The Gender Gap in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

This article examines the experience of female academic staff in relation to promotions and leadership at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania. It adds the variable of achievement to the several analyses on gender disparities in enrolment, recruitment and positions at the UDSM. The study seeks to establish the relevance of real life impediments towards achievement in University careers that female academics face, impediments that go beyond the glaring empirical observable facts we see in numbers. The article largely draws on feminist thinking and the gendered socialrelational contexts to analyze how ideologies of difference serve to influence the career development of female academics at the UDSM. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques, the study observes how women navigate their employment and career development within the academia. The study then illustrates how gender-based and female-specific experiences sometimes pose more challenges than opportunities for female academics in university environments.