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Women’s networking in Spanish academia: a ‘catch-all’ strategy or strategic sisterhood? Vázquez Cupeiro, María Susana The relevance of networking in academia and the gendered dynamics involved are well established in the literature. The persis- tence of the old-boy network pushes academic women to rationa- lize whether or not to ‘play the game’ and under what terms. Inspired by Feminist Institutionalism, this article explores the sche- mas of interpretation which academic women rely on to find mean- ing and to guide day-to-day relational dynamics. Drawing on 40 in- depth interviews with women from different age-groups and dis- ciplines, three distinct approaches to networking are revealed in Spanish academia: rejection, collaboration and strategic sisterhood. Rejection refers to the detachment from all network dynamics, collaboration to the ‘catch-all’ (though not exclusively) cross- gender network connections, and strategic sisterhood to an in- built women-only support system. The inbreeding university logic, crucial to understanding Spanish idiosyncrasies, emerges as a transversal dimension to further our understanding of how the institutional context influences women ́s strategic choices. The operationalization of academic merits and perceptions about the old-boys dynamics and female solidarity mark different ways of experiencing networking, while gender inequalities (partly) unify women’s discourses. Controversies are raised about collaborative strategies, and particularly women-only networks, in helping women evolve as agents of change in academia. 2023-12-18T08:31:43Z 2023-12-18T08:31:43Z 2021 journal article Vázquez-Cupeiro S. Women’s networking in Spanish academia: a ‘catch-all’ strategy or strategic sisterhood? Critical Studies in Education. 2021 Abril 63(4):485-500. 1750-8495 10.1080/17508487.2021.1911820 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/91410 1750-8487 https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2021.1911820 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2021.1911820 https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/documentos/61bb18f48859d84fda7b7e10 eng José Castillejo International Mobility Program [Grant Number CAS17/00337] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ restricted access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Taylor & Francis