DOING GENDER AND RACE INTERSECTIONALITY: THE EXPERIENCES OF FEMALE MAORI AND NONWHITE ACADEMICS IN NEW ZEALAND

Dzuriyatun Toyibah,Irma Riyani

doi:10.21315/ijaps2022.18.1.2

Abstract

Several studies that focus on Western settings like Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have found that gendered institutions within academic careers are still preserved through various means. These studies have verified that fewer women are in tenure track positions than men. Additionally, women have been receiving a lower salary and are seldom promoted. Several issues such as mobility, parenting, and gender bias in application and evaluation rate as well as gender citation gap are highly correlated with women’s challenges in pursuing professorships. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of studies pertaining to the impact of the intersection of race and gender on the experiences of people of colour and minority groups in academia. The current study aims to explore the role that gender and race play among female academics, which includes the careers of Maori academics (the indigenous people of New Zealand) and non-white academics in New Zealand. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with 15 academic staff, including Maori and non-white academics in New Zealand, the current research corroborates the existing literature regarding the interplay of race and gender in advancing academic career. Furthermore, this research also finds that the merit-based concept or objective indicators of academic excellence do not necessarily apply in New Zealand. On account of their gender and racial identities, women of minority groups and non-white academics frequently experience multidimensional marginalisation while pursuing their academic careers.

Highlights

An academic career is naturally expected to be a professional and merit-based occupation
The current paper presents the experiences of academic staff in their promotion opportunities and career advancement by focusing on how female academics are “doing gender” in their family and personal life
The current article presents data related to doing gender and family life and multiple discriminations experienced by female academics of colour and indigenous origin in “white” dominated universities

Summary

Introduction

An academic career is naturally expected to be a professional and merit-based occupation. The current paper presents the experiences of academic staff in their promotion opportunities and career advancement by focusing on how female academics are “doing gender” in their family and personal life. We compare the experiences of a group of female academics in their 40s and another in their 50s, which subsequently leads to an understanding of the effects imposed by neoliberal policies. Since early in their careers, the younger generation has, assumedly, been confronted by the implementation of several aspects of neoliberal policies, such as research audits. Other aspects like race, country of origin, and faculty background are investigated

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