Feminist Perspectives for the Co-decolonization of Gender Equality in Cambodian Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter examined the experiences of higher education actors in Cambodia in the construction of a co-decolonizing framework for gender in higher education. Using a co-decolonizing framework, we assessed current practices related to gender in Cambodian higher education and explored these mechanisms through a decolonization lens, with the intent of providing insight into the promotion and adoption of co-decolonizing practices. Specifically, we sought to examine how currently utilized co-decolonizing frameworks used internationally apply to the Cambodian Higher Education practices. This question is particularly important given the limited academic specialization in gender studies in higher education in Cambodia and the opportunity for local cultural gender discourses to create alternative perspectives for academic and practitioners to consider mainstreaming in order to benefit individual habitus and social practices. This study used feminist participatory action research as a method to examine the experiences of participants in the co-decolonizing gender in higher education workshop. Findings of this research highlighted the cooperative and collaborative processes that emerged from the co-decolonization framework and practices, as well as the challenges and future work in co-decolonizing gender spaces in Cambodian higher education. Findings and areas for future research are discussed.