Simply academic or damaging. What are the implications of academic stereotypes for women?

ABSTRACT Since the public intellectuals of the 1960s, there has been a shift towards the celebrity academic, as subjects such as history and science have transferred into popular television entertainment, often with female academics as the presenters. Using a case study of the British media, a post-feminist lens has been applied to examine how 17 celebrity academics have been represented. The use of gendered academic stereotypes such as the blue stocking, the school ma’am, the eccentric academic and the thinking man's crumpet were in evidence, alongside the male academic stereotypes of the hegemonic academic male, the nerd and the complicit male. With increasing numbers of women participating in the education workforce, one might expect gendered stereotypes to have become more positive. This research indicates that academic stereotypes should be added to the list of gendered stereotypes that need to be addressed as part of the work towards gender equality.


Introduction
The female stereotype of the 'seductress' (Baxter 2018) was flourishing in the British media in April, 2022.The Mail on Sunday described how Angela Rayner, the then 42-year-old British Labour Minister for Parliament (MP) liked 'to distract' the Conservative Prime Minister (PM), 58-year-old Boris Johnson by, 'deploying a fully clothed Parliamentary equivalent of Sharon Stone's infamous scene in the 1992 film Basic Instinct' (Owen 2022).
The use of gendered stereotypes to describe female politicians has been well-documented (Beard 2017;Baxter 2018).Baxter (2018) writing about gender stereotypes for women in authoritative positions in the workplace, examines the incompatibility of female gender stereotypes against the perceived skills needed for leadership.She suggests that stereotypes implement the idea that women are not suited to governance.Thirty years ago, Kanter (1993) argued that women are forced into 'gender roles' to reduce the threat of being women in authority (authority is traditionally associated with maleness).However, over the last decades there have been dramatic social changes and 47% of the workforce are now female (The World Bank 2020).It would be reasonable to assume that gender stereotypes would be changing.Research carried out by Haines, Deaux, and Lofaro (2016) indicates that this is not the case.Their results suggest that gender stereotypes remain as ingrained today as they did three decades earlier.
Stereotypes are 'strongly held over generalisations about people in some designated social category' with gendered stereotypes describing our 'beliefs about the personal attributes of women and men' (Baslow 1992, 3).These attributes are the characteristics that are regarded as both typical and normal.Gender stereotypes tend to be binary with men and women taking up opposite positions on the spectrum.The enduring stereotype is that the male is associated with agency, action and ability.Women are associated with nurturing, emotions and communication (Baslow 1992).Stereotypes can be both prescriptive and descriptive and control the way the culture determines what is normative action, behaviour and appearance (Heilman 2001).As a result, they can have implications for women's career choices (Culhane and Bazeley, 2019).It is worth considering where these stereotypes come from.One suggestion is that the stereotype is based on 'truth' about the way people are and that these behaviours are then exaggerated to become a stereotype (Martin 1987).However, this explanation is based on gendered behaviour being intrinsic and feminists have long discredited this point of view.Another account suggests that stereotypes are based on social roles and these behaviours have become regarded as 'natural' (Eagly and Steffen 1984).This approach fits better with the view that gender is socially constructed and explains how gender roles and behaviours can be mutually re-enforcing.It has also been suggested that people view behaviours with 'perceptual filters' so that behaviour that re-enforces the stereotype is remembered and behaviour that does not fit, is disregarded (Baslow 1992, 11).This is another reason why longstanding stereotypes can be present even when new gender roles have been adopted (Haines, Deaux, and Lofaro 2016).
Research carried out by the Fawcett Society (2020) suggests that as many as 38% of nursery and primary school teachers receive barely any training on stereotypes.The Fawcett Society considers that challenging gender stereotypes should be a focus of equality.This follows research that revealed that six-year-old girls are less likely to think that girls can be 'really, really smart' and limit their subject choices as a result (Bian, Leslie, and Cimpian 2017).Analysis of primary education textbooks showed images of girls and boys that fitted with Connell's (1987) gender order of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity (Kostas 2021).This is despite 75% of UK schoolteachers being female in 2021 (Gov.UK 2023) and nearly half (47%) of higher education academic staff being female in 2020 (HESA 2021).
