Dr. Anita Maürtin-cairncross

Creating 'space' for Publications: Challenges Experienced by Academic Women at South African Historically Black Universities Dr. Anita Maürtin-cairncross

The urgency to publish: Globally, universities are facing significant new challenges and opportunities in increasingly competitive contexts. The continuing under-representation of women in senior and management positions of academies is receiving renewed attention (Bagilhole, 2000; Henry, 1990; Park, 1996; Williams, 1990). Given that women form a significant proportion of staff complements, there is the recognition that neither the institutions, nor the countries in which they are located, can afford to ignore the representation of women in their institutions (Ramsay, 2001). Clearly, gender relations have shifted over the last few decades, and women are now employed in greater numbers and their voices more represented than in the history of patriarchal academia (Aisenberg & Harrington, 1988; Bagilhole, 2000; Cooper & Subotzky, 2001). Yet, there is a clear argument that women's voices, particularly the voices of women outside of the dominant western, northern context of knowledge production, such as women in South African historically black universities, remain largely marginalized (Cooper & Subotzky 2001; Peacock, 1993).