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Re-Thinking the Academic Environment for Increasing Gender-Balance and Inclusion: Roundtable Report

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This roundtable on “Re-thinking the academic environment for increasing gender-balance and inclusion” was organised on 29 May 2024 as part of the seventh Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshop, run by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) in collaboration with the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP) and the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon campus, Accra. The roundtable took place at the Institute of African Studies on Legon campus and was transmitted via zoom, which included an English-to-French translation. Both on-site and online, the roundtable was well attended by an international audience of more than hundred people in total. The roundtable addressed the question of what kind of academic leadership increases gender equality at universities across the African continent and contributes to creating a safe and inclusive working environment. Moreover, it asked how to facilitate fair research conditions in a context of structural challenges and inequalities in the distribution of resources, both within universities, but also on a broader national and international level. In addition, the roundtable inquired what unique issues African women academics face and how individuals, institutional frameworks and pan-African networks can respond to foster gender equity and equality.

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Roundtable from left to right: Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Prof. Clementina Furtado, Prof. Fatoumata Keita

Three speakers, one each from an Anglo-, Franco- and Lusophone country were invited. Akosua Adomako Ampofo is Professor of African and Gender Studies at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. In 2005, she was CEGENSA’s founding Director, and from 2010-2015 she directed the Institute of African Studies. Adomako Ampofo is a scholar and activist, whose research interests include African knowledge systems, race and identity politics and gender relations. Clementina Furtado is Professor at the University of Cape Verde. She has been the Director at the Centre for Research and Training on Gender and Family (CIGEF) since 2013. She combines a multi-disciplinary background of Human Geography as well as Political and Social Sciences and addresses issues of migration, gender and development in her research. Fatoumata Keita is Professor in the English Department at the University of Arts and Human Sciences of Bamako in Mali (ULSHB). She is a Fulbright alumna and completed her PhD in American literature (2014) at the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, Senegal. Her research focuses on the writings of African women and the diaspora and on their social activism. She was a former participant of the MIASA Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshop (2019 and 2020) as well as a co-organiser (2021).

Being in minority, dealing with discrimination and accomplishing multiple identities

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo at the Roundtable, May 2024

The roundtable speakers underlined that the situation of female scholars is different from one country to another, including the three countries where the speakers come from, Cape Verde, Ghana and Mali. Data on the numbers of women in higher education and academic leadership positions, their career trajectories and their academic output are limited. A study on public universities in Ghana showed that in 2016/17, one third of students were women and less than ten percent of all university professors.1 In 2007, a study published by Dzodzi Tsikata observed that women were “disproportionately represented in the lower lecturer grade” at the University of Ghana.2 According to a UNESCO report from 2019, only 2.5% of vice-chancellors were women across sub-Saharan Africa, but 24% of academic staff.3 Once more, these numbers may vary between different universities and departments. At the roundtable, Keita mentioned that she had no female lecturer when she was a student in Bamako. When she started her career, she was one out of three women in a department with seventy men. Furtado indicated that “currently at the University of Cape Verde in general, the majority of students are female”, though girls are less represented in STEM fields. Even for teaching staff, “at undergraduate level women make up the majority, however, when it comes to master and doctoral programmes, men stand out” (Furtado). Adomako Ampofo referred to several female leaders at the University of Ghana, including the current Vice-Chancellor, the first woman in this position, but also revealed some of the challenges to get women into such positions. Overall, the roundtable showed that being in minority in academic leadership positions was a shared experience among female scholars across the continent.

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Prof. Clementina Furtado at the Roundtable, May 2024

This also means that women in academia are usually not perceived as the norm, in particular, when it comes to leadership positions. At the same time, women academics carry multiple identities, and they have to deal with a wide range of social expectations and stereotypes. All speakers stressed the “double or triple working day” (Furtado) of women scholars who were “expected to be excellent academics, excellent mothers, excellent spouses” (Keita) in addition to fulfilling other social responsibilities (including attending social ceremonies) and doing more unpaid-work in comparison to men (Furtado). Keita drew attention to the particular case of Mali, where women get married very early and around half of female students who enrol university are already mothers: “Students come with their baby to classroom”, experiencing challenges with an inflexible teaching schedule and transport. Furtado indicated that in Cape Verde many women are single mothers. In both cases, the opportunities for women to benefit from academic programmes abroad are restrained (Furtado and Keita). Because of social expectations “guilt is layered on you”, Adomako Ampofo said: “We always have to explain the work academics do. We travel, we work at night, it’s what we do…”. When it once happened to Keita that a student declared in class that women’s places were at home, she packed her bag and headed to the door: “He said: ‘It’s not time’. I said: ‘You said I have to be at home. So, I’m going back home’. That’s how he realised what he said. He was just repeating what he had heard elsewhere” (Keita).

