How does one achieve a successful academic career? Is it primarily about conducting high-level research and being a good teacher, or are there other factors at play? And is there a difference in how men and women navigate the academic world?

The book explores these questions. The answers are complex and show that academic careers today depend on strategic networks, effective promotion of one’s research, and minimizing time spent on teaching and administration.

The book casts a critical light on a development closely linked to intensified performance measurements at universities, where scholars’ response is a form of ‘gaming’ the system – an instrumental game that men master better than women. It is interesting for anyone who wants insight into how university culture and practices contain systemic problems related to gender and career.