The closing of the gender gap is "barely visible" at a management level and men in their mid-30s are still more likely to be fast-tracked through the ranks, says Hilary Pilkington.

Professor Pilkington, of the Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies at Birmingham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, was promoted in 2002 after 12 years in academe.

"I'm unusual in the sense that the mantra is 'the best way to get a chair is to move around' - and I've been employed at Birmingham since 1990," she said.

"One thing I have noticed over time is a greater awareness of issues of potential discrimination."

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Professor Pilkington, 40, added: "I've been fortunate with research funding - and that may be one of the reasons why I have been promoted to a professorship quite early and unusually early for a woman.

"You tend to see quite a lot of early appointments, fast-track appointments for men aged about 35, but few chairs are given to women of that age.

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'I suspect that research funding has a lot to do with that," Professor Pilkington added.