The emergence and experience of black women academics in South African higher education institutions

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on general trends and challenges which apply across higher education with some variation between HEIs especially the different between Historically White Universities and Historically Black Universities. Labour law regulates the employment relationships. This dissertation also seeks to explore the emergence and perceptions of black women academics regarding higher education institutions and to find out specifically what are the obstacles that affect black women academics’ careers. The constitution provides that when interpreting any legislation, every court, tribunal or forum must promote the spirit, purpose and objects of the Bill of Rights. This dissertation is confined to the public higher education system. The constitution also stipulates that the power to pass legislation that regulates tertiary education is given to the national government exclusively. It is for that reason that the Higher Education Act has been amended to give the Minister the power to bring about the desired changes. The analysis of the issue of equity, therefore, takes into account the right to equality as buttressed by affirmative provisions of the constitution of the country and the legislation that has been enacted to outlaw discrimination at the workplace and to promote equality of opportunity is considered. The enforceability of the equity provisions of the National Plan for Higher Education are analysed in this context. Black women continue to be marginalised in the academy as a result of the enduring patriarchy and the lasting impact of apartheid and postcolonialism that still prevails in South Africa. Through narrative inquiry this dissertation provides space for three emerging Black women academics to reflect and share their experiences within the Curriculum Studies division at universities in South Africa, with the purpose of understanding these experiences within a transformative agenda. The emerging findings of the study suggest that, while Black women academics’ lives in a transforming South African space are positioned in the affirming language of development, deeper scrutiny reveals covert manifestations of disempowering practices geared to undermine the subjective contributions and experiences of emerging Black women academics within institutional spaces heavily built on White imperialist patriarchy.