Women in Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities in South Asia
Diversity, Democratisation and Difference: Theories and Methodologies
Women in Higher Education
Leadership in South Asia: Rejection,
Refusal,
Reluctance, Re-visioning
Professor Louise Morley
Dr Barbara Crossouard
Centre for Higher Education
and Equity Research (CHEER)
University of Sussex, UK
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer
Provocations: Identifying Women
Leaders
•
What is it that people
don’t see?
•
Why don’t they see it?
•
What do current
practices reveal and
obscure?
Making Women Intelligible as
Leaders: A Two-Way Gaze?
•
How are women being seen
e.g
.
as deficit men?
•
How are women viewing
leadership
e.g.
unliveable lives?
•
What narratives circulate about:
women’s capabilities?
leadership?
The Affective Economy of Higher
Education Leadership
Affect
•
Historically dismissed in Western
thought
•
Devalued in binary thinking
•
Revisited in post-structural writers
(Ahmed 2004, 2010)
•
‘Sticks’ to objects and bodies e.g.
shame, hatred, love
•
Works as a form of capital/ ‘affective
economy’
•
Is intensified / accrues value through
circulation
•
Integral to the production of social
and material realities.
Evidence
•
Literature and Policy Review
•
Statistical Review
•
30 Interviews
(19 women and 11 men) Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka.
What makes leadership
attractive/unattractive
to women?
What
enables/ supports
women
to enter leadership positions?
Personal experiences of being
enabled/ impeded
from entering
leadership?
Where are the Women?
•
Lack of Gender-Disaggregated
Statistics
•
No linear trends in women’s
representation
•
Numbers of female academics have
increased
•
Gender distribution of male to
female academics unchanged
•
Significant differences by disciplinary
field of studies
•
Absent from Senior Leadership
Policy Silences
•
Gender = category of analysis
for female students, not staff.
•
Quality, not Equality =
knowledge economy, good
governance, STEM, digital
economy.
•
Lack of Research-based
Evidence
.
Where are the Women?
•
Academic staffing of
HEIs in Afghanistan,
2004-2012, data
courtesy of British
Council
•
Numbers of female
academics have
increased
•
No linear trends in
women’s
representation
•
Gender distribution of
male to female
academics unchanged
Where are the Women?
•
% of Female
Academics per
Field of Study
•
UGC Sri Lanka,
2010, 2011, 2012
•
Significant
differences by
disciplinary field
of studies
•
No linear trends in
women’s
representation
Where are the Women?
•
% of Female
Academics by
academic position
•
UGC Sri Lanka,
2010, 2011, 2012
•
Women equally
represented only at
lecturer level
•
Significant gender
inequalities
continuing at all
other levels
Women Vice-Chancellors: Leading or
Being Led?
Narrating Difference
•
Recruitment and Selection
(Political/lacking transparency)
•
Passionate attachment
(Disciplines/ research)
•
Authority
(Does not ‘stick’ to women)
•
Gendered Divisions of Labour
(Women = domestic domain)
•
Exclusionary Networks
(Male Domination/ sexual propriety)
•
Hostile
cultures
(Toxic/ stressful)
Men Cloning Themselves
I think it’s to do with liking
this gender power
relationship. Some of the
senior
male academics who
always want to have it go,
even for an acting position, to
another male…I think it is
something to do with this
gender power relationship…A
lot of males in Sri Lanka
believe that for women
administration
is not right.
(Female Dean, Sri Lanka)
They are used to seeing
men as leading, right? So
they are uncertain how will
it be if it is a woman?
Because they have not seen
many. So I think it’s a fear
of uncertainty. And the
society is not ready to take
that risk so a known evil is
better than unknown.
(Female Professor, Sri Lanka)
Entitlement Cultures and Knowing
One’s Place
The men they also do
not like the female to
be a leader, that I
have also faced the
problem…They want
to see the male as
the leader, not the
female.
(
Female Dean, Nepal)
I have presented three
papers abroad… People
get jealous instead of
feeling pride that’s she
growing…I realised that
people are so jealous of
people
who, especially
women, who were
growing and getting
out of the institution.
(Female Senior Lecturer, Pakistan)
Passionate Attachments to Research
So there was one Senior Professor I was talking
to, a very dynamic lady, very good researcher
and internationally known and I said: ’Why are
you not taking Headship of the Department?’
and she says: ’It is too much of headache, too
much of politics to manage and this will hamper
my research. This will hamper my work/life
balance’, and she says: ‘Anyway I’m not inclined’
okay?
(Female Director, India)
I have been advised that I should forget about
my disciplinary advances,
which I'm not ready
to, as yet, let go, so. I think for the next five
years I will
still trade off or balance these two
roles. If I had the choice of moving to
another
place as a director and leave my lab behind, I
don't think I'm ready
for that. I would continue
doing my research and work in the lab.
