Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which women in higher education experience or are aware of possible limitations placed on them as women in work contexts that historically were the domain of men only. The research critically analysed semistructured interview responses from seven female participants from a South African university. The analysis aimed to investigate the participants’ individual and shared perceptions and to present a view of how they discursively construct their own experience within an academic work environment. The research draws on theories and methodologies developed within critical discourse analysis (CDA) in order to interpret the data. This study draws on Gee’s model of CDA, which conceptualises discourse as inherently political and ideological, and therefore seeks to make clear the discursive connections between discourses and the sociocultural, historical and institutional contexts in which it is created and interpreted. Thus, a close analysis of discourses provides insight into aspects of social reality, including how individuals construct themselves and their personal experiences, as well as their attitudes and assumptions about their social contexts. The study reveals that during their narratives the women participants addressed similar issues and themes relating to gender in an academic work place. The participants also used similar linguistic and discursive strategies to construct their narratives. Subsequent to an analysis of the data using Gee’s model of CDA, it was found that the participants do experience limitations in the workplace, but they did not always directly attribute these limitations to gender. After a final analysis of the ways in which participants express attitudes to the issues being addressed, the study finds that the participants are not often aware of dominant ideologies related to gender, or of how the ideologies affect their experiences. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie studie is om die mate waarin vroue in hoër onderwys ondervind of bewus is van moontlike beperkings wat op hulle geplaas word as vroue in werksomstandighede wat geskiedkundig deur mans domineer word. Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met sewe vroulike deelnemers by ʼn Suid-Afrikaanse universiteit word krities ontleed. Die ontleding is daarop gemik om die deelnemers se individuele en gedeelde waarnemings te ondersoek, asook om die diskursiewe vertelling van hul ervarings uit te beeld. Teorieë en metodologieë wat ontwikkel is in kritiese diskoersanalise (CDA) word gebruik om die data te interpreteer, terwyl daar spesifieke gebruik gemaak word van Gee se model van kritiese analise. Gee se model konseptualiseer diskoers as inherent polities en ideologies en poog daarom om die diskursiewe verbande uit te wys wat vorm tussen diskoerse en sosiokulturele, geskiedkundige en institusionele kontekste. Dus, ʼn noukeurige ontleding van diskoers bied insig tot aspekte van die sosiale werklikheid, insluitend hoe individue hulself en hul persoonlike ervarings, en hul houdings en aannames oor sosiale kontekste opbou. Die studie toon aan dat die vroulike deelnemers soortgelyke kwessies en temas, met betrekking tot geslag in ʼn akademiese werksplek, tydens hul onderhoude bespreek het. Die deelnemers het ook soortgelyke taalkundige en diskursiewe strategieë benut om hul verhale te struktureer. Na ʼn ontleding van die data met behulp van Gee se model van kritiese analise, is daar gevind dat die deelnemers wel beperkings in die werksplek ervaar, alhoewel hul die beperkings nie altyd direk aan geslag toegeskryf het nie. Na ʼn finale ontleding van die maniere waarop deelnemers hul houdings teenoor die kwessies uitbeeld, het die studie gevind dat die deelnemers dikwels nie bewus is van die dominante ideologieë wat verband hou met geslag nie, of hoe hierdie ideologieë hul ervarings beïnvloed nie.

