Gendered Cultures, Under-Representation, and the Career Challenges of Women Academics in a South African University

Introduction

In the face of many noteworthy efforts to address the causes of gender inequality in higher education (HE), women academics still experience forms of marginalization and inequality. Explanations often attribute such forms of marginalization and inequality to the lack of strong institutional policies and persistent gendered cultures that are antithetical to the career progression of women academics. For instance, gender discrepancies in power and the under-representation of women in senior management and professorial level persist (O’Connor, 2019). To ensure that female professionals including academics progress in their careers, there have been various charters, legislations and policy decisions at the international, national, and institutional levels. For instance, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) highlights the importance of ensuring that women have equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life (UN, 2021). Also, Aspiration 6, Goal 17 of the African Union Agenda 2063 emphasizes full gender equality in all spheres of life (AUC, 2021). While these international charters and conventions have been established to address the challenges countries face in promoting gender equality and women empowerment, studies from different countries reveal various forms of gender inequality (Hirsu et al., 2021; Macupe, 2020; Mergaert & Lombardo, 2014; Reynolds & Henderson, 2023).

To address the issues confronting the career progression of women academics in HE, the current study examines how gender inequalities in a university in South Africa constrain the career development of women academics. Secondly, this study seeks answers to how women academics in the university can advance their careers through institutional support and transformation that addresses all forms of gendered cultural practices. Barriers to the career progression of women academics have been challenged in prior studies on the bases of claims and counterclaims that men academics also experience perceived biases (Verge et al., 2018). In practice, prejudices against feminist policy, gendered professoriate networks, gender stereotypes, and the fallacy of equality (Verge et al., 2018) continue to hinder the career progression of women academics in HE. Beyond gendered practices in the HE sector are changes in the context of HE that have become highly competitive concerning value, competition for funding (Angervall, 2018) research output, teaching and learning delivery, and engaged scholarship which further impacts inequalities.

The importance of transforming institutional structure, culture, and policies to reflect evolving global trends that support the career advancement of women academics served as the current study’s point of departure. Consequently, the following research questions were developed to guide the current study: (1) what gendered practices constrain the career progression of women academics in the university? and (2) what are the differences in the perceptions of men and women academics concerning gendered practices that constrain the career progression of women academics in the university? The current study commences by providing an overview of the South African HE context concerning gender and then proceeds to explain how feminist institutional theory (Chappell & Waylen, 2013; Clavero & Galligan, 2020) provides meaning to how perceived gender inequalities in the university constrain the career progression of female academics. Next, the study explains the empirical process used to gather interview data from the study participants regarding their opinion and experiences about how perceived gender inequalities constrain the career advancement of women academics. The study concludes by discussing the findings of the empirical study and provide recommendations on how perceived gender inequalities in the study setting could be addressed.