Meet the Expert | A ‘Proper’ Woman? One Woman’s story of success and failure in academia with Pat O’Connor

What does it really mean to succeed in academia—and who gets to define success? In this candid and thought-provoking interview, Pat O’Connor reflects on more than four decades in higher education, revealing how gender, power, and institutional culture shape academic careers in ways that are often hidden, yet deeply consequential.

Drawing on her personal journey—from years of precarity and work in low-status fields to becoming a full professor and dean—O’Connor exposes the myths of meritocracy, excellence, and “choice” that continue to legitimise inequality in universities. She explores how women’s labour in teaching, care, and administration is undervalued, how informal power operates behind the scenes, and why universities remain deeply gendered institutions despite surface-level progress.

The interview also offers hard-won insights for early-career academics: how to recognise power, navigate institutional politics, find sponsors, and use authority ethically rather than defensively. Honest, critical, and ultimately hopeful, this conversation challenges viewers to rethink success and consider how academic systems might be transformed from within.

Watch the interview for an unflinching look at academia—and the courage it takes to change it.