Is It Transformation or Reform? The Lived Experiences of African Women Doctoral Students in STEM Disciplines in South African Universities

Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://link.springer.com/

Y

23

Foreign Countries; STEM Education; Womens Education; Females; Gender Bias; Racism; Disproportionate Representation; Educational Change; Higher Education; Doctoral Students; Postdoctoral Education; Barriers; Equal Education; Access to Education; Educational Policy; College Faculty; Social Bias

10.1007/s10734-022-00918-5

0018-1560
1573-174X

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields have historically been disciplines dominated by white men. The colonial ideology designated Africans as subhuman, inferior intellectually, socially, and culturally to the white masculine norm in STEM disciplines. STEM education and careers were thus constructed to attract white, heterosexual, middle-to-upper class, Christian, able-bodied men. This positioning ensured that STEM environments remained inhospitable to anyone whose identity was outside the constructed somatic norm. The calls and imperatives to transform notwithstanding, the transformation process in STEM disciplines is moving at a snail-like pace. This article argues that what is occurring in STEM disciplines in South African universities is reform not transformation. It is underpinned by the intersectional theory within the qualitative paradigm. Seventy-three African doctoral and postdoctoral women students in STEM were interviewed from five South African universities. The findings highlighted how African women in STEM face challenges based on their racial and gendered identities and that what is presented as transformation is still oppressive to them. The study also found that equity through access to education in democratic South Africa does not equate to transformation. The argument presented is that despite existing policies and initiatives in South African universities to transform, the demographic inclusion of African, female staff and students does not necessarily equate to transforming the STEM environment. What needs to occur is a shift beyond reform and towards transformation through the use of strategic inventions which dismantle the racist, sexist, classist, and xenophobic ideology that permeates these environments.

As Provided

2023

EJ1389615