(Female
Dean, India)
Self-doubt and Isolation
You have to keep proving every time yourself okay? Whereas
somebody sits in that position of power, he need not prove,
but a lady has to prove every time.
(Female Director, India)
I think it’s the burden and the stress of working in a senior
leadership position, which makes it unattractive. Most of the
people and most of the women realise that it’s a very lonely
job up there.
(Female Registrar, Pakistan)
I'm alone, even today I'm the only university-wide woman
dean, I'm the only
woman in the series of directors, deputy
directors, university-wide deans and
associate deans…then
in these evenings when there's a networking dinner,
you are
completely left out.
(Female Dean, India)
Corruption Fears
Also in Sri Lanka this administration is somehow a dirty
game…Rightly or wrongly, many of them are blamed for
financial irregularities and things like that so I think women
are more sensitive. We might be thinking okay, why go into
that mess?...Corruption leading to all kinds of remarks and all
kinds of things like that.
(Female Professor, Sri Lanka)
I think that good governance should be there… the governing
body. Some of the members are from the government officials,
so there is also chance of the corruption there ...So these kinds
of policies… personal interest, government affiliations, political
affiliations, also the politics, these are the factors, you know,
that discourage the women to come to the higher leadership
positions.
(Male Assistant Professor, Pakistan)
Gendered Dispositions
This stereotype definition of
leadership, probably that is what
matters. …. But the way society
understands is probably for
certain roles a person has to be
really aggressive or something,
which the woman could have
handled in a different way, not
showing that kind of aggression
per se. But then you are not
selected for the role in the
interview if you don’t look like
you can kill something
(Female Assistant Professor, India)
Gendered Divisions of Labour
I need to spend about 8 hours a day
just on administration, on really
quite useless things. And of course I
also have my research – however in
my situation, as a man I can
manage both, and spend time on
those other aspects when I get
home. However, when a woman
gets home, she is involved with the
family – so women will avoid those
kinds of admin posts – they are
doing very well as associate
professors, as assistant professors,
as students, as doctoral students,
but their inclination is to the family,
and not to put themselves forward
for these kinds of posts where there
is a lot of administration.
(Male Head of Department, Pakistan)
Gender Appropriate Behaviour
There is not closed culture for the men, they are free to go
outside but the
women cannot because it’s prohibited in some
place of my country, for the
women go alone abroad without
their husband.
(
Female Vice Dean, Afghanistan)
You know a woman if she’s networking and lobbying then
immediately she’s branded as being very ambitious and very
pushy.
(Female Pro-Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh)
One of our PVCs dresses quite flamboyantly… you know,
wearing trousers is frowned upon in the university... So now,
when she applied for the VCship, she stopped wearing trousers
and got a sari. So I want a place where you don’t have to make
such choices, make such compromises.
(Female Professor, Sri Lanka)
What Attracts Women to Senior
Leadership?
•
Power
•
Influence
•
Values
•
Rewards
•
Recognition
Why is Senior Leadership Unattractive
to Women?
•
Neo-liberalism/ Performance Cultures
•
Being ‘Other’ in male-dominated
cultures
•
Disrupting the symbolic order
•
Corruption/ Financialisation
•
Pre-determined Scripts
•
W
omen lack capital
(economic,
political, social and symbolic)
to
redefine the requirements of the
field?
Barriers Enablers
•
The Power of the Socio-
Cultural/ Gender
Appropriate
•
Social Class and Caste
•
Lack of Investment in
Women
•
Organisational Cultures
•
Perceptions of Leadership
•
Recruitment and Selection
•
Family
•
Gender and Authority
•
Corruption
•
Internationalisation
•
Policies
(affirmative action, gender
mainstreaming, work/life balance)
•
Women-only Provision
(leadership development/
universities)
•
Mentoring
•
Professional Development
•
Family
•
Evidence
(Research/ Gender-Disaggregated
Statistics)
Moving On
Women are
•
Rejected
•
Refusing/ Self Excluding
•
Reluctant
Change
•
Not representation alone/
counting more women into
existing structures/ systems.
Need for
•
Re-visioning of Leadership-
more generative, generous and
gender-free.
Follow Up?
•
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This study by Professor Louise Morley and Dr. Barbara Crossouard explores the complexities surrounding women's leadership in higher education in South Asia. It delves into issues of diversity, democratisation, and difference, shedding light on the barriers women face in entering leadership positions. The research uncovers the biases and silences within policies and practices that hinder gender equality in academia. Through a critical lens, the authors analyze the affective economy of leadership, the lack of gender-disaggregated statistics, and the personal experiences of women leaders. The study calls for a re-examination of current practices to promote gender inclusivity in higher education leadership.