Stereotypes can be legitimized by society and for this reason, the representation of academic women in the media is of consequence.Programmes presented by academics are now a common feature of TV viewing and have given rise to the 'celebrity academic'.The U.S., Australia and the U.K. had a tradition of the 'public intellectual' in the 1940s and 1950s who operated with authority in the 'public sphere' (Collini 1994).The public intellectual, who was nearly always a man, has given way to the 'super profs' (Miles 2012).However, the label 'celebrity academic' might be more appropriate.Celebrity is not a term usually associated with academics (Lewis 2001) but many people can relate to the definition suggested by McClerking and Block (2020) that if people know your name and your achievements, then you are a celebrity.Celebrities are associated with modernity and can act as symbols of cultural significance.The expansion of history and science into the entertainment industry has created an opportunity for academic women to move into the media spotlight.This has the potential to be a gender threat, in much the same way as women in political leadership, and could result in the use of gendered stereotyping of academic women.
The intention of this research is to analyse text and images used by the media about academic women so that discourses around power, education and current gender discourses can be exposed.The position taken is that the media constructs reality rather than reproduces it and is connected to the organization of culture and power.A key point in studying culture is to consider, 'texts and representations' and the formation of 'ideas, images, and practices, which provide ways of talking about forms of knowledge and conduct associated with, a particular topic, social activity, or institutional site in society' (Hall 1997, 6).Newspapers use representation to, 'simplify, filter and distil those very few people in our culture who act as representatives' (Marshall 2014, xxxii) thus giving rise to stereotypes.Moreover, the use of academic stereotypes in the media in the representation of celebrity academics has not been considered.Social representations of people and contexts in the media can be transmuted into ideas so that they become belief systems (Radu and Renaud 2008).Stereotypes can create a view that this is how academics are.Hughes (2002, 3) explains how discourses, much like stereotypes, can be 'a way of being in the world which shapes who and what we are'.This might explain why stereotypes endure in unexpected places, like primary education.
The articles chosen for this case study have been read using a post-feminist discourse analysis method.This method has been created by merging McRobbie's (2009) work on the media and Baxter's (2018) work on stereotypes.McRobbie (2009) suggest that there are feminist and anti-feminist attitudes present in media articles about women.She termed this entanglement as 'post -feminism'.The implication is that while articles featuring academic women suggest a feminist success story, there are other subtle, but negative, ways of reading which have wider implications for women's careers.Awareness of these undermining and silent discourses allows different portrayals to emerge.The first stage of Baxter's (2018) discourse analysis method is to read the text along the grain so that the narrative and messages being constructed are apparent.Stage two involves a deconstruction of the narrative.This involves thinking about the language being used.Would the same words be applied to a man?Is the woman being pigeonholed into a familiar cultural narrative?The language used about her appearance, her personality and her professional ability should all be considered.The second step of this process is to look at the textual level for any suggestion of gender differences and gender binaries being used in the text.Moving to the representational level the analyst should consider if there is any evidence of one or more stereotypes being used.Baxter (2018) explains that it is usual to find several stereotypes in use at the same time.The final step of this process is to consider the discoursal level, any sub-themes and the dominant ideology.As Hughes (2002, 149) explains, 'Our task is to learn to be critically literate in the ways that we read discourses because such literacy leads to the potentiality for change'.

Academic stereotypes
A thinking man's crumpet is a term used for an intelligent and attractive woman who has a media presence.The first thinking man's crumpet was Joan Bakewell, who was given the term by Frank Muir while she was on the BBC in the 1960s (BBC 2008).Bakewell was young, attractive and had a degree from Cambridge.Eagleton (2005) suggests that historically it has always been the male who is the intellectual and the legacy of the academic as a powerful, wise, white male continues.Further work by Leathwood (2013) looking at promotional videos for prospective students, indicated that serious intellectual subjects are still portrayed as male.By referring to the young, attractive and intelligent Bakewell as a crumpet, academic authority remained distinctly male.
