This article was originally published as: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Mentoring as Support for African Women’s Academic Career Trajectories
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Abstract
Women in academiaface manychallenges. Although there have beenpossibilities for the advancement of women in higher education,genderdiscrepanciesin leadershipcontinue,with womenfacing structural challengessuch as bias, and unequalpossibilitiesforpromotion.Balancinga career as a female academic, includingparenting and family obligationsadds another layer of complication, oftenresultinginbreakdown.Womencontribute distinctstrengths to academia,expanding intellectual conversationandestablishing variedlearning environments.Mentorship, sponsorship, and inclusive policies assist inreducingbarriersandencouragewomen to thrive as leaders,resultingin positive change in theacademic setting.The articleoutlines the nuances of women in academia and the challenges and opportunities they face when pursuing leadership positions. It furtherexplores the experiences and views of women in the faculty of Business at a University of Technology (UOT). A mixed methods approach was adopted to enable the researcher to give a female perspective to the academic position, experiences, and challenges within academia. The researcher used her judgment to select the sample based on the purpose of the research and a convenience sample to select best-case scenarios. Finally, the article suggestsa participative modelofcollaboration, nurturance, compassion, and self-care toequipwomenwith the tools they need tocreate career advancement opportunities and increase personal and professional change.
Authors
- Renitha Rampersad (Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa)
Keywords
women, academia, leadership, mentorship, career advancement
References
References not available for this article.
