The conundrums of formal and informal meritocracy: dealing with gender segregation in the academy

Abstract

Despite the academy’s commitment to the idea of meritocratic and fair principles in recruitments, promotions, student admissions and progress, gender segregation and gender inequalities continue to trouble universities worldwide. Through case-studies of two education programs at a Swedish university, we investigate how processes of formal merit, both formal (required for admission such as high grades) and what we identify as informal merit (needing to act in particular ways once admitted) work to obviate or reproduce gender-segregation. We analyze how everyday gendering processes in the classroom play a central role in what gets constructed as merit. Changing notions of merit during the period of study can hamper possibilities for ending gender segregation in HE or open up for ways to circumvent it. We show that a complex and ongoing construction of informal merit can restrain students from minority groups (in relation to gender, but also ethnic background, socioeconomic position, or sexuality) to enter, and importantly, remain in the program. At the same time, new ways of addressing the subject itself provides potential openings. We argue that in order to achieve gender balance at universities, it is urgent to understand how informal and formal merit interplay once students have joined the university and importantly also when they have made the leap and broken with gender segregated education choices.

Intricacies for Gender Equality in Formal and Informal Structures through Governance Enhancement; a Kenyan Perspective

“…Gender inequalities in employment are still rife where there are jobs ascribed to be the preserve of men and gender bias for women who do apply for these jobs (Barford, 2021). Laws that stipulate gender equality in every employment are yet to have their impacts if the above results are to be overturned and gender pay gaps reduced significantly in Kenya (Powell & Arora-Jonsson, 2021).…”

“…The reinforcement in implementation requires governance which provides for opportunities for collaborations in best practices in employment arena taking a special cognizant to gender equality (Berry et al, 2021;Doumbia, 2019;Equileap, 2019). Governance offers a ray of hope even in the informal structures as they strive is to compete with formal structures and as such gender inequalities can be tackled effectively (Keitsch, 2018;Powell & Arora-Jonsson, 2021). The results in Figure 3 illustrate that there is adequate and robust legal framework for gender responsiveness in political representation as enshrined in the constitution (Government of Kenya GOK, 2010; UN Women, 2020).…”

“…Governance enhancement in formal and informal structures provides room for sustainability tackling gender inequalities aggravated by impunity and corruption through weak public accountability mechanisms thereby giving room for better scrutiny in implementation of gender equality policies (Bayeh, 2016;Milazzo & Goldstein, 2019;Powell & Arora-Jonsson, 2021). The SDG 5 on gender equality provides targets that would be enhanced when coupled with governance enhancement in formal and informal structures which provides an avenue for measurability and monitoring and evaluation (Biegon et al, 2016;Hansson, Arfvidsson, & Simon, 2019b;Parvez Butt et al, 2018).…”

“…In the recent past, the clamour for gender equality has been on an upward trajectory with a view to reducing the gaping gender gaps in every sphere of development (Powell & Arora-Jonsson, 2021). In definition, gender equality premises that access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender not deterred by formal and informal structures of governance (Afolabi, 2019;Parvez Butt, Remme, Rost, & Koissy-Kpein, 2018).…”

“…Intricacies of gender equalities play themselves out in employment, political representation, land/ property ownership, socio-cultural contexts, education, and governance with the intensity varying depending on which perspective one takes (Jindra & Vaz, 2019;Rutherford & Buss, 2019; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2020). Gender inequalities manifest in employment differently as compared to education, political representation, and governance where formal structures have capacity to accelerate or decelerate intensity (Madsen & Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2021;Powell & Arora-Jonsson, 2021).…”