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Prof. Fatoumata Keita at the Roundtable, May 2024

Stereotypes, discrimination, micro-aggressions and harassment contribute to the mental stress of female scholars and limit their access to funding and leadership positions (Furtado and Keita). The speakers agreed that to be successful in academia, you have to be “thick-skinned and persistent” (Adomako Ampofo). “Academia is very competitive”, Keita indicated: “It requires resilience, courage and perseverance” (Keita). In addition, the speakers noticed that being assertive and competitive was perceived differently for men and women.  Adomako Ampofo explained that for men, competition was considered as “a good challenge”, women are blamed for being “too aggressive” including by other women. She also shared an experience on a selection panel, where a woman was asked why she was sometimes “abrasive”, while nobody would ask a man such as question. Keita added, that “when you are a woman, your ability is always questioned, you are obliged to assert that you are able to do the job”. Being often questioned, Keita noted, women sometimes “forget that they are doing a good job”. What is more, “domestic arrangements … can spill over to the academic environment”, Adomako Ampofo observed, superimposing socially constructed family expectations to professional relationships at the university. However, she insisted: “I’m not your mother. … We are here as academics. It’s not because it’s refreshment time women will get up and serve everybody else” (Adomako Ampofo).

Promoting an inclusive leadership style: mentorship and bridging the intergenerational gap

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Roundtable discussion with the audience, May 2024

All speakers emphasized that they advocate for a leadership style which “promotes inclusivity, equity and diversity” (Keita). Being inclusive means “to be mindful of specific needs of women, to realize their goals” (Keita). It also includes considering the multiple identities of women and men scholars, different gender orientations and the dimension of generation. Adomako Ampofo referred to the Akan proverb: “The thinkers are not the same”, insisting that “we need to understand that, … to recognise our differences. … We have to advocate for diversity, if not, it will come back to haunt all of us”. Adomako Ampofo highlighted that academia is a “gendered space and also a seniority space”. The same way gender was important, the speakers called for “bridging the generational gap” (Keita) and increasing “intergenerational collaboration between senior and early career researchers” (Keita). Adomako Ampofo, too, called for integrating young people in research projects: “Bring the young people in. They may not have all the knowledge; we all did not have the knowledge once upon the time. … We must do this consciously”. Leadership also means to “apologize to juniors, when you are wrong” and to “be willing to listen and to be humble. Everybody has something to learn; the ‘seniors’ must also listen to those who are younger and who have less influence if we are to be inclusive” (Adomako Ampofo).

According to the roundtable participants, speaking out for others and mentorship are part of an inclusive leadership style. Keita indicated that mentorship is not institutionalised in many African universities, but that it is always possible to implement it in informal ways. In any case, scholars are already mentoring as supervisors (Keita). Adomako Ampofo suggested that the chemistry between mentor and mentee should work and that a young scholar may strategically select more than one mentor. Keita underlined that “mentorship is a long process. Mentors can be also men. These are people to guide us when we take decisions or when things go wrong”. Likewise, Keita invited the audience to “think of peer-mentoring between colleagues”. She herself had created a “critical friendship” group at her university, which included women and men, colleagues, for giving constructive feedback to each other, organising conferences, and promoting an intergenerational dialogue: “You need to know one another, create a community, a kind of safe space” (Keita). In addition to keeping mentors, Furtado highlighted that inspiration can also come from outside academia, from the mothers who “give the best for their daughters” and from female community leaders: “Many women academics are where they are because of such women” (Furtado).

Women scholars can be strategic when supporting each other and creating an inclusive working environment. Listening is a minimum, or as Keita put it, it is an “act of solidarity and empathy”. Encouraging early career women can promote their career, so that they become more self-confident and believe in themselves (Furtado). Speaking out for you and for others is key. Adomako Ampofo emphasized that “a leader must be willing to stick out her neck for others irrespective of the costs. People who speak for you in rooms where you cannot be present”. She also highlighted that sometimes you have to be “political”, “do preparatory work before a meeting”, find support and allies in advance, and “speak your truth even if your voice is shaking” (Adomako Ampofo). Another strategic tool is to amplify others women’s voices, as Keita showed: “When you say something, no-one may pay attention to it. But if five women in the room will continue to repeat this, people will start listening”. “Sometimes repetition is good”, Adomako Ampofo approved, “When the women in the room speak, affirm that, repeat it”. Celebrating oneself is part of this strategy, as Adomako Ampofo illustrated: “Today, I mentioned the names of a number of people. I learned this. I do this to celebrate my ancestors and I do this to celebrate my colleagues. We can do this consciously. In the examples we give, quote each of us. Today I learned somethings here, next time I’ll quote them (Keita and Furtado). … I got this practice of intentionally amplifying ancestors from a sister colleague Wangui Wa Goro.”

