Women academics : tensions between the workplace and the personal and professional selves : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Adult Education, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2010
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Massey University
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Abstract
This thesis critically examines issues associated with the individual/institutional nexus in
the context of the New Zealand academic workplace from a female and narrative
perspective. Tensions among the many cultures that form part of the personal and
professional lived experiences of five academic women and their workplaces are
investigated, drawing on some elements from feminist post-structuralist views in order to
identify assumptions, ambiguities and contradictions. My interpretations are examined
through narratives and critical discourse analysis of selected official texts relevant to the
context of women in academia. Recommendations are made for ways for collectively
researching, debating and challenging discourses that act to disempower women in the
academic workplace.
Although the multiple realities of the lives of these women were diverse, in drawing
together the tensions they experienced in the workplace and in their lives, there were
some common threads that linked their narratives. Differences in expectations and
values/world views between those embedded within the institutional discourses and
those of the women constrained their freedom to make choices in their professional and
personal lives, thereby creating conflict. The university is seen to be a gendered and
hierarchical workplace and sources of conflict involved complex interweaving and
overlapping of workplace and personal issues.
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Keywords
Women academics, Women lecturers, New Zealand, Adult education