A Review of Women and Leadership in Tertiary Education in Cameroon: Adversities and Implications for Productivity
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International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume IV, Issue XI, November 2020|ISSN 2454-6186 A Review of Women and Leadership in Tertiary Education in Cameroon: Adversities and Implications for Productivity Vanity Mugob Nshukwi1, Titanji Peter Fon2, Joseph Besong Besong3 1,3Department of Educational Foundations and Administration Faculty of Education , University of Buea. P O Box 63, Buea Southwest Region, Cameroon 2Faculty of Education, University of Bamenda P O Box 39, Bambili Northwest Region, Cameroon Abstract: This paper is anchored on leadership and women in African countries (Morley, 2014). Singh (2008) holds that an tertiary education in Cameroon with a focus on productivity increase in the quotas of women involved in higher education from the perspective of these women. The review dwells on the leadership rose for lower-level positions in India. This rise premise that possibilities for floundering among women leaders was as follows; 20% of Deans and 23% of Heads of abound with adverse consequences on their productivity. There Departments-HODs and Directors, and in Anglophone Sub- are multifold concerns regarding women in leadership positions within higher education institutions ranging from: ability to Saharan African countries, 13% of Deans and 18% of HODs manage work and family responsibilities, difficulty of receiving or Directors were women. adequate mentoring from women with greater longevity and The same pattern is seen in the HEI in Cameroon where issues related to gender bias. While these adversities exist, there ministerial and presidential decrees appoint only few women is seemingly a low key empathetic and supportive response from their male counterparts. Albeit these challenges, this paper to such leadership positions (see appendix ). The few women examines the status quo through the lenses of a conceptual who eventually rise through the ranks take longer than their review to comprehend what literature has posited in respect to male counterparts with whom they started off together the topic under discourse. While the paper acknowledges the (Beaudry, Mouton & Prozesky, 2018). This situation captures paucity of empirical works that have investigated the topic interest as it intimates that the systems have hitherto, failed to within the context of Cameroon, calls are equally made for more make full use of all their human capital, in order to realize the research to understand women in leadership positions within sustainable development. There has so far been an higher education institutions in Cameroon as well as some underutilization of the females in HEI a far as leadership is possible recommendations to remedy the challenges they face. concerned. Their fewer numbers administrative positions and Primarily, the male administrators may engage in behavioural adjustments towards female colleagues, support the activities of longer time periods to rise through the ranks presupposes that their female counterparts due to their extra responsibilities and they are treated unfairly. This paper reviews their challenges equally show more empathy to their female co-workers. and the effects on productivity. Keywords: Women, Leadership, Tertiary Education, Productivity There is need for follow up on full usage and fair treatment of all human capital in the system since HEI generates and I. INTRODUCTION disseminates specialized knowledge. This means HEI orldwide enrolment of women in higher education now determine the fervor of the job market in a nation as they W exceeds that of men. Women‟s participation in higher produce enlightened leaders, promote social mobility, and education as a result of the expansion of both capacity and provide essential skills (Adusah-Karikari, 2008). As such, the opportunity has increased six-fold over the last four decades effective management of this domain merits top priority. HEI (McDaniel, 2014). Nevertheless, this good news does not go in Cameroon are not left out as they also need to harness all any further as this rise in female enrolments has failed to be their reserves of human resources in order to ensure optimum reflected in the growth in number of women in senior internal and external efficiency. This statement is buttressed in leadership roles in universities (Morley & Crossouard, 2015). the mission of higher education stated in Law No. 005 of 16 This trend recurs at continental and regional levels as the April 2001 to Guide Higher Education in Cameroon. Part 1, Global Education Monitoring Report (2018) upholds that Article 2 which states: “the higher education realm shall be fewer women occupy leadership positions in Higher assigned a basic mission of producing, organizing and