“At home” at the University of KwaZulu-Natal?: a study of experiences of exclusion amongst academic staff.

Abstract

The study aimed to examine how academic staff feels excluded in the institution based on race and gender. The objectives were developed following the current scenario and existing studies conducted in this domain. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with the staff members of UKZN. The interviews were then analysed through the use of thematic analysis. The two main themes that emerged from the interviews were; 1) discontent with the institutional environment and 2) belonging to the university as mediated by race. The study set out to determine whether staff members felt a sense of belonging based on race and gender. However, the study's main conclusion was that academic staff do not feel excluded at the university based on race, but there were masculine spaces that were alienating to female academics. The dissatisfaction felt by the lecturers was directed at the university’s management and the adverse institutional environment that they were creating. The lecturers had 2 different responses; one group of lecturers withdrew from the university and felt that they could not change the status quo. They saw themselves as powerless and inferior to management. The other lecturers identified strongly as a unit and were vocal about their dissatisfaction with management, and they were engaged and resisted management’s dominance.