Annual Female Academic Careers in Africa Workshops at the University of Ghana (2022-2024): Fifth to Seventh Edition

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2023

Since 2018, the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) has implemented an annual workshop series on Female Academic Careers in Africa in collaboration with the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP). After two sessions in Dakar, one online and one hybrid workshop, the three workshops from 2022 to 2024 were organised together with the Center for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon campus. The workshops attracted high numbers of candidates (over 700 in 2022), of whom 17 to 19 early and mid-career scholars were selected for each year. Participants were based at universities across the Africa continent (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe), and covered a broad spectrum of academic disciplines in the social sciences and humanities.

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2022

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2024

The workshops were composed of a two days coaching seminar (split into one full and two half days), a public roundtable, animated by experienced scholars, of whom some also accompanied the coaching sessions, as well as a non-public event with different thematic foci. The coaching sessions were planned and facilitated by the Ghanaian relationship system coach and development practitioner Naa-Aku Acquaye Baddoo. In preparation of each workshop, Acquaye Baddoo animated several online intake interviews in small groups which addressed three questions: (1) What motivated you to apply?, (2) What are the issues you experience in your academic career?, and (3) What are your three main expectations for the workshop? Participants underlined that the workshop was a rare opportunity to meet and network in a safe space among female academics based and to improve their strategies in navigating an academic eco-system where they often felt in minority, facing a wide range of challenges, in particular, the difficult balancing of work, home and societal expectations.

Creating a relationship system intelligence and feedback

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2023

Relations shape us, but we can also shape them. The first part of the workshops focused on relationships systems in professional environments, arguing that the more aware you are of your surrounding relationships, the more response-able you can become. As an entry point, participants of all three workshops were first invited to draw their current professional situation as a landscape – with sunshine and storm, deep hollows and mountains, wider views and narrow pathways… Second, participants were asked to sketch their professional relations, differentiating between an inner circle of people, teams and organisations, in which you are directly involved in, and outer circles that have influence on your work and that have an interest or stake in what you are doing. Based on this, participants discussed the nature of their relations with different people, teams and organisations, either as strong or weak relations, and as peaceful or tense

Moreover, the first part of the workshops explored the issue of how to build a supportive learning environment. This led the foundations for learning with and from peers throughout the workshop. Integrity, reliability, competence and empathy (concern) were mentioned as key elements to build mutual trust. In addition, participants shared their experiences about how to give and to receive feedback, as feedback always occurs in relationships and is a key element in learning processes, but often it is not enough learned and taught.

Open and hidden roles and perspectives

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2023, MIASA Directors

For a better understanding of our relationship systems, it is important to analyse how different actors within a professional environment play out multiple roles. For this purpose, the second part of the workshop introduced the “Johari window” model, which differentiates between what you know about yourself and what other also know about you (open area), what you know about yourself, but others do not know (hidden self, façade), what you don’t know, but everyone else knows (blind spot), and what is unknown to yourself and to others (unknown). Exposing more of your hidden information reduces the amount of energy to maintain a façade. Asking for feedback helps to discover your blind spots.

In addition, the workshop showed how outer, inner, hidden and ghost roles are at play and how it is possible to act accordingly. While the outer roles have an external function and are usually known by everyone (such as a Head of Department), the inner roles are played out in everyday life interactions, often unconsciously, but sometimes also consciously. At a department, some may always ask the uncomfortable questions, others may find solutions, even if they are not assigned to do so. Hidden roles are only disclosed when people’s hidden or unknown selves are triggered. Ghost roles can be persons or events, who are not (anymore) around themselves. Yet, they (still) have an impact on how people interact with each other within an organisation. In the academic environment, ghost roles can be manifold: The author who should always or never be quoted at a department, the founding director, the influential colleague, whose preferences are considered in taking decisions…

Spaces, faces and levels of power

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2024

The third part of the coaching seminar addressed the issue of power: How do you influence whom? What needs more / less energy? How do you use all the power you have? And if you do not have access, who is carrying your voice? For exploring these questions, the workshop introduced the “power cube”, which distinguishes between spaces, faces and levels of power. Spaces of power include closed, invited and created spaces. In the university context, closed spaces are, for instance, non-public department meetings or selection committees. Invited spaces are those spaces where public participation is regulated or individuals or groups are invited for consultation. Claimed spaces are not (yet) institutionalised. These can be campaigns, pressure groups or student movements who see the need for change, but do not find institutionalised access to closed and invited spaces of power.

Faces of power distinguish between “visible” (e.g. laws, regulations, councils, elections), “hidden” (such as hidden agendas or preventing individuals from entering closed or invited spaces of power) and “invisible” power (such as cultural believes, stereotypes). Levels of power reach from the local to the national and the global, and at the university, from the department to the Ministry responsible for Higher Education and possibly to global conventions. Considering these different levels of power, workshop participants were asked to identify stakeholders who are relevant for their work by using the “stakeholder grid”. This refers to the amount of power and interest a stakeholder has: While it is important to invest in relations with stakeholders who have a strong interest in your work and a lot of power, it is fine to just keep informed those with interest but low power (but who may increase power in the future). Relations with those with low power and low interest need a minimum effort, while those with low interest, but strong power should be kept satisfied.

Conflict management styles

In 2024, the workshop introduced an additional section on conflict management in professional contexts. Workshop participants responded to a quiz of 15 questions which is based on Reginald Adkins’ “Conflict Management Styles Assessment”. This assessment is inspired by the “Thomas-Kilmann model”. It allows for identifying individual styles in responding to conflict. It distinguished between five different styles: collaborating (owl), avoiding (turtle), competing (shark), accommodating (teddy bear), and compromising (fox). Each style has its advantages and disadvantages, but should be applied consciously and according to the situation. At your department, you may also avoid being always experienced as a shark or a teddy bear as this may reinforce the inner roles you play in your professional environment. Moreover, adapting your conflict management style can contribute to reducing the amount of energy you need to make an impact in your professional environment.

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2022

While a competing style can be useful if speed is needed or stakes are high, it is unsuitable for complex issues or if the issue is not important to you. It is ok to be compromising, if you may be wrong, if the issue is more important to the other side, or if keeping the relationship is more important, but it is inconvenient, if the issue is important to you or if the other party is wrong or unethical. Being a turtle (avoiding style) is sometimes wise, if the potential negative effect outweighs the positive or if the issue is trivial, but not if the issue is important to you, if it is your responsibility or if prompt action is needed. Compromising and collaborating both aim at finding a mutual beneficial solution. However, compromises only work if both sides are ready to make concessions. They can be helpful for temporary solutions, but may not always offer the best solution for complex issues, and too many compromises can become frustrating on the long run. A collaborative approach can offer more integrative solutions. Yet, it needs willingness, experience and time, and it is not appropriate for simple issues or when speed matters.

Priorities and directions: “wheel of life”

MIASA CC-BY-4.0: Female Academic Careers Workshop 2023

The final part of the coaching seminar focused on defining individual priorities and directions. First, it introduced the “wheel of life” tool in order to understand strengths and challenges in participants’ work-life-balance. The wheel differentiates into the categories of work and career, family and close friends, social and community activities, spirituality and religion, money and finances, health and fitness, leisure and recreation as well as personal development. Workshop participants were asked to indicate how much time and energy they wanted to invest in each of these categories, and then, how the real picture looked like. This exercise didn’t aim at achieving a perfect balance between different activities in life, but to become aware where time and energy was spent and how to increase the balance between expectations and experience.

Secondly, all participants designed their individual roadmaps for the upcoming weeks, months or years, determining the milestones they wanted to achieve, but also reflecting on what kind of support they would need to accomplish their objectives, what risks they may have to consider and what they would need to learn. A 2022 workshop participants who contributed as an expert to the workshops in 2023 and 2024, said, “My road map is still on my wall!” The workshops all ended with a final feedback round. For this purpose, participants in 2024 designed together a final image, on which each of them added a sign and a short notice as a take-home message. They noted, e.g. “It’s all about balance”, “At each step you need to be strategic how to build for the next”, and “We came loaded with ‘problems’ and everything became lighter”.