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Gendered Perspectives in Higher Education: Women in Science and Engineering in Cameroon

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Gendered Perspectives in Higher Education: Women in Science and Engineering in Cameroon Gendered Perspectives in Higher Education: Women in Science and Engineering in Cameroon By Patience Fielding A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Claire Kramsch, Chair Professor Glynda Hull Professor Tabitha Kanogo Spring, 2014 Gendered Perspectives in Higher Education: Women in Science and Engineering in Cameroon © 2014 By Patience Fielding Abstract Gendered Perspectives in Higher Education: Women in Science and Engineering in Cameroon By Patience Fielding Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Berkeley Professor Claire Kramsch, Chair While women’s participation in the national economic growth is seen as critical to sustainable development, women’s underrepresentation in Cameroon’s higher institutions, such as École Nationale Superieure Polytechnique (ENSP), tasked with training human capacity contradicts such development discourses. Despite calls to provide equal educational opportunities for women to enable their acquisition of the skills needed to compete in the global labor market, females in Cameroon too often lack access to girl-friendly, safe, and supportive spaces in formal schools largely due to patriarchal traditions which restrict women’s roles in the society. Most recently, females in Cameroon have sought entrance into ENSP, which has historically prepared male technocrats to serve in the government and private industry. While the institution has opened limited spaces for women, it continues to discursively constitute them as “outsiders within” as women venture into traditional environments and participate in activities from which they have been expressly or tacitly excluded. My dissertation thus uses ENSP as a space to examine how the discourses of gendered education come to be defined and practiced. Through analysis of institutional discourses, archival documents, and interviews with staff and students at ENSP, it investigates the conflicting narratives in gendered constructions. Paying attention to institutional texts and individual utterances, the dissertation illustrates the complexities of intimate relationships and highlights the processes of contestation that are so crucial in shaping contemporary, gendered identities. While I underscore the importance of an approach that permits the exploration of the ambiguities of gendered identities, I also present identifications and relationships as imagined and performed in discursive practices. To track the complexity of the process, my analysis includes the ways in which education discourses shape and constrain our understanding and engagement in the world and how gendered beings come to understand themselves and their given situation. While global, national, and local interests shape and structure student efforts at ENSP, the process of becoming an engineer is full of contradictions, tensions, and struggles, thereby leaving open the possibility that female students might take on new roles and behaviors that are deemed contrary to their identities. The dissertation thus situates the current interest in women in Math, Science, and Technology in relation to contemporary and historical definitions and underscores the shifts in education thinking. It lays out the different perspectives held by different social actors to advance a more nuanced understanding of the education practices through which gender is being framed, constructed, contested, and negotiated. It also presents the approaches of ethnography 1 and critical discourse analysis used and employs critical discourse analysis to tease the different subjectivities and power relations at this site. In examining the status quo and patriarchal dominance in the exercise of power against female subservience and determination, I also underscore how female voices challenge the social constructs that define them as 'others' and ‘outsiders’ and how they strategically negotiate their identities using the discourses of schooling. This study thus illuminates the ways in which institutional and individual discourses confirm existing social relationships and behaviors while at the same time introducing new meanings and patterns of being and conflicting enactments of gender within the production of linguistic forms. 2 Dedication In loving memory of my parents My Father, Emmanuel Dinga Fielding, who dared me to dream big And my Mother, Esther Ngendab Fohtung who placed the foundational blocks to make this dream happen May your legacies live on. i Acknowledgements Arriving at this phase of my academic journey was not accomplished alone. Though I carry the mantle of a successful completion, there are numerous people who played significant roles behind the scenes. To them, I owe my greatest thanks. My dissertation Chair and advisor,Professor Claire Kramsch, I thank you for helping shape how I have come to think about discourses in gendered representations. Your fierce dedication to excellence was the driving force behind this work and I am deeply indebted to you as my mentor and writing coach. With much pride, I look forward to our continued collaboration and presentation (a by-product of this dissertation) at the AILA Conference in Brisbane, Australia, in the summer of 2014. To my other dissertation committee members, Professor Glynda Hull, your guidance and gentle prodding enabled me to reach deep within to find my voice and writing style. Professor Tabitha Kanogo, you gave me the most unvarnished critique and challenged me to be inclusive of those voices that have been absent in written texts. Dr. Uphie Melo Chinje, an accomplished female scientist and industry leader, mentor and guide, you facilitated my entrance into ENSP and helped secure the necessary clearances and institutional permissions required to conduct research at ENSP. Professor Guy Tsala, Vice Rector of Yaounde University 1, you provided me with unlimited access to the University’s data, resources, and personnel and was kind enough to lend your time and voice as a participant in this study. Aurelie Omgba, the President of the Association of Female Students at ENSP, you not only showed me the ropes but helped facilitate my engagements with the female students at ENSP. I am in awe of your individual and group successes and so proud and honored to foreground hard- working and high-achieving women scientists like you who are conspicuously absent from institutional discourses in Cameroon and Africa. While gender equity still remains a challenge, the growing female presence in ENSP and your determination to succeed at this male-dominated institution gives me hope that the glass ceiling will someday be shattered. Dr. Therese Tchombe, an erudite scholar and pioneer in the field of gender and human rights, your constant supply of resources not only helped filled the gaps but served as a reminder that I had a responsibility towards the women folk and future generations in our society. Dr. Asheri Kilo Fofung and Mrs. Alice Tarkang, you not only provided shelter during my stay in Yaounde but nourished my body and soul. At the end of each day, I looked forward to finger- licking Cameroon dishes and our rich conversations that served as great accompaniments and brain stimulants. Dr. Asheri, through your leadership and professional achievements, you continue to interrogate the discourses on what a Cameroon woman should be. You are indeed an inspiration. Le Bâtonnier, Maître Akere Muna, the pre-celebrations of the dissertation-completion in Yoaunde was enough of an incentive to bring this baby home. Your Excellency, Churchill Monono, I can’t thank you enough, for all your help in procuring the needed resources and even shipping some of the materials to my Kenya residence. Charles Fonderson and Paul Ngatchou your support and help whilst I was at my field site is deeply appreciated. ii Mrs. Egbe Mbiwan Monjimbo, you knew I needed hand-holding when you connected me with Saker Baptist College’s pioneer teachers and staff so I could mine authentic data from the primary sources….a researcher’s dream.. In addition to sending manuscripts, you availed of your website Saker Pride, with chronicles of the rich history of girls’ education in Cameroon. Karen Sullivan, out in the field and cut off from the university, you enabled my reconnection with the UC Berkeley Library and facilitated my access to the rich tomes of literature that I so badly needed. I really cannot thank you enough for all the resources and financial awards that enabled this dissertation to come to fruition. Ilka Williams, you were my go-to person for all things dissertation writing and navigating through the system. Your gentle guidance and encouragement made a heck of a difference. Patience Ateh, when I retreated to the foothills of Buea mountain to regain control of my thoughts, make sense of my data, and find my writing muse, you provided nourishment for my soul. From your signature meat pies to my native dish,‘fufu’ and “njama njama” you made sure I had the energy to render into submission the very stubborn chapters that were giving me much grief. To my colleagues and friends, who took time out of their very hectic writing and work schedules to review my dissertation chapters, provide feedback, complicate my thinking, and challenge me: Krystal Strong, Dr. Katherine Frankel, Dr. Pascal Buma, and Dr. Victor Gomia, I am so grateful for your candor, critical perspectives, and for pushing me beyond my comfort zones.
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