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Women in Higher Education Diversity, Democratisation and Difference: Theories and Methodologies Leadership in South Asia: Rejection, Refusal,Reluctance, Re-visioning Professor Louise Morley Dr Barbara Crossouard Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER) University of Sussex, UK http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer
Provocations: Identifying Women Leaders What is it that people don t see? Why don t they see it? What do current practices reveal and obscure?
Making Women Intelligible as Leaders: A Two-Way Gaze? How are women being seen e.g. as deficit men? How are women viewing leadership e.g. unliveable lives? What narratives circulate about: women s capabilities? leadership?
The Affective Economy of Higher Education Leadership Affect Historically dismissed in Western thought Devalued in binary thinking Revisited in post-structural writers (Ahmed 2004, 2010) Sticks to objects and bodies e.g. shame, hatred, love Works as a form of capital/ affective economy Is intensified / accrues value through circulation Integral to the production of social and material realities.
Evidence Literature and Policy Review Statistical Review 30 Interviews (19 women and 11 men) Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. What makes leadership attractive/unattractive to women? What enables/ supports women to enter leadership positions? Personal experiences of being enabled/ impeded from entering leadership?
Where are the Women? Lack of Gender-Disaggregated Statistics No linear trends in women s representation Numbers of female academics have increased Gender distribution of male to female academics unchanged Significant differences by disciplinary field of studies Absent from Senior Leadership
Policy Silences Gender = category of analysis for female students, not staff. Quality, not Equality = knowledge economy, good governance, STEM, digital economy. Lack of Research-based Evidence.
Where are the Women? Academic staffing of HEIs in Afghanistan, 2004-2012, data courtesy of British Council Male Female Total 4000 3519 3500 3159 3023 2842 3000 Numbers of female academics have increased 3009 (85.5) 2572 2408 2500 2680 (84.8) 2567 (84.9) 2090 2423 (85.3) 1978 1886 2000 2181 (84.8) 2035 (84.5) No linear trends in women s representation 1774 (84.9) 1500 1676 (84.7) 1613 (85.5) 1000 510 (14.5) 479 (15.2) 456 (15.1) 419 (14.7) 391 (15.2) 373 (15.5) 316 (15.1) 302 (15.3) 273 (14.5) 500 Gender distribution of male to female academics unchanged 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Where are the Women? % of Female Academics per Field of Study 2012 2011 2010 41.0 42.0 Humanities and Social Science 37.7 30.1 UGC Sri Lanka, 2010, 2011, 2012 Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction 33.6 29.8 48.2 46.8 Business, Admin and Law 45.6 Significant differences by disciplinary field of studies 49.7 50.0 Health and Welfare 52.7 40.9 40.1 Arts 39.1 45.2 44.2 Science and Tech 44.1 No linear trends in women s representation 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Where are the Women? % of Female Academics by academic position 60 53.4 53.5 51.6 50 41.9 UGC Sri Lanka, 2010, 2011, 2012 38.4 38 37.4 40 32.9 31.7 27 26 30 24.4 Women equally represented only at lecturer level 20 10 0 Significant gender inequalities continuing at all other levels Professor Associate Professor Senior Lecturer Lecturer 2010 2011 2012
Women Vice-Chancellors: Leading or Being Led? UK NOR INDIA NEPAL PAK SRI LANKA 17% 31.8% 3% 0% 0.04% 21.4%
Narrating Difference Recruitment and Selection (Political/lacking transparency) Passionate attachment (Disciplines/ research) Authority (Does not stick to women) Gendered Divisions of Labour (Women = domestic domain) Exclusionary Networks (Male Domination/ sexual propriety) Hostile cultures (Toxic/ stressful)
Men Cloning Themselves I think it s to do with liking this gender power relationship. Some of the seniormale academics who always want to have it go, even for an acting position, to another male I think it is something to do with this gender power relationship A lot of males in Sri Lanka believe that for women administrationis not right. (Female Dean, Sri Lanka) They are used to seeing men as leading, right? So they are uncertain how will it be if it is a woman? Because they have not seen many. So I think it s a fear of uncertainty. And the society is not ready to take that risk so a known evil is better than unknown. (Female Professor, Sri Lanka)
Entitlement Cultures and Knowing One s Place The men they also do not like the female to be a leader, that I have also faced the problem They want to see the male as the leader, not the female. (Female Dean, Nepal) I have presented three papers abroad People get jealous instead of feeling pride that s she growing I realised that people are so jealous of peoplewho, especially women, who were growing and getting out of the institution. (Female Senior Lecturer, Pakistan)
Passionate Attachments to Research So there was one Senior Professor I was talking to, a very dynamic lady, very good researcher and internationally known and I said: Why are you not taking Headship of the Department? and she says: It is too much of headache, too much of politics to manage and this will hamper my research. This will hamper my work/life balance , and she says: Anyway I m not inclined okay? (Female Director, India) I have been advised that I should forget about my disciplinary advances,which I'm not ready to, as yet, let go, so. I think for the next five years I willstill trade off or balance these two roles. If I had the choice of moving toanother place as a director and leave my lab behind, I don't think I'm readyfor that. I would continue doing my research and work in the lab. (Female Dean, India)
