Exploring discourses of access and sexual harassment in higher education A study of students’ perceptions of University of Nairobi’s Institutional Culture, Kenya

Debate on gender and education suggest that discourses of culture and institutional norms are responsible for the differential treatment of men and women in the universities. Despite the wide range of multiple interventions set up by international and national communities, women who study and work in the universities sometimes suffer from gendered unfriendly culture. Such an environment may erode women’s ability to participate in various university programmes. The relationship between institutional culture, access and sexual harassment remain complex at different levels of Higher Education in Africa. The main objective of this study was to deepen our understanding of University of Nairobi’s institutional culture. The study interrogates students’ perceptions of gendered realities through the discourses of access to opportunities, space and facilities and their experiences of sexual harassment raised by research in African universities. To achieve this objective, the study used qualitative data drawn from in-depth interviews with a sample of 30 fourth year students and four Focused Group Discussions with student leaders. Analysis of data, as discourse, was used to explore the meaning of students’ perceptions of their experiences based on masculinity, femininity and heterosexual traditions and practices within the University of Nairobi, the research site.

Publisher: University of Cape Town
Year of Publication: 2013