Another familiar academic stereotype is the school ma'am which reflects the traditional role of teaching as a predominantly female profession.Baxter (2018) argues that the school ma'am is a combination of the domestic mother authority figure, emotional comforter and disciplinarian.She is likely to be seen as only capable of talking to adults as children.
A stereotype commonly associated with men is the mad scientist.Frayling (2005) traces the history of this stereotype through cinema in a book titled, 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know' where both real and imaginary scientists are portrayed in film as bizarre misfits with the power to both create life and destroy the world.The female equivalent of this is an eccentric academic who exists as an odd misfit, absorbed in her studies, but who has none of the power credited to the male scientist.Her only power is her knowledge, but it renders her slightly ridiculous.The value of her achievements is undermined by linking her intellect with eccentricity.There are echoes here of the female student who was reported to have died in 1874 due to 'over education' (Steinbach 2005, 190).It is as if the strain of learning has slightly unhinged these women so that they become emotional, outspoken, out of touch, or unsure how to look or behave like 'proper' women.
In 1750, Elizabeth Montagu, met with members of London's upper-class society in their houses to discuss subjects of academic interest.At that time, there was no formal opportunity for women to do this.This group became known as 'blue stockings' after a male member of the group, Stillingfleet, wore cheap woollen blue stockings to one of the meetings (Robinson 2010).Over time, a blue stocking became regarded as a sexless, bookish woman whose main interest in life was reading and learning.Professor Mary Beard revealed that she wore blue stockings to all her academic job interviews as a play on this stereotype (Beard 2017).The studious woman is presented in the media as having a monasterial devotion to a deity of learning which results in a nun-like, sexless woman.The discourse is that there is something not quite right with a woman whose main interest is learning.
In 2019, a leaked, hand-written note by the PM, Boris Johnson, referred to a previous PM, David Cameron, as a 'girlie swot' (Walker 2019).The term was used as an insult.Cohen (1998) explains the worldview behind this.For the English elite schoolboy, attending Eton College (which both Johnson and Cameron did) a boy's achievement should be perceived as 'effortless' to illustrate his natural superiority above 'swots', who can only achieve through overwork such as non-elite boys and all females.To be a swot is to be considered the opposite of the active, energetic male leader and as such to be a swot is to be effeminate.The term gives rise to discourses of power and culture with the English male elite firmly at the top of the gender hierarchy, not because of his expert knowledge but because of his natural ability.The hegemonic male is one whose 'natural abilities' result in society recognizing him as the male ideal, at the top of the gender order (Connell 1987).
The hegemonic male is stereotypically regarded in Western culture to be heterosexual, macho and sporty.However, this does not typically represent the university academic whose profession can lean towards sedentary, self-reflective and solitary activities.It appears that a significant number of academic males fall into the complicit male category or the emergent category of 'nerd'.The 'nerd' is a stereotype that has gained acceptance since the advance of computer technology with individuals such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates personifying success and wealth.The 'nerd' represents another desirable category of maleness because computer technology is a highly valued, respectable discipline.The 'nerd' presents a gentler masculinity whose value comes from expertise and knowledge, rather than a physical embodiment of maleness (Morris and Anderson 2015).Ensmenger (2015) argues that the computer 'nerd' has created a new and elevated form of masculinity, although this is still below the hegemonic male.The stereotype of the technology 'nerd' has become understood enough in society that it can be applied to other academic disciplines where a 'bookish' nature is an asset.

