Reflections of Black Women Academics at South African Universities: A Narrative Case Study

Mokhele, Matseliso L.

doi:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p611

Cited by 18 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A presentation by Higher Education South Africa (2014), which looked into the achievements and challenges faced by institutions of higher education after 20 years of democracy, points to a number of challenges institutions still need to surmount regarding the quality of access for black women academics. A study conducted by Mokhele (2013) indicates that 20 years after the new political dispensation, black women academics still face excluding attitudes from their white colleagues who continually question their competence and marginalise their qualifications.…”

Section: The Status Of Access In Sahementioning

confidence: 99%

“…When addressing the quality of access or successful participation, Maguire and Hoskins, (2011) and Wright, Thompson and Channer (2007) point out that while institutions of higher education have opened their doors to black women academics, the institutions have systemic barriers in place that disallow their successful participation. These barriers include institutional racism and gender issues that inhibit women from realising their full potential in the institutional spaces of higher education (Mokhele, 2013;Portnoi, 2009;Mirza, 2006). According to Harries (2007), these barriers put some black women academics in the precarious position of having to define and defend their presence in institutions once they have gained access.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Marginalised Access’ in South African Higher Education: Black Women Academics Speak!

Ramohai

2014

MJSS

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Within the complex social dynamics of transformation in South African higher education, increasing access of previously marginalised groups of black people and women cannot be over-emphasised. The need for higher education institutions in South Africa to open their doors to all and specifically, to black women academics has been an issue of discussion by the Department of Higher Education and scholars since the dawn of democracy in 1994. Drawing on critical race theory in analysing the lived experiences of black women academics in a historically white university, this study seeks to understand their perspectives about how the university manages the increasing number of black women academics and, most importantly, whether it ensures their successful participation in institutional spaces. While access of previously marginalised groups to higher education has increased, the findings of this study indicate that social and cultural practices, as well as institutional structures at the university act as a barrier to black women's successful participation.

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Section: The Status Of Access In Sahementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Marginalised Access’ in South African Higher Education: Black Women Academics Speak!

Ramohai

2014

MJSS

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“…Institutional culture and practices were found to perpetuate Black students' marginalisation. Similarly, Mokhele (2013), found that Black women academics in IHE experience feelings of isolation and un-belonging. These Black women academics reported that their qualifications, scholarship, and competence were often treated with doubt and suspicion by their colleagues.…”

Section: Saihe and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Black women in lower academic positions report that prejudices in their day-to-day interactions undermine their academic progression while navigating the hostile university spaces. According to Mokhele (2013), Black women's academic experiences of exclusion within universities are related to their gender and race. These experiences of discrimination and marginalisation often lead to alienating feelings of un-belonging within academia.…”

Section: Saihe and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The university is not your home: lived experiences of a Black woman in academia

Maseti

2018

South African Journal of Psychology

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Entering academia as the youngest academic in my department, I encountered my blackness in ways that mirrored my days as a university student. Joining a university department with few Black1 academics was psychologically scarring. One of those scars had been constantly wondering whether my employment had been to fulfil demographic obligations or rightfully based on merit and suitability for the job. This evoked a recollection of past experiences: my experiences as a Black student in classes with very few Black bodies to engage with and/or look up to. The burden of constantly needing to prove my worth and intellectual capability became an artificial barrier to belonging in those spaces. Reflecting on transformation in South African Institutions of Higher Education, I utilise an autoethnographic method to reveal my experiences of (un)belonging and exclusions in academia as a way of revealing the psychological cost of being a ‘body out of place’.

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“…There is much literature that explicates how Black women academics in South African higher education institutions are not exempt from the issues of racism and sexism that plague Black women in other domains of professional and social life (Divala 2014;Khunou et al 2019;Mokhele 2013;Naicker 2013;Schulze 2015). The racism and sexism can bring about obstacles that prevent Black women's attainment of professorship which is one of the reasons for the scarcity of Black women professors within the South African landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The struggles and the triumphs of South African Black women professors

Zulu

2021

SAJHE

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The apartheid epoch introduced a web of laws that influenced public and private structures and ideological apparatuses, including educational institutions, to give an inferior status to Black people. South Africa was also upheld by a deeply patriarchal system which marginalised the status of women in society. This meant that most people in senior positions in South African organisations were predominantly white and male. The consequence of racism and patriarchy meant that there have been a low number of Black women professors in institutions of higher education. This study therefore aimed to examine the discourses of Black women professors in post-apartheid South Africa. This study used the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and critical consciousness, to understand the challenges that Black women professors encounter and how they strategically navigated these challenges in institutions of higher education, respectively. The Black women professors were recruited from two South African universities. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The significance of the study is that it identified discourses, which could be useful to understand the kinds of challenges that may operate in higher education and ways to shift these existing challenges. The findings showed two main challenges encountered by Black women professors namely: (1) feelings of being unwelcomed within the academic space and (2) being undermined in their leadership positions.Black women professors seemed to navigate these challenges by (1) being vocal, and (2) being intentional, about excelling in their work and (3) adopting a transformational leadership style. The study feeds into how South African higher education institutions can accommodate Black women professors, as they navigate through their career.

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Reflections of Black Women Academics at South African Universities: A Narrative Case Study

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 18 publications

References 14 publications

‘Marginalised Access’ in South African Higher Education: Black Women Academics Speak!

‘Marginalised Access’ in South African Higher Education: Black Women Academics Speak!

The university is not your home: lived experiences of a Black woman in academia

The struggles and the triumphs of South African Black women professors

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