The Role of Feminist Standpoint and Intersectionality Epistemologies in Providing Insights into the Causes of Gender Disparity in Higher Education

Authors

  • Enyonam Brigitte Norgbey University of Ottawa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18192/ejre.v6i1.2063

Abstract

Higher education plays a critical role in society’s development, particularly in the current era of globalization in which knowledge-based innovations are critical for development. However, women’s underrepresentation in higher education remains a persistent issue of concern, particularly, in sub-Saharan Africa. The gender gap in higher education is created by complex interconnected sets of deep-rooted factors. A clear understanding of the underlying causes of gender inequality in higher education is necessary to develop effective interventions to overcome this disparity. Feminist standpoint and feminist intersectionality epistemologies have been used to provide insights into gender disparities in higher education. Drawing on existing published literature, I will discuss the conceptual and theoretical frameworks of these two feminist epistemologies and explore the methodological implications of these epistemologies for critically examining gender disparities in higher education in the context of sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: epistemology, feminism, gender, higher education, intersectionality

Author Biography

Enyonam Brigitte Norgbey, University of Ottawa

Enyonam Brigitte Norgbey is a 3rd year PhD candidate studying at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of education, under the supervision of Prof. Richard Maclure. Enyonam is researching science and technology education and gender policies and their impacts on women's experiences in graduate science and technology programs in two universities in Ghana, West Africa.

Enyonam Brigitte Norgbey est étudiante en 3e année de doctorat à la Faculté d'éducation de l'Université d'Ottawa, sous la supervision du professeur Richard Maclure. Enyonam étudie l'enseignement des sciences et de la technologie, les politiques de genre et leurs impacts sur les expériences des femmes dans les programmes d'études supérieures en science et technologie dans deux universités au Ghana, en Afrique de l'Ouest.

Downloads

Published

2018-09-06

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2017): Education Journal - Revue de l’éducation

Section

Articles

License

Copyright remains with the author.

This is an Open Access proceedings journal protected and shared as a 
Creative Commons (CC) Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. For CC definitions, see:  https://creativecommons.org/

Copyright statement and license information are permanently attached to published content, ensuring that this data will not change in the case of the journal changing policies for new submissions.