Methods
Seventeen celebrity academics were chosen for this research and form the basis of the male and female sample.They have been selected because of their frequent appearance in the media and to represent a range of ages and ethnicities.However, with a few exceptions, the women are mostly white and aged in their 30s or early 40s.Four male celebrity academics were chosen as a means of comparison.In total 28 articles were selected for analysis from five news and entertainment media outlets during the time range of September 2016 and April 2019.The media articles were analyzed, using a post-feminist discourse analysis, to see what evidence there was of the British media using stereotypes when writing about celebrity academics.Articles have been selected from the following online news outlets; The Independent, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian.These were media outlets most likely to include articles on celebrity academics.Apart from The Guardian, the news media are right-wing in orientation and are likely to reflect a more conservative view of gender.The news outlet most likely to be read by women in the UK is the Daily Mail (Bingham 2016).The Guardian has the youngest readership of the six, with 28% being under the age of 34 years (Taylor 2017).

The blue stocking
The blue stocking, who is absorbed in reading and learning is likely to be represented as lacking sexual agency and whose focus is on bookish pursuits.In two separate articles, Professor Alice Roberts is described as a 'boffin'.In The Telegraph (Alexander 2009) she is 'the boffin with a backpack' and in The Independent (Gallagher 2014) she is a 'boffin without a beard'.The term boffin connotes a man and is being used ironically for Roberts as she is a woman who is knowledgeable in the traditionally male subject of science.Great emphasis is placed on her academic achievements in both articles.She is praised throughout The Independent article for being an 'anatomist and broadcaster', an 'anatomist and anthropologist', a 'Professor of Public Engagement in Science at Birmingham University', and for working in a 'field dominated by men' where 'she is the only female professor of Public Engagement'.In the older article in The Telegraph (Alexander 2009), her 'impressive academic record' is referred to, but she is also presented as an intellectual woman who needs help with being feminine, linking with the idea of the sexless blue stocking.She is given a make-over and is transformed from 'boffin' to 'belle'.
In the Daily Mail Mary Beard's scholarly status is confirmed when she is described as an 'historian', 'academic' and 'distinguished' (Lambert 2018) and as a 'leading Cambridge classicist' and 'an expert' (Trozier 2017).However, a narrative of the cantankerous, old woman also comes into focus when she is described as 'outspoken', a 'woman with opinions', someone who has 'argued' (Lambert 2018) an 'outspoken historian', and an 'outspoken academic' (Trozier 2017).In both articles, there are close portrait photographs of Beard's face without make-up, which highlight her grey hair and wrinkles.These are signifiers of age and decline.The image and text suggest a discourse of a difficult, older academic without sexual agency.
When Professor Catharine Edwards presented 'Women and Power: Empresses of Ancient Rome' on the BBC4 she was 50 years of age.She was described as a 'dull' 'professor' and a 'stuffy academic' (Stevens 2013).This connotes the fusty academic who manages to make everything sound boring.She was so 'dull' that she 'did her best to make Ancient Rome look like Sheffield on a wet Tuesday night'.The trope of the boring female academic links with the bluestocking stereotype.

The eccentric academic
In The Independent (Gallagher 2014) Alice Roberts poses beneath a mural she has painted called 'The Tree of Life' as part of a 'pop-up store' in her role as Professor of Engagement for Birmingham University.In the image accompanying the article, she is wearing a vest and a pair of brown trousers which are covered in paint.Her clothing is described as, 'paint-splattered baggy, brown corduroys'.How she managed to become covered in so much paint is not explained.She is defined as 'passionate', 'beaming' and 'bouncing'.
As such she appears a likable, but unusual woman.
This discourse of strange behaviour is very apparent with Dr. Victoria Bateman, who was featured in The Guardian (Weaver 2019) after appearing on 'Good Morning Britain' naked to give her opinion, that leaving the European Union would leave the UK 'naked'.The focus of the article was her unclothed body where she is described as a 'naked' 'exhibitionist' who is also a 'Cambridge academic' and an 'economics Fellow'.Bateman's behaviour appears at odds with the way academics are expected to behave.Berger (1972) suggests that a woman's naked body is looked at for pleasure, usually by men.Bateman, however, is not presented as 'sexy'.Although her hair is styled it has been shaped into an old-fashioned plaited bun which connotes a serious hairstyle, usually seen on an older woman.Despite being naked she wears make-up and hooped earrings.Howse (2015) writing in The Telegraph considers that Dr Janina Ramirez looks 'normal in appearance' and has an 'ordinary voice' but that she became 'excited' and 'enthusiastic' during her 'compelling' BBC4 documentary on 'Saints and Sinners'.Stevens (2015) in the Daily Mail notes that she is 'the Oxford art historian' and that she is 'enthusiastic' and goes into 'ecstasy' over her subject.The words excited, ecstasy and enthusiastic suggest an emotional woman, perhaps a little unhinged to become so passionate about her research subject, monasteries.
