Tenure track policies, procedures, and career outcomes in a case study university in Ireland: a gendered critique.

This chapter is a gendered critique of the tenure track (TT) model in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the oldest and most prestigious university in Ireland, with a record of fast-paced change in gender representation since 2012. The methodology includes a documentary analysis augmented with qualitative data from TT appointees. All of those interviewed who had completed the TT process obtained tenure and roughly 40 per cent had been promoted to associate professor. Significant flaws emerged in the recruitment process, the implementation of maternity leave, receipt of feedback and the assignment of mentors. Women who were ‘outsiders’ to TCD (with no prior educational or occupational experience there) were susceptible to intersectional disadvantage, accentuated by not being allocated a senior mentor. The situation of women who had taken maternity leave and were in FAHSS, was particularly fraught. This raises questions about the introduction of TT and how it reproduces male dominance.