Why are women opting out of academic careers in higher education in Ghana? Implication for policy and practice

Abstract

This article is grounded on an exploratory inquiry to explain the low rates of female academics in Ghana’s higher education sector and its implication for higher education policy and practice. Though our article shows the continued presence of institutional barriers, the evidence suggests that these are strongly fortified by dispositional (women’s choices), and situational (cultural) barriers largely instigated by societal norms and social pressures. The evidence in this article suggests that earlier literature has taken too narrow a view of the nature of barriers to women’s career advancement in the higher education sector in the particular context of Ghana. The traditional gender norms are the main barrier to women pursuing academic careers, both because they influence what other people think a woman can do, or should choose to do, and because women have in many cases internalised these gender norms and share them. Our article highlights key implications for higher education policy towards female employment participation.

RAS ID

43980

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2023

Funding Information

Edith Cowan University

School

School of Business and Law

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Comments

Ayentimi, D. T., & Abadi, H. A. (2023). Why are women opting out of academic careers in higher education in Ghana? Implication for policy and practice. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(1), 18-32.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2048636

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1080/07294360.2022.2048636