In the Daily Mail (Lambert 2018) Professor Mary Beard gives her opinions on #MeToo.This provides an opportunity for the author to provide details of Beard's youth when she enjoyed, 'flings with older married men'.Quotes are selected 'We all have bits of mistaken casual behaviour' with this last sentence repeated three times in different sections of the article.When asked about Twitter, Beard replies, 'I don't tweet my best when I am drunk'.The quotes selected suggest that Mary Beard's behaviour is also somewhat bizarre for a 63-year-old woman.
Taken in isolation these stories about academic women might appear amusing.Still, when combined they suggest a discourse of unconventional behaviour amongst academic women as if their years of study and passion for their research subject have unbalanced them.

The school ma'am
The familiar female stereotype of the school ma'am creeps into several of the articles on female celebrity academics.The school ma'am is a woman in a conventional female setting who treats adults as if they were children (Baxter 2018).Hughes refers to herself as a 'head-girl' type in the Daily Mail and the article includes an account about a male producer who told Hughes that, 'no one likes to be lectured by a woman' (Hodges 2017).In a Daily Mail TV review, Stevens (2013) describes Professor Catharine Edwards as presenting a narrative on Ancient Rome as if she were talking to 'recalcitrant schoolgirls who she is about to tell off'.In these articles, the women are represented as school ma'ams because of an association with the passing on of knowledge, albeit as presenters on TV.This stereotype results in a pigeonholing of women into familiar gender scripts.

The thinking man's crumpet
The thinking man's crumpet is a stereotype of an attractive young woman who is also clever.The language used in the media about this type of academic woman emphasizes this combination of looks and intelligence.The implication of this discourse is that the woman has greater value because of her attractive looks.It is only when her intelligence is combined with her appearance that her intelligence is given significance.Intelligence alone does not have as much value, as is the case with other academic stereotypes.
The following examples illustrate the media's focus on this combination of desirable looks, extensive learning and intelligence.
In the Daily Mail Dr Bethany Hughes' is called an 'author and academic', a 'heavyweight academic' and a 'provocative historian' (Hodges 2017).A description of her appearance is included where she is described as 'nearly 50' and 'pretty hot stuff'.
