“It’s A Steeper Hill for Women to Climb!”: An Intersectional Gender Analysis of Familial and Socio-Cultural Drivers of Inequitable Scientific Career Progression of Researchers in the Context of the DELTAS Africa Initiative

Abstract

Background: This study sought to illuminate familial and socio-cultural drivers that contribute to intersectional gender inequities in scientific career progression in Sub-saharan Africa (SSA) by drawing on lived experiences of women and men researchers. The findings are drawn from a wider research study that was aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of the barriers and enablers of gender equitable scientific career progression for researchers in SSA. This was nested within the context of ‘Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science in Africa’ (DELTAS Africa) – a health-based scientific research capacity strengthening initiative. Methods: The study adopted an exploratory qualitative cross-sectional study design. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifty-eight (32 Female and 26 Male) trainees/research fellows at various career stages, supported and/or affiliated to three purposively selected African Research Consortia. The interviews were conducted between May and December 2018 in English. The data was analysed inductively based on emergent themes.Results: Four themes were identified. First: characterisation of the normative career pathway and progression requirements. Second: social power relations of gender within the family and wider society. Third: researchers’ experiences of navigating between the ‘two different lives’, and the resultant implications for their career progression and personal well-being. Fourth, potential strategies utilised by women for navigating the ‘two different lives’ and their impacts. Conclusions: This study offers important policy and practice measures and approaches for fostering equitable scientific research career progression for women and men within research capacity strengthening initiatives in SSA. These includes the need for: reforms in institutional human resources policies and systems; a more fundamental re-think of the normative scientific career structure to create equitable opportunities, improving diversity and well-being of both female and male researchers; additional support and potential adjustments to expectations for language minorities in science; and embracing gender transformative approaches in science.

Institutional Level Drivers of Gender Inequitable Scientific Career Progression in Sub-saharan Africa

“…We found that women were discouraged from getting pregnant within the life cycle of a funded project, which constitutes both direct and indirect gender discrimination in that individual women perceived a 'choice' between childbearing and a scientific career, and gender biases against female candidates was also reinforced. Our previous paper from this study found that women's career progression opportunities were acutely influenced by simultaneous requirements to establish scientific research careers and the peak of childbearing and rearing responsibilities (10). Attitudes of decision makers, the majority of who are men, which view child-rearing and research as inherently incompatible contribute towards this disadvantage (26).…”

“…It has contributed new insights about how macro level systems of oppression shapes access to resources, which interacts with formal and informal rules and policies to produce and reproduce gender inequities in scientific career progression of researchers as a result of social power relations. The remaining constituents of the framework have been explored elsewhere (10).…”

“…Findings from this study should be considered in light of the following limitations. First while the integrated conceptual framework highlights the intersection of gender with language and physical disability, insights about language minorities have been presented in a different paper (10). However, we were not able to identify researchers who identified as disabled within the sampled consortia and the overall DELTAS Africa initiative.…”

“…Consequently, scientific research was consistently perceived by most female and male participants at all career stages as a 'very scary career' characterised by short-term research contracts, culminating in job insecurity and financial instability. This further exacerbates inequities at the micro-level of family creating difficulties for women and men in fulfilling their normative gender roles, producing differential implications and outcomes for researchers' career progression and personal well-being as presented in different paper (10).…”

“…The data presented is part of a wider qualitative research study set within the context of 'Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science in Africa' (DELTAS Africa)a health-based scientific research capacity strengthening initiative. The details of this five-year (2015-2020) programme have been presented in another paper (10).…”