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Roundtable discussion from left to right: Dr. Susann Baller, Prof. Mamadou Diawara, Prof. Grace Diabah

While all speakers agreed, that sometimes fighting is part of the job, they insisted that “there are kinder ways to fight” (Adomako Ampofo). “If fighting doesn’t work”, Keita said, “you have to change, use your emotional intelligence, your soft skills, your communication skills in order to get something”. Often, Keita explained, you will be more successful when you make people part of decision-making processes: “You should have a team to rely on. … You should bring men and women in by making them responsible … so that they become also accountable” (Keita). Adomako Ampofo, too, underlined: “Make people feel that you care about them”. Keita indicated that one of her sources of inspiration was Wangari Maathai for “making the best out of each situation”. Maathai’s famous quote “Life is a journey and a struggle” encouraged Keita to accept that “we cannot be always successful”: “But when you fail, learn the lessons and try to apply it elsewhere” (Keita).

Institutional settings, gender policies and pan-African networks

The roundtable speakers emphasized the importance of workshops such as the MIASA Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshop, which bring women scholars from different African countries together: “We lack this kind of platforms. Having a lot of women academics coming together from across the continent and share their experiences” (Keita). Keita insisted: “This kind of meeting helps us to find out our communalities, but also differences in our strategies in order to move forward”. She also mentioned, that there was “a lack of platforms to share success stories, … but also the bad stories, where things are not working. We need to share, encourage each other, find solutions together” (Keita). What is more, universities should invest in capacity building, “both on the institutional and on the individual level”: “We sometimes take it for granted that it naturally happens, but this also needs some training” (Keita). At the same time, it is important to “understand the debate of gender, and include that in the advocacy work we do” (Adomako Ampofo). Keita added, that in her context, “we need more evidence-based research. … We lack data. … Data is important to engage the institution, but also to engage the partners to support women’s research, to provide a budget in this sense”. Keita regretted that “we have gender units (“cellules genre”) at universities in Mali, but those lack funding. They exist on paper, but do not do anything”.

In addition to capacity building, the roundtable speakers showed that resources and policies were needed. Keita emphasized the importance of “gender-sensitive funding”. According to her, “regional and intercontinental research collaboration should address the question how to offer funding to early career women, who have a lot of problems to carry out research, because they have to reconcile family and career” (Keita). Keita insisted that “we will even get fewer women to enter academia if we do not address these issues. The fewer women we have, the fewer role models we have for others”. Keita deplored that in her context, “we are still at the beginning in terms of integrating gender issues on the level of institutional politics, even for teaching gender issues”. In a context where “all leadership positions are with men”, Keita explained, “they need to be trained, they need to know what it means to integrate gender in the institutional policies, in the strategic plans”. Adomako Ampofo referred to the experience at the University of Ghana, where CEGENSA had developed a number of policies: While the introduction of the sexual harassment policy had “a fairly non-bumpy journey” and the support from the then vice-chancellor, implementing the gender policy took “a journey of fifteen years, but subsequent directors [of CEGENSA] were continuing the work” (Adomako Ampofo).4

The roundtable speakers agreed that “Funding is a challenge, both for men, but even more for women” (Keita). Furtado raised the questions of “How to proceed in a context of scarcity of resources? What criteria for not committing injustice?” Experiencing a “general lack of resources” also meant that “our participation in international knowledge exchange is limited … [as well as our] influence on the research agenda” (Furtado). Adomako Ampofo drew attention to the issue that most “research and grant calls are gender-blind, but structural issues around are not gender-blind”. Conferences and fellowships could provide day-care. Funders and organisers of academic events should not assume that young scholars may pre-finance things: “Understand the people you are working with. Young scholars may not have credit cards. It often happens more to women. Women will have less money” (Adomako Ampofo). Adomako Ampofo observed that even though visa requirements were officially gender-blind, delays in visa application processes or visa rejections “seem to effect women more than men”.5 According to her, two concepts were key for dealing with these challenges in local and international research, fairness and accountability: “Fairness within our own context and in collaboration with international partners”, while for accountability, “we can put mechanisms in place. If you have a bad leader, it doesn’t help. But accountability mechanisms must be there: fair employment, fair promotion” (Adomako Ampofo).

