Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership
In response to the legacy of Apartheid, South Africa has implemented gender equality policies to address the marginalisation of women in higher education institutions. Despite this liberation movement, the politics of university systems have continually marginalised previously disadvantaged black pe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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ERRCD Forum
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/970 |
| _version_ | 1797229678686109696 |
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| author | Alfred Henry Makura Bunmi Isaiah Omodan |
| author_facet | Alfred Henry Makura Bunmi Isaiah Omodan |
| author_sort | Alfred Henry Makura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In response to the legacy of Apartheid, South Africa has implemented gender equality policies to address the marginalisation of women in higher education institutions. Despite this liberation movement, the politics of university systems have continually marginalised previously disadvantaged black people, especially women. This is evident in the statistics of black women in positions of authority and academic development in South Africa. Observations and literature confirm that social, cultural, and institutional practices, often called the "politics of process," remain significant obstacles to women's full inclusion in the university leadership system. Therefore, this study aims to deconstruct gender supremacy within university systems from the perspectives of experienced women. It adopts a decoloniality approach, viewed through a transformative lens, which seeks to transform the perceived organisationally "dismembered" women by "re-membering" them into the sphere of equal recognition in university politics. Participatory research (PR) was employed to design the study, involving five women from a public university in South Africa, selected using a convenient sampling method. Unstructured interviews were conducted to gather information from the participants. Thematic Analysis (TA) was applied to analyse the data. The study found that institutionally induced challenges, women as impediments to themselves, and patriarchy and societal issues are major barriers preventing women from attaining positions of authority. In contrast, institutional support, self-empowerment, and mentoring initiatives represent strategies to re-member the dismembered, forming the basis of the study's recommendations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:16:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbec5cb696504be297cc139e7f1ac8ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2789-5661 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:16:25Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | ERRCD Forum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbec5cb696504be297cc139e7f1ac8ec2024-04-02T09:19:25ZengERRCD ForumInterdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies2789-56612024-02-01411610.38140/ijss-2024.vol4.02934Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadershipAlfred Henry Makura0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6567-5381Bunmi Isaiah Omodan1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9093-3108Central University of Technology, South AfricaWalter Sisulu University, South AfricaIn response to the legacy of Apartheid, South Africa has implemented gender equality policies to address the marginalisation of women in higher education institutions. Despite this liberation movement, the politics of university systems have continually marginalised previously disadvantaged black people, especially women. This is evident in the statistics of black women in positions of authority and academic development in South Africa. Observations and literature confirm that social, cultural, and institutional practices, often called the "politics of process," remain significant obstacles to women's full inclusion in the university leadership system. Therefore, this study aims to deconstruct gender supremacy within university systems from the perspectives of experienced women. It adopts a decoloniality approach, viewed through a transformative lens, which seeks to transform the perceived organisationally "dismembered" women by "re-membering" them into the sphere of equal recognition in university politics. Participatory research (PR) was employed to design the study, involving five women from a public university in South Africa, selected using a convenient sampling method. Unstructured interviews were conducted to gather information from the participants. Thematic Analysis (TA) was applied to analyse the data. The study found that institutionally induced challenges, women as impediments to themselves, and patriarchy and societal issues are major barriers preventing women from attaining positions of authority. In contrast, institutional support, self-empowerment, and mentoring initiatives represent strategies to re-member the dismembered, forming the basis of the study's recommendations.https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/970womenmarginalisationdecolonialitypolitics of processuniversity system |
| spellingShingle | Alfred Henry Makura Bunmi Isaiah Omodan Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies women marginalisation decoloniality politics of process university system |
| title | Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| title_full | Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| title_fullStr | Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| title_full_unstemmed | Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| title_short | Re-membering the dismembered in university 'politics of process': Strategies for women's empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| title_sort | re membering the dismembered in university politics of process strategies for women s empowerment and inclusivity in academic leadership |
| topic | women marginalisation decoloniality politics of process university system |
| url | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/970 |
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