Despite a growing body of literature on women in leadership, few studies have empirically investigated the leadership and management experiences of female academic heads of department. It is against this background that this study investigated the experiences of these women in universities in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The position of women in higher education in these countries, together with the status of their representation in senior positions in the academe and obstacles to their advancement into such positions was reviewed. The study was carried out within the framework of a cross-sectional survey research design employing both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) data collection methods. The study consisted of thirty two female participants who were either currently or previously heads of academic departments in universities. For the interview a separate group of nine female academic heads of department, from the same universities as the participants in the survey, were selected. Purposeful sampling was used to select all the participants. A structured, pre-coded questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from one group of twenty three female participants with a minimum of two years' experience in the position. A video conference focus group interview was used to obtain in-depth (qualitative) information on a number of selected issues. The quantitative data was analysed using a relevant statistical package. Key-findings from both survey and interviews were then co-ordinated. The major findings indicated that, apart from lack of mentorship and formal preparation for the position, the women did not experience any major obstacles prior to becoming head of department. The women were confident about several skills related to managing an academic department. They were not certain, however, about stress management, delegation and entrepreneurial skills. Leadership style tended toward 'interactive leadership' which is considered appropriate for today's leadership in organisations. The findings suggested that institutional and other barriers to women's advancement still exist, and that the challenges and demands women experience may be a source of stress and tension for them. Recommendations, using these findings, were made for aspiring women managers, for institutions, for policy makers and for future research. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Management Science in Administration and Information Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The purpose of the study was to explore the empowerment of women leadership, focusing on the Durban University of Technology. Statistics around the world have highlighted that women are under-represented in decision-making positions, with a specific focus on the academic sector; this study aims to review these statistics and establish which barriers prevent females from progressing to leadership positions. The target population was comprised of staff members from the Durban University of Technology and ranged from leadership, management, and lecturing, to entry-level employees. The technique of probability sampling was chosen in this research, with a sample size of 100 participants drawn from the population. Questionnaires were designed with both closed-ended and some open-ended questions, and were personally administered to all campuses of the Durban University of Technology, namely Ritson Campus, Steve Biko Campus, ML Sultan Campus, City Campus, Indumiso Campus and Riverside Campus. This study revealed that, although women are still under-represented in Higher Education, there are efforts being made to bridge this gap. This study found female leaders more productive than male counterparts at the Durban University and are able to run their department smoothly and efficiently. The study also found that there are internal respondents agreed that there are hidden difficulties in their department that women face and prevent them from moving into higher positions. Additionally, the study found that there are programs at the Durban University that empower women into leadership. This study contributes to knowledge of gender-based leadership and female empowerment into leadership positions, in the higher education sector. / M

This dissertation argues for the central role that higher education played in the making and remaking of gender difference as a fundamental organizing category of British politics and society. From the mid-nineteenth century, major legal, political, and economic shifts newly provided some—mostly elite—women with access to citizenship and the labor market. Nevertheless, gender segregation and gender difference remained essential to conceptions of women's participation in British politics and society. Across the same period, the number of universities in Britain doubled and national student intake more than tripled. Higher education became increasingly centralized and state-funded, and a degree increasingly became a professional qualification for both men and women. My dissertation examines the relationships between these changes and assesses their significance, moving beyond progressive accounts of women's formal admission to degrees. Drawing on extensive research in the archives of ten universities across England and Scotland, I show that gender was at the heart of faculty's, students', administrators', politicians', and donors' conceptions of what higher education was for, who should have access to it, and the extent to which universities should be funded by national government. Though expert opinion across Britain coalesced rapidly around the support of large coeducational research universities, this did little to alter gender difference as the fundamental organizing principle of university life. Campus relations between men and women remained conflicted, and the professional, social, and emotional lives of faculty and students remained largely gender-segregated—contributing to the lasting significance of gender difference for British politics and culture. I demonstrate these claims across three main sections of the dissertation, which cover how gender structured, respectively: the political and legal transformation of higher education, the culture of student life, and the relationship between faculty's careers and personal lives.

