Field access as insight

Ethnographic perspectives on gender equality work in appointment procedures

Abstract

The commentary concurs with Victoria Hegner’s argument about the analytical potential of field access in ethnographic studies. Building on Victoria Hegner’s reflections, it proposes a typology by which strategies of resistance to ethnographic access could be systematized and used as analytical leverage. The ethnographer’s multiple positionalities within her field are taken as an occasion to reflect on the epistemic and ethical consequences of such entanglements. Finally, the commentary endorses Hegner’s claim that loose, relatively weak ties can be crucial for securing access to the field. The resulting experimental openness and uncertainty of ethnographic inquiry may have implications for its status within an institutional research landscape that is heavily dependent on external third-party funding.