This book opens the black box of professorial recruitments and selection practices in the Netherlands, and unmasks some persistent myths to explain away the under- representation of women in professorial positions. These myths are unmasked by revealing gender practices such as gatekeeping, male networks and the constructs of excellence. This book challenges the view of an academic world where the allocation of rewards and resources is governed by the normative principles of transparency and meritocracy, and highlights the distance between the ideal ethos of science and the actuality of social interaction in appointment processes.