Suchergebnisse

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present reasons for the mobility of women in senior management positions in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of women underrepresentation and retention challenges in institution of higher learning in this country, it is pertinent to share the experiences of senior women, with the aim of understanding institutional structures and cultures that make it difficult for women to survive in senior positions.


Design/methodology/approach
The paper used a qualitative approach. The focus of this paper was on the women who had held or were still holding senior management positions in higher education in South Africa. The requirement for this paper was that these women should have moved out or across institutions while at a senior management position. This paper drew from five women from different institutions and involved them in in-depth interviews. The women who fitted the category of senior management in this paper included deputy vice chancellor, deans and heads of departments.


Findings
The findings indicated that the decisions to opt out of senior management positions for the women ranged from personal to institutional. The personal reasons that emerged from this paper pointed mainly to issues of salaries. The women opted to move out of their positions for better salaries which they believed they would get in the private sectors or in other institutions. Professional development also led women to move to more promising spaces that could afford them an opportunity to grow. Apart from these personal reasons, hostile institutional cultures were cited by all women as the most serious contributory factor to their turnover. Of these, they cited patriarchal practices that led to oppression and dominance, which made it difficult for them to cope in the senior positions they held.


Originality/value
This paper aimed to respond to a gap in research on senior management women's mobility in higher education, specifically in South Africa. According to Samuel and Chipunza (2013), there is a serious concern that pertains to retention of senior management within African higher education. However, most studies do not provide a focused attention on women but offer a general interpretation of senior management turnover. There seems to be lack of research that aims at understanding the contextual reasons that lead to turnover of women senior management in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of low representation of women in senior positions in specifically South African higher education and calls for equity, the study looked at the reasons why higher education institutions at times fail to retain this most sought after group (women) in these positions of power. Understanding issues around this matter has the potential to contribute towards improved practices while adding a voice to discourses around gender equity and equality.

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. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2976

One key goal in the mission and vision statement of the University of the Free State is to recruit the best and most diverse students who work in solidarity and togetherness across social and historical divides. This goal is further echoed in the academic divisions' own mission and vision statements which endeavour to ensure that the broader institutional goals are met. The Faculty of Education in this institution for instance, in accordance with the institution's vision, has included in their vision statement issues of diversity and social transformation which foreground the Faculty's commitment to produce teachers who show solidarity in their dealings with others. A question that is worth considering though is how these mission and vision statements can be implemented in practice by lecturers in their classes. In this paper I report on an action research project towards the realisation of the vision of togetherness and solidarity of the University of the Free State and the Faculty of Education, in which spaces are created for collaborative work for Honours classes. The results from this classroom practice indicate that students' solidarity and togetherness in racially diverse learning environments can be enhanced through collaborative students' work designed by lecturers.