Descriptions of her body appear throughout the article.Her 'raven-haired dark tresses' are referred to, as are her calf-length boots covered with mud after a visit to the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite's sanctuary.In the Daily Mail, Dr Hannah Fry is described as a 'VERY brainy new partner' for Brian Cox on Tomorrow's World' (Moreton 2017).This is a stereotype often seen on TV where an older male is partnered with a younger female (Ross and Carter 2011)`.'Dr.Fry' is described as a 'young numbers genius who specialises in the mathematics of love' and she is 'a lecturer too' who has done 'stand-up (comedy) based on maths' and a 'TED talk on the mathematics of love'.Women are stereotypically more likely to be interested in love (Baslow 1992).Despite her academic achievements, the focus of interest is being able to link a science subject to romance.This is likely to be because science is not considered to be a woman's subject which the Institute of Physics ( 2013) has associated with constraining women's progression in science.One of the accompanying pictures in the article is Fry having her long hair combed by a computer arm, forefronting the stereotype of a female concerned with looks and beauty.In The Telegraph, Dr Amanda Foreman is presented by Jardine (2011) as an attractive woman with a salacious past.Foreman posed naked to sell her first book which was based on her PhD research.The journalist explains the interest that accompanied this as being about jealousy of her body.The reader is informed that by posing naked with her book 'The Duchess' for Tatler Magazine, she was, 'simultaneously interesting a new audience in eighteenth-century politics and infuriating those with fewer assets to flaunt'.Amanda Foreman has no 'mummy weight' despite having five children.This information goes alongside her being a 'publishing phenomenon'.Her female body, with its assets, alongside her intellectual achievements is an integral part of her success.She is a thinking man's crumpet in that she is attractive and clever with a body that inspires jealousy.Dr Suzannah Lipscomb's good looks and intellectual ability are described in the Daily Mail by Sanderson (2013).The reader is told that Lipscomb can, 'talk as comfortably about the decisions the Tutor monarchs made as she can about the best product for curly hair'.She studied at Oxford, and has a 'double first in history' and a doctorate, which the reader is informed are the 'right academic credentials'.She has a 'fierce intellect' and is a 'new star'.Apart from her intellect, she is also an 'elegant', 'striking 34-year-old' who has a 'lethal grace', 'bright eyes' and 'leonine locks'.In The Times, Professor Kate Williams is described as a '39-year-old historian' with 'uncontrollable', 'long, curly, red hair' who has written 'acclaimed biographies and novels', 'lectures at Reading University' and 'appears on television' (Membery 2018).'What could be sexier than a woman who can make a protractor out of some bark and a frog's tongue?' asks comedian Richard Herring after watching Professor Kathy Sykes on TV (Gold 2007).Sykes is described as 'attractive and 40' in The Guardian.She adds a 'dash of colour', 'passion' and 'glamour' to our screens alongside being the 'UK's youngest Professor aged 35', who is currently a 'Professor of Science Communication at Bristol University' (Gold 2007).In The Independent, she is described by Viner (2008) as a 'bit of a babe', a 'dream woman with a hypnotic presence', and a 'middleaged academic' who is 'not just a pretty face'.In the Daily Mail, Dr Lucy Worsley describes her 'style secrets' (Greenstreet 2017).She likes 'bright' colours to wear and alters second-hand clothes so that they fit.She admits to putting 'a lot of thought' into what she wears.She aims to look 'cheeky', 'friendly' and 'approachable' but not 'sexy'.She is '43' and is an 'art historian' and the 'chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces'.In The Times she is described as having a 'first in history from Oxford University' and that she is 'twinkly', 'fun', 'attention seeking', and 'loves dressing up' (Rose 2018).
A Google search for the term 'thinking man's crumpet', revealed a selection of women on 'pin interest'.Except for three women (Clemency Button Hill, Julia Bradbury and Cele de Pablo), all were celebrity academic historians (Professor Suzanna Lipscomb, Professor Alice Roberts, Dr Bettany Hughes, Dr Lucy Worsley and Dr Janina Ramirez).The thinking man's crumpet stereotype undermines the woman's intellectual ability by suggesting that her main appeal is the way that she appears to men.This contrasts with the blue stocking whose learning diminishes her sexual appeal.Under the guise of equality, the term 'thinking woman's crumpet' has also come into use.When this term was put into the same search engine the selection of men included four chefs (such as Jamie Oliver and Shane Delia), three comedians, a sportsman, a businessman (John C. Bogle) and TV presenters (such as Louis Theroux).None worked in academia.It is interesting to consider the different standards being held here.Several of these men appear significantly older than any of the 'thinking men's crumpets'.
Using the same search engine for the term school ma'am, uncovered images of a sexually desirable but unattainable woman.She might be considered unattainable because she holds an authoritative position in the classroom.There is something of the sexual fantasy about her.She is also somewhat 'unnatural' which is likely to be because of the power her status gives her.These Google images for the school ma'am suggest an oldfashioned authority figure, a frightening, bossy woman with power and an element of sexual fantasy and fetishism.All of these have the effect of undermining the academic woman.It is interesting to note that the Google images for schoolmasters contain a much more positive image of happy children, historic figures and buildings.Both the threat and the sexual imagery are missing.

