Browsing by Author "Farmer, Jean Lee"

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    Narratives of black women academics in South African Higher Education: An autoethnography
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Farmer, Jean Lee; Carolissen, Ronelle; Leibowitz, Brenda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an autoethnography of a Black woman who tracks her educational trajectory through and beyond Apartheid South Africa. In addition to the formal educational journey, the inseparable cultural education is included. For comparison, she employs the stories of other Black women in similar academic positions and institutions in South Africa, to depict an inclusive, yet often exclusive, reality of being a Black (Black, mixed, Indian) woman academic in South Africa. Deconstructing the academic experiences in these spaces aims at “unsettling [white occupation] the grip over mundane as well as high stakes decisions” (Arday & Mirza, 2018). In South Africa, more Black women acquire undergraduate degrees than any other group, yet they remain underrepresented in the acquisition of postgraduate degrees, senior academic and top management positions. Currently working in academia in South Africa, the author aims to understand the development of sense of identity and show how this influences the interplay, and thus the progression, of the individual within the higher education context. Previous studies investigating Black women academics’ positions and perspectives of social, cultural, and educational experiences are relevant. However, this thesis addresses the role of experiences and perceptions as vital influencing factors in the interplay between individual and institution. This thesis takes on a role adding to the “polyphony” of voices and perspectives from Black academics. It aims to contribute to “loosening the grip of positivism on theory and practice in the human sciences” (Lather, 2017). As theorists, we do not automatically reflect deeply on the political influences on our professional lives. Reflection is, however, key, not only to connecting past and present, but in improving future experiences for ourselves and others. The act of re-collecting past experiences can be cathartic and educational. It allows us to “weave” and connect the dots between who and where we were as opposed to the world we aspire to (Lather, 2007). The purpose of this “weave” is to identify and examine patterns, to make sense of and improve the world we inhabit. Framed theoretically within critical and intersectional feminism (Crenshaw, 1989; hooks, 1994), this study is grounded in experiential storytelling. Stories which are seldom taught as History address issues which are often rather avoided. Using a unique methodology, the collected data is assigned thematically for analysis and to show that the centrality to understanding why Black women remain on the lower rungs of academia, is the interplay between individual and context. The results of this study signify problematic avoidance and silences around the need of a caring environment for all academics, but especially for Black women. It shows that due to historical, societal, and cultural silencing of Black women, there is a need to centre their voices and develop a vocabulary for Black women in academia to describe their experiences. Cultural capital, or lack thereof, influences a sense of belonging and inflicts other “micro-aggressions” upon the Black woman academic (Sue, 2015; Henkeman, 2016). Relevant transformational features cannot adequately be addressed, much less achieved, if the spaces to navigate these discussions are not radically owned equally by all but also accepting that it is time for the amplified voices of Black woman.