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Roundtable panelits, co-organisers and guests, from left to right: Prof. Diawara, Prof. Setrana, Prof. Adomako, Prof. Diabah, Prof. Furtado, Prof. Keita, Dr. Boateng, Ms. Awasom, Dr. Baller

“When injustice is happening”, Adomako Ampofo added, “we need networks, associations”. Based on the experiences of associations she is involved in, she illustrated: “We ask people, for example, ‘Do you want us to step in. … How can we help? A petition? Collect money?’ We have to push people towards accountability, work together on the accountability” (Adomako Ampofo). Keita added that “You have to be very careful”: “In a situation of raising fundamentalism and conflict, gender issues have become issues that are not welcome in Mali, because they are very sensitive. You have to find another way to address it without naming it. … In this shrinking space of women rights, we need pan-African networks” (Keita). All speakers underlined the important role CODESRIA was playing in mainstreaming gender, running the Gender Institute and symposiums. Furtado and Adomako Ampofo invited the audience to apply for the next African Studies Association in Africa (ASAA) conference, which will take place in 2025 in Cape Verde, and Adomako Ampofo added: “We can use these conferences to push a pan-African gender perspective, by being there, sending our students there, making a good case”. Other pan-African academic organisations are the Association of African Universities and the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES), which is comprised of 19 African countries, and the Francophone Network of Responsible Women in Higher Education and Research (RESUFF).

However, the speakers also called for working with civil society organisations: “A lot of pan-African work is happening outside the academy” (Adomako Ampofo). Among these organisations are the Association of African Women for Development (ASAWOD), founded in 1977, the African Feminist Forum, which includes activists and academics, and the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). Moreover, Adomako Ampofo indicated, that many African universities already had funding for pan-African exchange and that it was important to enter these networks, while the political organisations, such as AU, ECOWAS and SADC could equally become players in strengthening gender-sensitive politics. Keita summarised that “pan-African collaboration can help in research. There are research issues which need collaboration. This enables us to address the issues from different regions and different perspectives, also different disciplines and in collaboration with civil society organisations”. Likewise, Furtado highlighted that “pan-African networks are crucial to create partnerships, strengthen skills and exchange knowledge. These networks help to be closer to know what is going on, to publicise, and to share our experiences, to discuss common challenges and to find solutions”. Finally, Furtado concluded, that “this meeting already is a great opportunity to strengthen ties; just being here, this experience is a big start”.

  1. “Demographics of African Faculty: A Pioneering Pilot in Ghana”, published by Association of African Universities, Education Sub Saharan Africa and Population Reference Bureau, summary online: https://essa-africa.org/node/266 with link to the study. []
  2. Dzodzi Tsikata, “Gender, Institutional Cultures and the Career Trajectories of Faculty of the University of Ghana”, in: Feminist Africa, vo. 8 (2007), pp. 26–41, here p. 31. []
  3. “Unlocking the Potential of female Education Leaders”, published by Education Sub Saharan Africa, online: https://essa-africa.org/node/976. []
  4. University of Ghana, “Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy”, October 2011; University of Ghana, “Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy”, May 2017; University of Ghana, “Gender Policy”, January 2022; “University of Ghana Launches Gender Policy”, University of Ghana News (11 April 2023). []
  5. Enno Aufderheide, former General Secretary of the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation, equally observed that it was “often an insurmountable obstacle” for female scholars to get a visa for research stays in Germany; see reference in Bénédicte Savoy, “Deutschland, auf unbestimmte Zeit geschlossen”, in: Der Spiegel (20 June 2024). []

OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Susann Baller (August 14, 2024). Re-Thinking the Academic Environment for Increasing Gender-Balance and Inclusion: Roundtable Report. Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa - Blog. Retrieved March 25, 2025 from https://miasa.hypotheses.org/2900


Susann Baller

Susann Baller is Senior Researcher at the Marc Bloch Center Berlin. From 2017 to 2023, she was affiliated with the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP), Max Weber Foundation, which is also sponsering her current position. During that period, she was based in Accra as Director 'Germany' at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) (2021-2023), and in Dakar as academic director of the transnational research group "The Bureaucratisation of African Societies" (GHIP-CREPOS) (2017-2020). Before, she hold different positions as lecturer and research fellow in Berlin, Basel, Paris, and Ann Arbor. Susann Baller holds a PhD in African history and is specialised in the history of African cities, youth, sports, decolonization and the representation of power in West Africa.

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