Liani Millicent L, Nyamongo Isaac K, Pulford Justin, Tolhurst Rachel
Department of International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK.
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK.
Glob Health Res Policy. 2021 Aug 17;6(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s41256-021-00213-3.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) suffers from a dearth of concrete information on the causes of women's under-representation in scientific research workforce particularly at higher levels compared with the wealth of information that exists in the global north. The goal of this study was to illuminate familial and socio-cultural drivers that contribute to intersectional gender inequities in scientific career progression in SSA to inform strategies that could promote career equity for African scientific researchers.
This study was nested within the context of 'Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science in Africa' (DELTAS Africa)-a health-based scientific research capacity strengthening initiative. It adopted an exploratory qualitative cross-sectional study design. In-depth interviews were conducted among 58 (32 Female and 26 Male) trainees/research fellows at various career stages, affiliated to three purposively selected African Research Consortia. The interviews were conducted between May and December 2018 in English. The data were analysed inductively based on emergent themes.
The study participants were nationals of thirteen SSA countries. More female than male participants had young children. Four themes were identified. They illustrate women's and men's characterisation of the normative career pathway and progression requirements which calls for significant 'time' commitments (theme 1), and how social power relations of gender within the family and wider society shapes their participation in scientific research activities (theme 2). This culminates in researchers'' differential experiences of navigating between the 'two different lives'-family and career, and the resultant implications for their career progression and personal well-being (theme 3). Women researchers made different and conscious trade-offs for navigating the 'two different lives' by utilising various metaphors such as the 'biological clock and career clock', the 'glass ball and rubber ball', and the concept of 'sacrifice' (theme 4).
This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate how intersectional gender analysis through use of qualitative research methods may provide novel insights into the hidden familial and socio-cultural drivers of gender inequitable scientific research career progression. It offers important policy and practice measures and approaches for fostering career equity for women and men scientists within research capacity strengthening initiatives in SSA.
与全球北方丰富的信息相比，撒哈拉以南非洲地区（SSA）缺乏关于女性在科研人员队伍中代表性不足的具体原因的信息，尤其是在高层。本研究的目的是阐明导致SSA地区科研职业发展中交叉性性别不平等的家庭和社会文化驱动因素，为促进非洲科研人员职业公平的策略提供信息。
本研究嵌套于“非洲领导力、培训与科学卓越发展”（DELTAS Africa）项目之中，这是一项基于健康领域的科研能力强化倡议。它采用了探索性定性横断面研究设计。对隶属于三个经过有目的选择的非洲研究联盟的58名（32名女性和26名男性）处于不同职业阶段的学员/研究员进行了深入访谈。访谈于2018年5月至12月期间用英语进行。数据基于浮现的主题进行归纳分析。
研究参与者是13个SSA国家的国民。有年幼子女的女性参与者多于男性。确定了四个主题。它们说明了女性和男性对规范职业路径及晋升要求的描述，这需要大量的“时间”投入（主题1），以及家庭和更广泛社会中性别社会权力关系如何塑造他们参与科研活动（主题2）。这最终导致研究人员在“两种不同生活”——家庭和职业之间穿梭时的不同经历，以及对他们职业发展和个人幸福的影响（主题3）。女性研究人员通过运用各种隐喻，如“生物钟与职业时钟”、“玻璃球与橡胶球”以及“牺牲”概念，为在“两种不同生活”中穿梭做出了不同且有意识的权衡（主题4）。
本研究首次展示了通过定性研究方法进行交叉性性别分析如何能为性别不平等的科研职业发展中隐藏的家庭和社会文化驱动因素提供新见解。它为在SSA地区的科研能力强化倡议中促进男女科学家职业公平提供了重要的政策和实践措施及方法。
