Mind the (gender) gap: engaging students as partners to promote gender equity in higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender inequity remains a critical issue in higher education. We explored the proposition that engaging students as partners (SaP), an increasingly adopted approach to student engagement, may present one approach to improving gender equity by fostering agency and leadership for women. First, we analyzed the gender distribution of authors of SaP scholarship spanning 202 articles published in six academic journals over the past five years. Women were more likely to author (70%) and lead (76%) SaP publications. Second, we used collaborative autoethnography to explore our experiences as three women SaP practitioners. Affirmative partnerships built our agency to assert our voices and empowered us to advocate for gender equity. These data indicate that SaP may present one approach to promoting gender equity by creating ‘brave spaces’ and ‘sites of resistance’ against gendered norms in academia.