{"id":5041,"date":"2025-06-19T22:53:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T22:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T03:19:55","slug":"sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published as: Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

Original Article Link: Read Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n

Download PDF: Click Here to Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract<\/h2>\n

Breaking the barriers for women in higher education institutions has been on the global agenda for over a decade. Women’s lived experiences in academia has notably focused on issues of inequality and systemic gendered barriers that lead to women opting out of academia. This study acknowledges that many black women academics feel caged and overlooked in their positions and argues that despite these challenges, women are resilient and need to carve out spaces to navigate their paths in the academy. Using the autoethnography inquiry approach, we reflect on how our experiences shaped our academic journey in higher education institutions. The principles of Communities of Practice (CoP) is adopted as a framework underpinning this paper. It is envisaged that this framework will help examine the challenges and opportunities black women academics experience in higher education. Our reflective discussion on the sisterhood we embraced during our academic journeys has suggested that institutions need to provide mentorship opportunities, and spaces to talk, support and be supported.<\/p>\n

Authors<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Nereshee Govender (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n
  • Nonhlanhla Khumalo (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n
  • Grace Temiloluwa Agbede (Durban University of Technology, South Africa)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Keywords<\/h2>\n

    communities of practice, higher education, resilience, sisterhood, women<\/p>\n

    References<\/h2>\n

    References not available for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This article was originally published as: Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education Original Article Link: Read…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[2153,1586,1331,287,1587,828],"class_list":["post-5041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-ajims","tag-communities-of-practice","tag-higher-education","tag-resilience","tag-sisterhood","tag-women","wpcat-124-id"],"yoast_head":"\nSisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published as: Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education Original Article Link: Read...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\"},\"headline\":\"Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\"},\"wordCount\":246,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ajims\",\"communities of practice\",\"higher education\",\"Resilience\",\"sisterhood\",\"women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\",\"name\":\"Sisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"description\":\"Open Access Library\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":195,\"caption\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository","og_description":"This article was originally published as: Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education Original Article Link: Read...","og_url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/","og_site_name":"IJSSASS Repository","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":195,"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771"},"headline":"Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education","datePublished":"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/"},"wordCount":246,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"keywords":["ajims","communities of practice","higher education","Resilience","sisterhood","women"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/","name":"Sisterhood in Academia - Storying our Experiences in Higher Education - IJSSASS Repository","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-19T22:53:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:19:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/sisterhood-in-academia-storying-our-experiences-in-higher-education\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sisterhood in Academia – Storying our Experiences in Higher Education"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","description":"Open Access Library","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IJSSASS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","alternateName":"IJSSASS","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","width":300,"height":195,"caption":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal"],"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5420,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041\/revisions\/5420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}