Education Institutions-HEI and that as of 2009 only 13% of disseminating scientific, cultural, professional and ethical HEI in 27 European Union-EU countries were headed by knowledge for development purposes”. To attain this women. objective the HEI must ensure that impediments to growth are minimized. This can only be guaranteed in a system whose In 2006 women were the executive heads of 9% of 107 HEI in leadership is void of gender imbalance. India and just 1% of 81 HEI in Anglophone Sub-Saharan www.rsisinternational.org Page 1 International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume IV, Issue XI, November 2020|ISSN 2454-6186 II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND permanent basis meaning that the level of job security for staff in the public HEI is higher. This follows suit in terms of job The history of private higher education in Africa can be traced satisfaction. Sometimes the prescribed salary scale according to as far back as the 1990s when the wave of global to employee‟s qualification is not used to pay staff in the developments which began particularly after the end of World private sector. This leads to the skilled staff being over used War II fostered the growth of higher education. This and under paid. development paved the way for the emergence of private HEI in many parts of the world not leaving behind Sub-Saharan In Cameroon an evolution of women‟s involvement in senior Africa which grew from 30 in 1990 to more than 85 in 1999, and mid-level leadership within HEI can be traced from and by 2003, there were over 176 private HEI in 9 Sub- excerpts of Decrees of the President and of the Minister of Saharan countries of Africa (Varghese, 2006). Higher Education appointing senior and mid-level level administrators, respectively in public HEI. This shows that in Moreover, according to the World Bank Report (2009) the the University of Yaounde I in 2007 out of 33 administrators number of private universities and colleges, including for- appointed, only 10 (30.3%) were women (see Appendix). One profit and not-for-profit institutions, increased to about 468 by decade later the same university had a total of 73 2009. Observations reveal that higher education in Cameroon appointments with 23 being women. In 2017 the University of which can be traced to the pre-colonial period has over the Bamenda had 102 appointments, with 21 (20.6%) being decades given very few opportunities for women‟s women and distributed as follows: 9(16.4%) HODs, 4(3.9%) contributions. Higher indigenous education in Cameroon was Heads of Division, 6 (5.9%) Heads of Service, 1(0.9%) provided by elders, and like Western higher education, it Faculty Officers and 1 (0.9%) Coordinator of Functional required teachers with expert knowledge most of whom were French. men. In the post-colonial era higher education resurfaced and began from the creation of the National University Complex Moreover, out of the 8 state universities 4 women have so far to its transition to the Federal University of Yaounde in 1962. been Vice Chancellors since creation as follows: University of In 1962 the National Institute for University Studies gained Buea, from the 1993/1994 to the 2004/2005 school years the status of a full-fledged university called the Federal (Prof. Dorothy Limunga Njeuma), and from the 2012/2013 to University of Cameroon, created by decree number 62-DF- the 2016/2017 school years (Dr. Navola Lyonga), Yaounde th University I in the 2005/2006 school year (Prof. Dorothy 289 of 20 July 1962 (Fonkeng, 2010). This appellation later Limunga Njeuma), University of Bamenda from the changed to the University of Yaounde in 1967 and thereafter 2015/2016 school year till present (Prof Theresa Nkuo to the University of Yaounde 1 in 1993. During all of this time Akenji), University of Ngaoundere, from 2016/2017 school the involvement of women in administration was still timid. year to present (Prof Florence Uphie Chinje Melo). With the Cameroon‟s educational system is a conglomeration of what prevailing circumstances, the voices of the women would not exists in more than one country around the world. An example be as loud as that of the males in decision making. This of this is seen in the BMD (Bachelors, Masters, and creates a back-wash effect as the ripple of this skewedness in Doctorate) system which was adapted from the European gender balance would continue down the train predisposing educational system. Private higher education in countries such the women to more disadvantaged situations at each as the USA, Germany, Poland, Japan, Australia and Chille are successive level. different from public higher education in a number of aspects III. JUSTIFICATION FOR MORE RESEARCH ON which include; tendency to be teaching-oriented, likelihood to WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP IN TERTIARY offer similar, low-cost