Bedford College, established in 1849, was the first institute of higher education for women in England, and with it came the beginning of the women's higher education movement. While Bedford is often dismissed or ignored by modern scholars for not being equal to the women's colleges associated with Cambridge and Oxford, it was crucial in the development of these later colleges and was a bellwether of the women's higher education movement. By examining personal letters and official college documents and carefully assessing later-written histories of Bedford and the other women's colleges, this thesis will explain why and how the College was successfully founded two decades before any other college for women in England. It will also include a thorough discussion of the events that occurred before and during Bedford's establishment, its enigmatic founder Elisabeth Jesser Reid and the role of the women's higher education movement in Bedford's development. This thesis will also show how the successful foundations of Girton and Newnham Colleges at Cambridge University and Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville College at Oxford were made possible by the monumental strides made by Bedford College's influence on the creation of the women's higher education movement.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology in Public Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the career progression of women in higher education in general and South Africa in particular, using the case study of the Durban University of Technology. Recent research has shown that even though women have made some progress as compared to where they were twenty years ago, the progress of women has proven to be resistant to change in terms of higher level and rewarding positions (Turner 2012; Hofmeyr and Mzobe 2012; Botool and Sajid 2013; Mouley, 2013). According to Boushey and Farrell (2013:6), this lack of progress results from a lack of flexibility and unpredictable scheduling at the workplace. Others argue that career interruption for childbirth and rearing; domestic responsibilities; gender parities at the work place; organizational structures; and policies that do not meet the needs of female employees affect career progress (Wallace and Smith 2011:3 and Tsoka 2010:6). The purpose of the study was, therefore, to examine the nature of the progress of women in higher education, and to identify factors influencing their progress. The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology with a sample of 250 women from academic and administrative units the stratified random sampling technique was used, in which the target population at the DUT was grouped into different strata, and then the sample elements were selected from each of the groups. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research designs (mixed method), whereby self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of open-ended and closed ended questions. The closed- ended questions were quantitative, while the open ended questions were qualitative. The closed-ended responses were then analysed using SPSS, while the open ended responses used the inductive approach to highlight the factors influencing the career progression of women in higher education, thereby leading to recommendations on policies which would enhance career progression of women in higher education. The findings of the research revealed that women are still underrepresented in higher. It was recommended that management should improve working conditions for women and ensure that the effective monitoring and evaluation of the various policies in place.

Access to abstract restricted until May 2015 / Access to thesis restricted until May 2015 / Department of History

The emergence of higher education opportunities in rural areas of Mexico such as throughout the state of Oaxaca has opened new opportunities for young women's professional development and new individual and community identities. I explore tensions between the collective imaginary of rural Mexico and rural women's emerging sense of independence and self-determination in light of higher education's expanding opportunities. Educational opportunities lead to community formation around commonality of experience in addition to ascribed community relationships and roles. I situate this analysis within the context of the Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca (UT), a small university in San Pablo Huixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Through interviews and participant observation, I answer the following questions: (1) How is rural women's identity produced through policy, geography, and social influences? (2) In what ways do college women experience change in terms of family relationships and professional trajectories? and (3) How do changes in rural women's collective identity through professional development contribute to social movements for gender equality? This thesis provides a broader examination of the implications of shifts in family trajectory for belonging and women's identity in Mexico, contributing to larger discussions regarding higher education in rural areas, women's experiences and interactions within institutions, and women's collectives as venues for societal transformation. In conclusion, I offer recommendations for educational policy that supports women's identity development, promotes gender equality, and encourages women's leadership.

The purpose of this study is to critically explore low-income women's experience as they negotiate post secondary education in community colleges. Three research questions explore the context through which low-income women have entered the college experience, what that experience is like for them, and how the community college experience has impacted their consciousness and view of their futures. This study has significance because poverty is a critical social issue for women, post secondary education is a route out of poverty yet social welfare policy does not support access to education, community colleges have traditionally provided access to education but supports for women have been diminished, and poor women's voices and their own definitions of educational access and success are missing from the public and academic debate of these issues. Past qualitative studies that focus on poor women's experience of college are smaller parts of quantitative studies. Other existing in depth studies have focused on obstacles, persistence, and support systems, or have been studies of special transitional programs formed specifically for welfare eligible women. There is little knowledge of women's experience and sense of self from their perspective as students who are also in poverty. This study uses the research technique of in depth unstructured interviews with eight welfare eligible women student parents in Oregon's Parents as Scholars Program. Six themes emerge from the narrative interviews with the participants that that have implications for educational practice and add to and expand the small body of qualitative work that has been done on the college experiences of low-income women students. / Graduation date: 2012

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Studies