The hegemonic academic male
The hegemonic academic male is a concept adapted from Connell's (1987) hypothesis of the hegemonic male ideal.He is the first image that is conjured when someone refers to an intellectual and a university academic (Eagleton 2005).Professor Brian Cox has characteristics of the hegemonic male in The Times article where he is described by Llewellyn Smith (2018) as successful, athletic, intelligent, 'gorgeous', 'the sexiest man alive', a father of son George and powerful (he is considering entering politics).He enjoys circuit training and is thinking about taking up boxing.These are reassuringly male attributes in that he has status, power, physical prowess, and good looks.His academic credentials are referred to and he is called a 'Physicist', a 'Professor of Particle Science' and a 'superstar'.Professor Michael Scott's work on Roman Britain is featured in the Daily Mail where he is referred to as a 'Professor' and an 'assistant professor of Ancient History at Warwick University' and as having 'expert knowledge' (Griffiths 2013).Information on him as an individual, his clothing and his personal characteristics are missing.His work stands alone, and he is only present through his expertise.The images featured in the article are not of Scott but of Roman Britain, as Scott believes they might have looked.Professor Simon Schama is interviewed by the Daily Mail following his TV appearance on the BBC's documentary, civilizations.The reader is informed that Schama at 73 is 'commanding', that he 'strides across our screens', and is 'television's most distinguished historian' who has published 'many critically acclaimed books' (Moreton 2018).There is no mention of his looks or clothes.The tone of the article is reminiscent of nostalgia for the 'public intellectual'.The text and the accompanying image reinforce a myth of the hegemonic male (Phillips and Hardy 2002).

The nerd
The 'nerd' presents a gentler masculinity whose appeal is derived from his expertise and knowledge, rather than the physical embodiment of the hegemonic male (Morris and Anderson 2015).In The Times, Llewellyn Smith (2018) also presents Cox as a happily married father who is 'young' looking, 'shy', 'soft', 'with sweet tones', 'sunny', 'unassuming', 'engaging', 'giggly' and 'childlike' with a 'beaming smile'.This is a different kind of masculinity from that portrayed by the hegemonic male.These characteristics are more in line with the 'nerd' male who benefits from being associated with hegemonic masculinity but shows other less masculine characteristics.Other characteristics associated with the nerd stereotype are that Cox is described as 'blunt' with a 'fierce intellect'.The science nerd is associated with poor social skills.This was made popular in the American sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' where the character Sheldon, a physicist, is famous for saying what he thinks.In the accompanying image, Cox looks bemused while a robot hand adjusts his spectacles.He does not usually wear spectacles, but this prop makes him look more like a science nerd and is one of the signs of the trade.His hair is styled to look casual and ruffled as if he pays no attention to it.

The complicit male
The complicit male is a role created by Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) to account for men who benefit from being associated with the hegemonic male but who do not have the hegemonic male's authority or power for reasons of physical fitness, class, education, or race.The Daily Mail and The Telegraph have featured articles on the black academic David Olusoga.The images that accompany the articles indicate an academic historian with the symbols of books or antiquity surrounding him.However, the text in the articles is discordant with the images.In the Daily Mail, Coen and Rouse (2018) write about the British Empire and Olusoga's views on this.Olusoga is referred to as 'Mr' and as a 'BBC historian'.Both these terms are loaded in meaning.In academia, a Mr is less prestigious than a doctor.A TV historian also has less gravitas than an academic historian.The fact that Olusoga is well-published having received a prize for his book 'Black and British' in 2016, is not mentioned.In The Telegraph, Rees (2016) calls him a 'presenter'.The journalists are not incorrect to call him 'Mr' and 'presenter', but it does appear that referring to him in this way and not referring to his publishing success, is a subtle way of undermining him, marking him as a complicit rather than hegemonic male.