Self-doubt and Isolation You have to keep proving every time yourself okay? Whereas somebody sits in that position of power, he need not prove, but a lady has to prove every time. (Female Director, India) I think it s the burden and the stress of working in a senior leadership position, which makes it unattractive. Most of the people and most of the women realise that it s a very lonely job up there. (Female Registrar, Pakistan) I'm alone, even today I'm the only university-wide woman dean, I'm the onlywoman in the series of directors, deputy directors, university-wide deans andassociate deans then in these evenings when there's a networking dinner,you are completely left out. (Female Dean, India)
Corruption Fears Also in Sri Lanka this administration is somehow a dirty game Rightly or wrongly, many of them are blamed for financial irregularities and things like that so I think women are more sensitive. We might be thinking okay, why go into that mess?...Corruption leading to all kinds of remarks and all kinds of things like that. (Female Professor, Sri Lanka) I think that good governance should be there the governing body. Some of the members are from the government officials, so there is also chance of the corruption there ...So these kinds of policies personal interest, government affiliations, political affiliations, also the politics, these are the factors, you know, that discourage the women to come to the higher leadership positions. (Male Assistant Professor, Pakistan)
Gendered Dispositions This stereotype definition of leadership, probably that is what matters. . But the way society understands is probably for certain roles a person has to be really aggressive or something, which the woman could have handled in a different way, not showing that kind of aggression per se. But then you are not selected for the role in the interview if you don t look like you can kill something (Female Assistant Professor, India)
Gendered Divisions of Labour I need to spend about 8 hours a day just on administration, on really quite useless things. And of course I also have my research however in my situation, as a man I can manage both, and spend time on those other aspects when I get home. However, when a woman gets home, she is involved with the family so women will avoid those kinds of admin posts they are doing very well as associate professors, as assistant professors, as students, as doctoral students, but their inclination is to the family, and not to put themselves forward for these kinds of posts where there is a lot of administration. (Male Head of Department, Pakistan)
Gender Appropriate Behaviour There is not closed culture for the men, they are free to go outside but thewomen cannot because it s prohibited in some place of my country, for thewomen go alone abroad without their husband. (Female Vice Dean, Afghanistan) You know a woman if she s networking and lobbying then immediately she s branded as being very ambitious and very pushy. (Female Pro-Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh) One of our PVCs dresses quite flamboyantly you know, wearing trousers is frowned upon in the university... So now, when she applied for the VCship, she stopped wearing trousers and got a sari. So I want a place where you don t have to make such choices, make such compromises. (Female Professor, Sri Lanka)
What Attracts Women to Senior Leadership? Power Influence Values Rewards Recognition
Why is Senior Leadership Unattractive to Women? Neo-liberalism/ Performance Cultures Being Other in male-dominated cultures Disrupting the symbolic order Corruption/ Financialisation Pre-determined Scripts Women lack capital (economic, political, social and symbolic) to redefine the requirements of the field?
Barriers Enablers Internationalisation Policies (affirmative action, gender mainstreaming, work/life balance) Women-only Provision (leadership development/ universities) Mentoring Professional Development Family Evidence (Research/ Gender-Disaggregated Statistics) The Power of the Socio- Cultural/ Gender Appropriate Social Class and Caste Lack of Investment in Women Organisational Cultures Perceptions of Leadership Recruitment and Selection Family Gender and Authority Corruption
Moving On Women are Rejected Refusing/ Self Excluding Reluctant Change Not representation alone/ counting more women into existing structures/ systems. Need for Re-visioning of Leadership- more generative, generous and gender-free.
Follow Up? Morley, L. & Crossouard, B. (2015) Women in Higher Education Leadership in South Asia: Rejection, Refusal, Reluctance, Revisioning. Pakistan: British Council. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=women-in- higher-education-leadership-in-south-asia---full-report.pdf&site=41 Morley, L. et al. (in press, 2015) Managing Modern Malaysia: Women in Higher Education Leadership. In, Eggins, H. (Ed) The Changing Role of Women in Higher Education: Academic and Leadership Challenges. Dordrecht: Springer Publications. Morley, L. (I2014) Lost Leaders: Women in the Global Academy. Higher Education Research and Development 33 (1) 111 125. Morley, L. (2013) "The Rules of the Game: Women and the Leaderist Turn in Higher Education " Gender and Education. 25(1):116-131. Morley, L. (2013) Women and Higher Education Leadership: Absences and Aspirations. Stimulus Paper for the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Morley, L. (2013) International Trends in Women s Leadership in Higher Education In, T. Gore, and Stiasny, M (eds) Going Global. London, Emerald Press.
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