Gender inequality exists within higher education in the UK and Germany. In the UK only 15.3% of professors in pre-and post-1992 universities were women (2003), whilst in Germany only 8.6% attained the highest grade of professorship (2003). The research uses existing data sets combined with theoretical constructs to investigate the reasons for gender inequality in British and German higher education. It examines and evaluates equality legislation in action, it teases out the social and epistemological aspects of gendered behaviour within the work situation of female academics and it investigates why female academics have a more difficult time gaining promotion in German than in British universities. (Contains 4 tables and 7 notes.)