Discussion
Analysis of the selected articles suggests that academic stereotypes are in use.The feminist success story of accomplished academic women is present but so is the gendered stereotyping which subtly undermines her.The stereotypes of the bluestocking, the school ma'am, the thinking man's crumpet, and the eccentric academic can be seen in a range of British media.They damage gender equality and the contribution that women make to academia and undermine the years of hard work and study necessary to access this profession.The blue stocking is a woman lost to her books.The eccentric academic is out of touch with reality and is overly emotional.The school ma'am is a shrill disciplinarian or a bossy, grown-up schoolgirl.In many of the descriptions of the female academics, there is a discourse of emotional excitability or of being odd which are linked to their academic learning.Macdonald (1995, 13) indicates that 'Like ideology, the stereotype works by being plausible, and by masking its own value system'.This can be seen in the media where there is no hegemonic academic female whose work can stand alone without a description of her appearance or character.The narrative, artfully repeated in different guises, can become a way the academics are viewed.This is then picked up by school children who believe that 'very, very smart' is less likely to apply to girls (Bian, Leslie, and Cimpian 2017).
The identified academic stereotypes match Connell's (1987) gender hierarchy with some being given greater cultural value than others.The thinking man's crumpet has a higher value because of her association with sexual attractiveness.She shares many of the characteristics of emphasized femininity (Connell 1987).Due to her greater cultural value, this type of academic is much more likely to be seen on our TV screens.The blue stocking, the eccentric and the school ma'am are less valued and can be the objects of derision.However, more than one stereotype can be in operation at the same time so even the thinking man's crumpet might well be described as eccentric or a school ma'am in different paragraphs.This is also a diminishing tactic.Macdonald (1995) comments that male stereotypes do not receive the same negative connotations as stereotypes of women, and it appears that this still holds true.None of the male stereotypes are as damaging.The hegemonic male has the highest cultural value and for many, an academic is a powerful, wise, white male (Eagleton 2005).The nerd closely follows this idealized role as despite having a gentler masculinity he has cultural value due to his association with technology (Morris and Anderson 2015).The complicit male academic benefits from his association with the hegemonic male academic but for reasons of race, class, or qualifications he is not able to reach the heights of the hegemonic male.An example of this is David Olusoga where the discourse of accomplishment is denied to him.The hierarchy of academic stereotypes reflects the gender value system and power operating in society.Further research is needed on the role of race in the formation of academic stereotypes in the media.This is an emergent conversation that could include the American setting where there is a larger sample to investigate.The intersection of race, gender, and age needs to be included in this context.
The media representation of celebrity academic women re-enforces a discourse that women are not ideally suited to academia.The damaging effect of stereotypes has been recognized by the United Nations Human Rights (2014, 2) who state that, 'There is a growing consensus that gender stereotyping poses a significant, yet largely unaddressed, challenge to the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of women's human rights'.Ross and Carter (2011) argue that stereotypes act as a conservative force to halt social change, to reduce a threat (Kanter 1993) while Heilman (2001) believes that female stereotypes can hinder women's career success or their career choices (Fawcett Society 2020).The women's success as academics on TV, in what was previously a predominantly male role, is a new phenomenon and can be viewed as a challenge to the gender order.The analysis of academic stereotypes suggests Kanter's (1993) research that stereotypes are evoked when a threat is perceived, is still relevant.Ignoring it has the potential to impact on women's career choices and expectations of how a studious woman might look and behave.These discourses diminish women's intellectual contribution.Although academic stereotypes are familiar to people, their use in the media is not widely recognized.If stereotypes are not called out, they can continue to 'set the limits' for those categorized (Jenkins 2000, 21).Recognizing and naming academic stereotypes can help to identify them for what they are, damaging and undermining discourses.It is recommended that gendered academic stereotypes are added to our awareness of the categories that need addressing as part of the drive towards gender equality.

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Notes on contributor
Dr. Joanna Richards started her career in the NHS working in Public Health Management.She moved into teaching Health and Social Care and has worked in schools, further education and higher education.Her interests are in gender and health and feminist theory.