Academics at the intersection of age and gender : A Ghanaian experience

Forson, C. and Calveley, Moira and Shelley, S. and George, C. (2017) Academics at the intersection of age and gender : A Ghanaian experience. In: Gender and the Professions : International and Contemporary Perspectives. Routledge, London. ISBN 9781138680579

Abstract

This chapter takes an intersectional approach examining the effect of age on the career and workplace experiences of young women and men academics in a Ghanaian university. It considers how the focus on gender alone in research on the African university tells a partial story of the workplace discrimination faced by women. For women, employed within institutions heavily influenced by a patriarchal culture, at the intersection of femininity and youth they are faced with a double disadvantage, this often being exacerbated by their more junior position in the academic hierarchy. The findings indicate that although gender is a significant factor in the disadvantage faced by women academics at the University, at the intersection of age and gender, based on cultural attitudes, participation and informal expectations and obligations, older women seem to be advantaged in their employment experiences compared to younger women and, to some extent, younger men.