The struggle of women for power and leadership in universities

Despite great gains made over the years regarding access and representation of women in African higher education, the percentage of women in leadership and decision-making positions continues to be small. Several studies have revealed that positions of power in an overwhelming majority of universities are occupied by men.

As described in University World News, in a 2017 article, Dr Florence Nakamanya and others revealed that Uganda had just three female vice-chancellors in its more than 50 universities. At mid-level, the number of female leaders was minimal. Makerere University – the country’s biggest higher education institution – employed only one female principal in its 10 colleges.

In 2020, South Africa had only four women vice-chancellors at its 26 universities. Similarly, a 2017 article in the Journal of Education and Practice found “very few” women leaders in higher education in Tanzania. Out of more than 60 universities and colleges, there were only two women vice-chancellors and one college principal.

In a 2017 article, Akua Ahyia Adu-Oppong et al described research – with the University of Education, Winneba, as the case study – to determine the place of women in higher education management in Ghana. They found no women in top-level positions such as vice-chancellor and pro vice-chancellor.

The imperative for action

The need to put in place strategic measures – at both continental and institutional levels – to close the huge, persistent leadership gap between males and females was emphasised at a forum held on 8 March 2022 and hosted by the African Women in Higher Education Network (WoHEN) and the Association of African Universities (AAU) to mark International Women’s Day. The forum was titled ‘Breaking the Bias in African Higher Education: Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’.

WoHEN was established last year to support women to participate effectively in the higher education sector, and across all thematic areas – leadership, management, administration, agriculture, business, health, STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths – education, humanities, social sciences, and technical and vocational education. It is hosted by the AAU.

Close to 300 higher education stakeholders from Africa and beyond attended the forum, which stressed the importance of implementing policies that seek to ensure the provision of equal opportunities for both men and women to excel in African higher education institutions.

Among the key issues highlighted as being critical to ensuring sustained progress in the fight for gender equity were strengthening collaboration, addressing gender inequality throughout the education pipeline and mainstreaming of gender in curricula.

Climbing up the academic ladder, females are encumbered by family responsibilities. Therefore, it is important that policies and actions are sensitive to their peculiar situation. Women are still doing most of the caring, educating, cooking and cleaning in homes, although gender gaps have decreased, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality.

These responsibilities tend to reduce the extra hours available to women in evenings and at weekends to focus on publications and research projects among other activities, which are critical when it comes to promotion.

Gender equality was projected as not only being a human right but also the basis for building just and progressive societies. All stakeholders were called upon to play a part in removing obstacles that stand in the way of women’s progress.

Obstacles to women up the academic ladder

Impediments that have contributed to the current dearth of women leaders in African higher education include, among others, issues related to funding. No doubt, funding is a common challenge for African higher education in general. In the case of women trying to access funding for PhD studies, for instance, the ground seems not to be level.

Due to women’s ‘biological clock’, they are more likely to want to have children before pursuing a PhD. But, by that time, they might be inching close to or have gone past the 35-year cut-off point demanded by some funding agencies to qualify to access scholarships for PhDs, for example. The removal of these kinds of obstacles is being called for.

Good practices were identified, such as scholarship packages that support a woman with a small child or infant, nursery schools on campuses to allow breastfeeding, and a culture of paternity leave for men to support female partners during maternity leave.

Gender stereotypes, biases and socio-cultural expectations are all barriers that need to be dealt with. The institutionalisation of sexual harassment policies by centres under the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence Impact Project, for example, is being promoted for wide adoption in tackling sexual harassment.

Unequal pay

The keynote address delivered at the AAU-WoHEN event by Dr Christine Phiri Mushibwe, vice-chancellor of Unicaf University in Zambia, highlighted the issue of women being paid less than men for the same jobs. Globally, the picture of women earning less than men is very similar.

According to a 2021 OECD working paper, despite changes in social norms and policies, on average across 25 European countries there remains a gap of around 15% in hourly earnings between similarly qualified men and women.

