Cameroonian Women's Empowerment Through Higher Education

Cameroonian women’s empowerment through higher education: an African-feminist and Capability Approach By Monique Kwachou This thesis is submitted in accordance with the requirements for the PhD in Development Studies in the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State Bloemfontein, South Africa Date of submission: October 2020 Supervisor: Prof. Melanie Walker Co-supervisor: Dr Carmen Martinez-Vargas ii Declaration I, Monique Eleanor Kwachou Tangah, declare the following: i. The Doctoral Degree research thesis that I herewith submit for the Doctoral Degree qualification: Philosophiae Doctor in Development Studies at the University of the Free State, is my independent work, and I have not previously submitted it for a qualification at another institution of higher education. ii. I am aware that the copyright is vested in the University of the Free State. iii. All royalties as regards intellectual property that was developed during the course of and/or in connection with the study at the University of the Free State will accrue to the University of the Free State. Signed: M.E.K.T Date: October, 2020 iii Dedication For African women. Women who have feared being labelled as ‘too much’, because ‘too much’ is just another version of ‘not enough’; still an allegation of our inadequacy. Women who are committing to unlearning inculcated ideas and behaviours that keep us all from living truly empowered lives. Women who are multidimensional, whose beings cannot be simply boxed. This is for you. iv Acknowledgements It is necessary to begin by stating that the order by which I present my acknowledgements has nothing to do with hierarchy, it is impossible to rank the multivariate contributions of those to whom I owe gratitude (all of whom cannot be acknowledged here). That said, I acknowledge that for my successful completion of this PhD thesis and my personal development as an African-feminist scholar, I owe credit to several groups and people. To the professors who created the spaces where I could learn and believed in me enough to choose me to study there; from Prof. Joyce B. Endeley who developed the pioneering department of women and gender studies in Cameroon, to Prof. Melanie Walker who has established an amazing centre for higher education and human development at the University of the Free State, South Africa. As a result of spaces such as these, I have been able to partake in knowledge production on the African continent for the African continent, thank you. To the National Research Foundation, the SARChI Chair in Higher Education and Human Development (HEHD) and the postgraduate school at the University of the Free State. I am grateful to these funding bodies because without their financial support this research could not have been realised. To my supervisors: Prof. Walker has set an exemplary standard with her commitment to her role as my lead supervisor and academic mentor. Dr Carmen Martinez-Vargas is literally all one could ask for as a co-supervisor; easily approachable, reassuring and always able to break down complex recommendations in a way that a ‘baby-academic’ could grasp it. I aspire to do for a future student what you both have done for me, thank you. And Dr. Vanessa Adesuwa, thank you for beginning this journey with me and believing in my work from the very start. To my research participants and workshop co-facilitator. There would be no study without your contribution. I am grateful to you for answering the call to counter assumptions and create new knowledge with me. To the wider HEHD family: Particularly Bertha, Fenella, Ndaka, and Martin, my cohort members, who made the ‘ivory tower’ less isolated; the post-doctoral fellows like Mikateko, Faith, Pablo, Patience and more, who consistently served as a source of encouragement and reminders that the goal is possible; Melissa Lucas who was a great companion for all-nighters at the centre; Prof. Merridy Wilson-Strydom who set us on the right path for research before leaving; and Lucretia who has always gone beyond her duties as office administrator to facilitate the smooth functioning of our programme. The PhD journey is made more difficult by how lonesome it often is, especially for an immigrant student. You all made it less overwhelming - thank you. To academic mentors and colleagues like Dr Rosie Peppin-Vaughan, Moiyattu Banya, Dr Wunpini Mohamed, Dr Rama Salla Dieng, Prof. Lilian Lem Atanga, Prof. Simidele Dosekun, Prof. Alicia Decker, Prof. Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué, Dr Larissa Kojoué, Prof. Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg, Dr Forsac Dorothy, Dr Justine Ayuk, Dr Nana Engo and v more. You all have validated me as a scholar with every opportunity you shared with me, every recommendation letter written on my behalf, each time you willingly read my drafts, served as a sounding board for ideas or helped me access a resource I needed for research. Thank you for making room at the academic table for me. To friends like: Ngasa Wise, Victor Abongwa, Dibussi Tande, Willy Takang, Adeline Nde, Ngum Ngafor, Ettamba Agbor-Ndip, Sebastian Yong, Agnes Nde, Fomuso Yah, Mbu Waindim, Mallah Tabot, Pam Happi, Sadaf Kakakhil, Lily Haritu-Chi, Melissa Longla, Fri Delphine, Laura Sube, Lucky Omaar, Appiah Boakye, Simisola Smith, Howard Meh-Buh, Helen Nde, Mildred Bonglack, Nana Boateng, Dzekashu Macviban, Aliya Khalid, Edwin Nfor, Minnette Ngwe,Malaka Grant, Nana Darkoa, Paoula Shongue, Mundi Christabel, Christine Djafa, Njiki Michelle, Jubsia Gwanyama, Olivia Mukam-Wandji, Christelle Bay, Phebe Etchu, Foba Akom, Melissa Juisi, Shirley Knight, Chamie Ndefru, Sherade Anagho, Dr Gisele Mah, Collins Fonsho, Zukiswa Wanner, Lauri Kubuitsile and loads more (particularly of the MILEAD sisterhood) who I have relied upon for emotional, mental and physical support through this journey. Thank you for doubling as therapists, buying me books, interceding with prayers, offering your services for free, and generally making sure I did not give up on myself. I am grateful to my families: The Kwachou’s, the Kometa’s, the Fokwa’s, the Maliva-Njie’s, the Mbua-Mbake’s, the Tagunyi’s, the Fokam’s and the Loh’s. Thank you for starting me on this journey and challenging me to excel. Because of you I have lived a beautiful mosaic life, never limited to one tribe, nor boxed in one group. I hope I make you all proud. Specific thanks to: My mother Esther Mbiakoup, I am because you are- flaws and all- a woman who blazed her own trail. My ‘fairy-godmother’ Mariline Mbake-Mbua you have my never-ending gratitude. To my ‘daddy’ Stephen Fokwa, you told me I had to get a degree that surpassed your own and believed in me at my absolute lowest- you have all filled any and gaps- thank you. To my sister-cousins Mimi Celine, Adele Tonga, Christina Kometa, Odilia Tchoumte and to the Reverend Talikong Amos for your high expectations of me (despite the pressure it gives). I would also like to thank those whose names I do not know; the founders of platforms like @DoingaPhDinAfrica, Scholars Hub Africa, PowerPoint School, Canva, PowToon and more, whose resources were instrumental to my development and presentation of my research over these past years. And to those who I cannot name here, your contributions to my growth are nonetheless acknowledged. I look forward to opportunities to assure you of my sincere appreciation of your support beyond written word. And finally, thanks to God. For the guiding grace and protection I have benefited from throughout these years and for the blessing of knowing and benefiting from the support of all those acknowledged here and more. vi Abstract The concerted efforts of scholars, development agents and governments have established the idea that education is both intrinsically and instrumentally good, life- changing, has direct returns, and is particularly empowering for women. The cumulation of these ideas has resulted in the development of societal assumptions that an educated woman is an empowered woman, and the more educated a woman is, the more empowered she will be. In Cameroon this assumption has bred some antagonism directed at ‘over-educated’ women on account of their presumed empowerment. The commonplace use of the Pidgin-English phrase ‘too much book’ or French-slang epithet ‘long crayon’ are often directed at higher-educated women to suggest their being educated is to their detriment. These expressions demonstrate the belief that a certain level of education is deemed sufficiently empowering for women in Cameroon and they risk becoming “too much” if they proceed further. In this way, education for women in Cameroon is seen as acceptable and adding value up to graduate level, at which point it succumbs to a law of diminishing returns. Thus the widespread assumption of higher education being sufficiently empowering for Cameroonian women generates two problems: 1) it promotes the limitation of young women’s aspirations and, 2) advances an incomplete informational basis for government (and public) judgement of higher education as a response to Cameroonian women’s oppressions. In response to this problematic assumption of women’s empowerment through higher education and the corresponding fear of higher-educated Cameroonian women, this study offers a two-pronged approach. It presents both a theoretical and empirical re- conceptualization of empowerment for women in the Cameroonian context, from which assessments are made as to whether the women of whom empowered is assumed can consider themselves and be considered as empowered based on their higher education. The theoretical re-conceptualization of empowerment here is effected by an original Capabilitarian application- the African-feminist Capability Approach- developed in the course of the research to address inadequacies in existing frames for the conceptualization and investigation of empowerment in African contexts.

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