"Outsiders Within"

This book is based on a PhD thesis submitted at the University College London in 2005. It summaries the experiences of women managers in a public and a private university in Kenya. The analysis shows that women s participation in university management in Kenya is influenced by complex and contradictory discourses in the Kenyan society and the policies and practices in the two universities. First, there is the discourse of a successful and good university manager who is expected to cope with heavy workload. Second, a discourse of a good wife and mother who performs most of the domestic chores and spends more time with the family and thirdly the meritocratic discourse that incorporates gender blindness in the name of fairness that ignores the multiple roles performed by women. Fourth, the socio-cultural discourse that expects women s gender roles to be retained as part of the cultural heritage even as society moves towards a modern globalised economy. Finally, the political discourse (legal framework) that supports the socio-cultural discourse by not legislating for gender equality and equity. All these discourses serve position women as outsiders within their universities.