Universities are expected to strive for excellence but also for gender balance. Narrow interpretations of excellence in universities hinder women’s advancement in academia. In this paper, we ask if there are ways that these policies may be reconciled. Excellence is an “empty signifier” that must be filled with meaning. We have investigated how Heads of Departments enact “excellence” and gender balance in hiring processes in four Norwegian universities. Many HoD argued for broadening excellence criteria and framed excellence as a collective rather than an individual concern. This allows for reconciling top-down institutional demands for excellence and diversity while catering to local needs. Thus, our paper suggests that in a context where increased diversity among faculty is called for, this may open up a space for critical reflection about the criteria for assessing academic quality.

大学不仅要追求卓越，还要追求性别平衡。对大学卓越表现的狭隘解释阻碍了女性在学术界的进步。在本文中，我们询问是否有办法协调这些政策。卓越是一个“空洞的能指”，必须充满意义。我们调查了四所挪威大学的系主任如何在招聘过程中体现“卓越”和性别平衡。许多 HoD 主张扩大卓越标准，并将卓越视为集体而不是个人的关注点。这样可以在满足当地需求的同时，协调自上而下的机构对卓越和多样性的要求。因此，我们的论文表明，在要求增加教师多样性的背景下，这可能会为评估学术质量的标准提供批判性反思的空间。