that recognizes commitment to gender equality. Despite, or perhaps due to institutional reward leading to gender‐washed “peacocking”, everyday sexisms and gender regimes are sustained through acts of gendered microinsults that often go unnoticed and are individualized. Women in “awarded” institutions report being spoken over, disproportionately allocated academic housework, experience re/enforced gendered boundaries, and inadequate equality policy provision. They also identify microinvalidations through exclusion from meetings, mis/appropriation of their ideas, gender inequality denial, and overt or covert resistance to gender equity initiatives. An analysis of these microaggressions determines their interconnected, mutually constitutive, and reproductive nature; it suggests that institutional gender‐washing propagates a misconception of current levels of gender inequality which kindles “equity‐backlash”. The findings reveal unintended outcomes of gender award schemes that might be mitigated through visibilising and addressing inequality regimes and their impacts.

Details

Title: How Gender Equity Schemes Might Inadvertently “Gender‐Wash” Universities, Provoke Backlash, and Propagate Inequality
Authors: Gail Crimmins (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
Sarah Casey - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
Kate Carruthers Thomas - Birmingham City University
Maria Tsouroufli - Brunel University of London
Publication details: Gender, Work and Organization, Vol.33(1), pp.234-245
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1111/gwao.70032
ISSN: 1468-0432
Copyright note: © 2025 The Author(s). Gender, Work & Organization published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Organisation Unit: School of Business and Creative Industries
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991157970502621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Management; Women's Studies

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