In an article in The Conversation in 2018, Nisreen Ameen of Queen Mary University of London wrote that Britain has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Europe, with women earning roughly 21% less than men. This implies that women in universities in the United Kingdom are still earning considerably less than their male colleagues.

Closing the earning gap between men and women is key in inspiring the next generation of women academics to aspire to the top. This is also where leadership and integrity make the difference.

Advice to leaders and stakeholders

Professor Olusola Oyewole, secretary general of the AAU, said in an address that African higher education institutions need to promote gender-enabling systems to stop biases against women.

Addressing gender inequality challenges in the entire education pipeline, as well as ensuring a gender-sensitive pedagogy, emerged as key outcomes from the forum’s discussions. The need to tear down stereotypes and negative cultural beliefs was highlighted. The promotion of networking and collaboration was also highly recommended.

Representing the Forum for African Women Educationalists, Executive Director Martha Muhwezi called on universities to take advantage of technological advancement to create opportunities for women to pursue their academic and career goals alongside their natural biological roles. She also stressed the importance of promoting the effective participation of women in fields such as STEM.

A focus on differently abled women

While women generally face a long list of challenges that inhibit their effective participation in leadership, those who are differently abled tend to be more disadvantaged. Therefore, it is essential to pay special attention to this group.

Differently abled people generally face difficulties in accessing and completing education, and in entering the open labour market. Seen from a gender perspective, differently abled men are almost twice as likely to have jobs than women (Arthur O’Reilly 2003).

Also, differently abled women often experience unequal hiring and promotion standards, unequal access to training and retraining, unequal pay for equal work, and they rarely participate in economic decision-making.

African higher education institutions need to implement strategies that support women with disabilities to compete favourably for available opportunities. Having disability-friendly institutional buildings and mindsets, among other aspects, are all-important.

Key recommendations

Key points promoted for action and adoption by African higher education institutions and stakeholders, from the discussions by participants at the AAU-WoHEN forum, included the following:

• Working with men and boys to break gender stereotypes. The implementation of well-designed interventions to increase gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours among men and boys was considered a priority.

• Women-friendly scholarships. The discussions pointed to the need for development partners and funding agencies to offer scholarships that give special consideration to the peculiar issues of women. These may include extending the cut-off age limit and offering scholarships that allow women to travel with children to study in a different location, for instance.

• Awareness-building on equal pay issues. Continuous advocacy to be undertaken by all stakeholders to ensure that the gender pay gap is closed. Structures should be implemented to eliminate human biases when decisions about salaries for women or men are being made, and with commensurate penalties for failure to adhere to equality and equity principles.

• Women to support other women. Women who find themselves in positions of power were encouraged to create room for other young academics to excel and to climb to the top. All too frequently, women are said to be their own ‘enemies’, with those at the top making it difficult for others to progress.

• Mentoring and role-modelling. African higher education institutions were called on to prioritise mentoring and role-modelling as a key strategy to empower more women in the bid to change the narrative and have more women at the top.

Felicia Nkrumah Kuagbedzi is communications and publications officer at the AAU. Nodumo Dhlamini is director of ICT, communications and knowledge management at the AAU. Dr Beatrice Khamati Njenga is deputy vice-chancellor for institutional advancement at the International Leadership University in Kenya. Kuagbedzi, Dhlamini and Khamati Njenga are all founding members of the African Women in Higher Education Network (WoHEN).

References

Adu-Oppong, Akua Ahyia; Aikins, Emma Darkoa; and Darko, Goddana Mensima (2016) ‘The Place of Women in Higher Education Management: A Ghanaian perspective’. Ghana Library Journal, Volume 26, Number 2.

Nyoni, Watende Pius; He, Chen and Yusuph, Mashala Lameck (2017) ‘Sustainable Interventions in Enhancing Gender Parity in Senior Leadership Positions in Higher Education in Tanzania’, in the Journal of Education and Practice, Volume 8, Number 13.

O’Reilly, Arthur (2003) ‘Employment barriers for women with disabilities’, in The Right to Decent Work of Persons with Disabilities. IFP/Skills Working Paper, Number 14. International Labour Organisation.