There is a growing expectation for us, as academics, to deliver not just high-quality teaching and research, but to generate societal impact through engagement activities. Increasingly, we engage with businesses and communities to instigate positive change, stimulate innovation, and advance the achievement of sustainable development. We have seen this engagement with non-academic organisations increase in importance here in the UK, but expectations are not confined to our shores. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), engagement activities have been developing since the launch of the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa. This was when governments sought to achieve socioeconomic development by strengthening the engagement of higher education institutions with industry and local communities. But while governments have adopted the policies and strategies of developed countries, there are distinct challenges in the SSA region. Some are related to a relatively weak institutional context, with little or no access to policies, incentives, and the socioeconomic conditions that drive and encourage collaborations. Others come down to the individuals involved, their motivations and characteristics. Our work with Dr Afua Owusu-Kwarteng and Dr Cynthia Forson – which builds substantially on the research Afua undertook during her PhD at Lancaster – looks at the specific challenges facing women researchers. We wanted to find out how gender shapes their participation. This is a region with long-standing patriarchal structures, where there is distrust in women’s expertise, and where there are systemic constraints. SSA higher education institutions were mainly created to train men for leadership roles in post-colonial governments. Gender tends to create and sustain advantages for men rather than women, and only 8% of women in the region go into higher education (HE), compared to a global average of 42%. It is a region where being in HE in the first place is an achievement for women. Enjoying success and engaging with industry is even more challenging. OBSTACLES AND LIMITATIONS As part of her PhD research, Afua interviewed researchers across six subSaharan African countries – Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia – to understand women’s experiences of academic engagement and the particular constraints they encountered. The research showed how women’s involvement in academic engagement activities can be shaped by barriers and limitations that their male counterparts do not experience in the same way. Some of the women were involved in the RECIRCULATE project, a collaboration between Lancaster University, businesses, research organisations and communities in Africa. RECIRCULATE trained researchers in knowledge exchange and created opportunities for them to work with local communities and nonacademic organisations. The research highlighted the gendered environments within which this engagement takes place. Research organisations can be shaped by traditionally masculine norms and expectations, while the businesses and other organisations researchers engage with may also be maledominated. These structures and practices can create particular challenges for women seeking to build relationships, gain legitimacy and advance their careers. Even when women do gain access to those spaces, they are battling against the cultural norms of a region where women are expected to prioritise marriage and motherhood over their careers. The interviewees used three main methods to overcome institutional challenges if they are not seen as matching the masculine image of the ideal worker. In the HE context, an ideal researcher is seen as an ‘older man, with a beard, and a big stomach’. To counter this, the women engaged in networking with others in the same situation; they adopted masculine characteristics expected of successful men in the same sphere; and they enhanced their own skills and competencies, showcasing how they aid them in the activities. BUILDING NETWORKS Women researchers describe how domestic responsibilities limit the time available for networking and other engagement activities. These pressures were reinforced by gendered social expectations. For example, neglecting domestic responsibilities could be viewed as inappropriate, while meeting a man professionally in informal settings, such as a bar, could attract social disapproval. If institutional structures that would allow them to flourish in academic engagement are missing, then our participants talked of independently building and maintaining collaborations. By networking with other accomplished women engaged in collaborations with industry, the interviewees saw what was possible. It allowed them to create ‘an environment where [they] would thrive and grow without being apologetic for it’. They can do this using digital environments, where they can freely communicate with other female colleagues, mentors and role models, gaining support and guidance. They could foster important relationships of trust and reciprocity. But while there are benefits to these women-only networks, they also have constraints. They limit access to valuable resources and information only available in male networks, and as a result they might only allow women to get by rather than to get ahead. A MAN’S WORLD? Some participants felt being a woman could work in their favour. One described being assigned certain roles because they were the only woman in the organisation. While this may sound positive, it risked trapping her in a tokenistic position, where her visibility and opportunities were shaped by her gender as much as her expertise. Our research showed that women in the ‘hard’ sciences tended to be looked on with a form of benevolent sexism that sometimes had positive results but could also lead to sexual harassment from male industry partners. It was important for women researchers to learn behaviours such as emotional resilience and confidence that appealed 16 |
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