University women academics and gender-related constraints on retention and promotion within the National System of Researchers

Abstract

This article examines the situation of women academics within Mexico’s National System of Researchers (Sistema Nacional de Investigadoras e Investigadores, SNII), highlighting that although their participation has increased, structural inequalities persist. Women academics face domestic and teaching-related workloads that limit their research activities, and they have less access to professional networks and stable positions, thereby reproducing gender inequalities within academia. The study adopted a quantitative approach with a nonexperimental, cross-sectional design and a descriptive-correlational scope, allowing for the characterization of researchers’ working and personal conditions and the exploration of associations with their recognition within the SNII. The questionnaire used was a contextualized adaptation of the international project Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society (APIKS), distributed digitally and analyzed using SPSS. The population consisted of 539 SNII-affiliated academics at the University of Sonora, from which a stratified probabilistic sample of 244 individuals was obtained, considering sex and level of affiliation. The study concludes that overcoming these gaps requires institutional policies grounded in a gender perspective, as well as strengthening social capital and support networks to consolidate more inclusive and equitable academic communities.