Masculinities and femininities at the University of Zimbabwe: student perspectives and responses through the affirmative action project

A research paper on affirmative action on gender issues at the University of Zimbabwe.The everyday lives of students and staff in acadeipic institutions are shaped by the ideologies of masculinity and femininity that prevail within their societies, families and their specific educational institutions! As indicated by Kessler (1985) organisations have differing gender regimes that model the types of masculinity and femininity manufactured, reinforced and exhibited within them by students and staff. These behaviours vary depending on the social class, age, ethnicity and race of the males. The material for this chapter is based on teaching experiences and the research findings, submissions and contributions made by students to the Gender Studies Association/Affirmative Action Project, funded by the Ford Foundation at the University of Zimbabwe. This project was funded in order to produce data on gender inequalities amongst staff and students, to monitor and report on the progress of the affirmative acfton polity of the university and to lay down the basis for fostering gender equity, democracy and the respect of the rights of all the stakeholders in the university

Gender violence and governance in universities: the University of Zimbabwe

A lecture handout on gender violence and governance at the University of Zimbabwe.Universities have traditionally been considered as safe places where men and women can further their pursuit for knowledge in an atmosphere of tolerance and safety. However, what is not widely understood is that universities have historically excluded women, minorities and non-conformists of different hues precisely because they are different, and that they are looked down upon by the majorities and those who have been mainstreamed in social systems. Many European universities were initially run by male religious orders that defined women as unacceptable and as a hindrance to men in their pursuit of the truth and of salvation. This partly explains why single celibate men were the ones who dominated the universities, particularly those in Britain. Thus, women are relatively recent entrants to universities and their entry and terms of acceptance are problematic. and problems continue in achievement and existence once they have been accepted

Theorizing black (African) transnational masculinities

Just as masculinity is crucial in the construction of nationhood, masculinity is also significant in the making and unmaking of transnational communities. This article focuses on how black African men negotiate and perform respectable masculinity in transnational settings such as the workplace, community and family. Moving away from conceptualizations of black transnational forms of masculinities as in perpetual crisis and drawing on qualitative data collected from members of the new African diaspora in London, the article explores the diverse ways notions of masculinity and gender identities are being challenged, re-affirmed and reconfigured. The article argues that men experience a loss of status as breadwinners and a rupture of their sense of masculine identity in the reconstruction of life in the diaspora. Conditions in the hostland, in particular, women's breadwinner status and the changing gender relations, threaten men’s ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and consequently force men to negotiate respectable forms of masculinity

Beyond income: an analysis of gendered wellbeing and poverty in Zimbabwe

An analysis of how poverty impacts more gravely on women headed households in Zimbabwe.A large body of literature on the feminization of poverty and research findings in various countries, including Zimbabwe, show that women- headed households are more vulnerable and their incomes tend to fall below the poverty line (for example Achuwilor, 2004). There are a number of factors that predispose women, especially women-headed households, to poverty. Major poverty studies on Zimbabwe, such as the UNDP Human Development Report and the Poverty Assessment Survey Study (PASS) highlight the feminization of poverty (GoZ, 1996; UNDP, 1997; GoZ, 2006). This Chapter begins by reviewing the various studies of gendered poverty7 in Zimbabwe. This is followed by an analysis of the results of the Moving Zimbabwe (MZF) study which examined some gender differences, particularly characteristics of male- and female-headed households, and educational attainment of children.Canada's International Development Research ( www.idrc.ca

Gender issues at the University of Zimbabwe: an introduction

A book chapter on gender issues at the University of Zimbabwe.Gender concerns at the University of Zimbabwe informed the production of this volume. This work is a result of sustained interest in the gender relationships prevailing at the University of Zimbabwe. In 1989, Gaidzanwa et al conducted a study on students and staff at the university, in an attempt to establish the factors affecting women’s academic careers at the university. That work has been widely circulated and provided the basis of further studies in this area by Gaidzanwa. The research was part of a growing body of academic work, often by women, and on women and gender in different societies and institutions. The interest in issues relating to women tended to be dismissed as trivial then. In 1988, a male colleague dismissed this work as ‘unacademic’ and the whole question of gender as ‘misconceived’.The Ford Foundation

Voting with their feet : migrant Zimbabwean nurses and doctors in the era of structural adjustment

This research report examines the ways in which medical professionals have responded to the changing environment of work and livelihood in Zimbabwe since the adoption of a structural adjustment programme. Of particular interest are those doctors and nurses who took a decision to migrate from Zimbabwe to Botswana and South Africa in search of "greener" pastures

Poverty, HIV and AIDS : implications for Southern Africa in the global capitalist architecture

This paper discusses the issues concerning HIV and AIDS within the context of capitalist development in Southern Africa. Southern Africa is the epicenter of the HIV and AIDS pandemic and coupled with growing poverty in Africa in general, there is need to understand the trajectory of Southern Africa in the present phase of global capitalist development. The paper is contextualised in post-adjustment Southern Africa in which all the countries have adopted and implemented economic structural adjustment programs of various sorts, all of which share common features such as liberalization of capital, labour and commodities and services. The paper raises issues about research, directions for future intervention so that there are better understandings of processes for containing, reducing and mitigating the effects of HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa