2024/11/28 by Rutoro, Ester
#FOS: Educational sciences
paper · doi:10.71946/joiip-v1i2-2023-12
This study explored the causes of gender discrepancies in academic promotions in higher education institutions in Masvingo Province: Zimbabwe. It was hinged on four thematic areas, namely: gendered discourses in Masvingo’s higher education institutions, disabling perceptions of gender equity in Higher Education in Masvingo, disabling gendered practices in Higher education in Masvingo, and role of higher education institutions in addressing challenges of gender discrepancies in higher education promotions in Masvingo institutions. The study was premised on the social constructivist perspective. Qualitative research methodology was employed for the study and an interpretivist philosophy was adopted. An ethnographic design was adopted and data were collected through personal interviews, observations and critical discourse analysis. The population of the study included both male and female academics who have been teaching in universities in Masvingo for more than five years. Sampling methods used for identifying the sample from two universities were convenience as well as purposive sampling. From each university, ten participants (five females and five males) were purposively selected, giving a total of twenty participants. Data were analysed using the thematic approach. Findings highlighted that gendered discourses, disabling perceptions and disabling gendered practices all contribute to gender discrepancies in academic promotions in Masvingo’s higher education institutions. Findings showed a lag in time between age of promotion for male academics and female academics, with female academics receiving promotions to senior lecturer and professorial grades at later ages than their male counterparts. The study highlighted that higher education institutions have a central role in addressing challenges of gender discrepancies in higher education promotions in Masvingo.