The struggles and the triumphs of South African Black women professors [Scholarly Article - South African Journal of Higher Education, October 2020]

Title: 

The struggles and the triumphs of South African Black women professors  

 

Author: 

N.T.Zulu, Department of Psychology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa  

 

Published: 

South African Journal of Higher Education, 35(6), 20 October 2020 https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view/4272   

 

Abstract: 

The apartheid epoch introduced a web of laws that influenced public and private structures and ideological apparatuses, including educational institutions, to give an inferior status to Black people. South Africa was also upheld by a deeply patriarchal system which marginalised the status of women in society. This meant that most people in senior positions in South African organisations were predominantly white and male. The consequence of racism and patriarchy meant that there have been a low number of Black women professors in institutions of higher education. This study therefore aimed to examine the discourses of Black women professors in post-apartheid South Africa. This study used the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and critical consciousness, to understand the challenges that Black women professors encounter and how they strategically navigated these challenges in institutions of higher education, respectively. The Black women professors were recruited from two South African universities. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The significance of the study is that it identified discourses, which could be useful to understand the kinds of challenges that may operate in higher education and ways to shift these existing challenges. The findings showed two main challenges encountered by Black women professors namely: (1) feelings of being unwelcomed within the academic space and (2) being undermined in their leadership positions. Black women professors seemed to navigate these challenges by (1) being vocal, and (2) being intentional, about excelling in their work and (3) adopting a transformational leadership style. The study feeds into how South African higher education institutions can accommodate Black women professors, as they navigate through their career.

 

Beyond multiculturalism: revisioning a model of pandemic anti-racism education in post-Covid-19 Canada [Scholarly Article - International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 2022]

Title:

Beyond multiculturalism: revisioning a model of pandemic anti-racism education in post-Covid-19 Canada

 

Authors:

Ling Lei & Shibao Guo

Affiliation: Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

 

Published:

International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 28 January 2022

https://ijae.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41257-021-00060-7

 

Abstract:

Canada was the first country in the world to establish multiculturalism as its official policy for the governance of diversity. Canadian multiculturalism has gained much popularity in political and public discourses in the past 50 years, and it has also received no less criticism as to its effectiveness in addressing issues of racism. There have also been ambiguities over the meaning and intention of multiculturalism, leading to divergent understandings of multiculturalism as an ideal of inclusion and equity, on the one hand, and a mere political rhetoric, on the other. On the occasion of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Canada’s official multiculturalism policy, this article re-visits Canada’s multiculturalism by reviewing its history and ethos and critically examining its actual effects as manifested during the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada. The rise of anti-Asian racism, anti-Black racism, and anti-Indigenous racism incidents in the pandemic reveals that multiculturalism has in effect, sustained a racist and unequal society of Canada with racism entrenched in its history and ingrained in every aspect of its social structure. Multiculturalism tolerates cultural difference but does not challenge an unjust society premised on white supremacy. The anti-racism movement mobilized by racialized communities in Canada indicates that multiculturalism has failed to respond to racialized communities’ pressing demand for social change and action for social justice. The article concludes with a proposed alternative framework to multiculturalism, that is, pandemic anti-racism education model, to centre the issue of race and racism in an action-oriented, inclusive, and empowering approach toward a future of a just society.