10
HIGHER EDUCATION CLOSE UP2
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH INTO HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE (JULY 16 – 18, 2001)
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY
TITLE OF PAPER : ASCERTAINING THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
B.ED(EAPPS) PROGRAMME AT
THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY:
GENDER ISSUES AND THE “GLASS
CEILING”
BY : MOFFAT CHITAPA TARUSIKIRWA
POSITION : LECTURER
INSTITUTION : ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY
MATABELELAND NORTH REGION
POSTAL ADDRESS : P.O BOX 3997,
CITY : BULAWAYO
COUNTRY : ZIMBABWE
PHONE : 263 9 70790
FAX : 263 9 70790
E-MAIL : mc tarusikirwa @ justice.com
FORMAT OF PRESENTATION : A QUALITATATIVE RESEARCH
PAPER
CONFERENCE ASPECT : MANAGEMENT/PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
In the late nineteen eighties, the Robert Mugabe government advocated for the implementation of a gender affirmative action programme in Zimbabwe. The programme focussed its attention on higher education provision for females, job opportunities and the promotion of females in Zimbabwe.
Before the 1980s in Zimbabwean schools, the majority of school managers were males. One of the aims of the gender affirmative action programme was therefore to try and bring a balance between males and females in school management positions. However, very few females had the prerequisite experience to manage schools. There were no training programmes put in place for the new female school managers, hence some of them experienced problems.
It was left to higher education to train school managers as most lacked the basic job qualifications. The Zimbabwe Open University at its inception, then as the University Centre for Distance Education of the University of Zimbabwe sought to provide this training for educational management personnel. It became the role of higher education to train administrators in Education.
Therefore the first degree programme launched by the Zimbabwe Open University was the Bachelor of Education degree in administration, planning and policy studies B. Ed(EAPPS) for the purpose of training educational administrators in Zimbabwe, giving a chance for females needing this opportunity to be trained.
Greenhaus et. al. (1990) in the U.S.A observe the presence of an invisible barrier or “glass ceiling” that prevents blacks, minority groups and women from advancing beyond lower or middle management positions. They cite this as “treatment discrimination” as opposed to “access discrimination” which prevents members of a sub-group of the population from entering a job or an organisation. Treatment discrimination, they say, occurs when sub-group members receive fewer rewards, resources or opportunities on the job than they legitimately deserve on the basis of job related criteria.
The writer therefore carried out a study with the purpose of establishing the effectiveness of the B. Ed(EAPPS) programme in helping female graduates of the programme to manage some of the problems they may encounter in their day to day operations hence their employability as managers apart from gender related problems.
The investigation had the following objectives;
(a) to ascertain the effectiveness of the B. Ed(EAPPS) programme
as offered by the Zimbabwe Open University and
(b) to recommend solutions for the elimination of any problems with
the view to improve course delivery in the B. Ed(EAPPS)
programme hence graduate effectiveness and social justice.
The research design employed in this study involved survey research, including a questionnaire survey complemented by interviews. Further details of the methodological approach will be included in the conference presentation. The paper will discuss graduate suitability for management position and how well the B.Ed (EAPPS) programme prepares women graduates for their role and effectiveness in dealing with problems at the work situation.
Other substantive areas to be discussed include:
· problems emanating from men’s behaviour such as flirtation, derogatory stereotypes of women and abuse of affirmative action programmes
· problems emanating from other women’s behaviour, for example: lack of respect for fellow woman; undermining fellow woman; and resistance to leadership by fellow woman.
· problems arising from women’s own behaviour such as: traditionalist woman’s role; refusing leadership positions; discouraging fellow women from taking a leading role
· problems emanating from stereotyping, discriminating, tribalism, corruption, society’s, attitude towards women such as male dominance
· the shortage of material and financial resources for higher education provision and a lack of administrative skills as well as training programmes by government.
Finally conclusions and recommendations derived from the research will be given.
INTRODUCTION
The first degree programme launched by the Zimbabwe Open University at its inception in 1993 was the B.Ed(EAPPS). The degree was meant to provide training to educational administrators in Zimbabwe. At around the same time, the Robert Mugabe government embarked on a gender affirmative action programme targeted at provision for higher education, job opportunities and promotion prospects for females in Zimbabwe. However, very few females who were promoted had the pre-requisite experience and training to head schools. There were also no training programmes put in place for the new female school managers, hence some of them experienced problems.
The Zimbabwe Open University therefore sought to provide this training. The newly appointed female school managers needed this opportunity to be trained hence most of them joined this degree programme.
With headlines like, “Female School Head beats up teacher” and “Community up in arms against female head” etcetera in the local press, the writer sought to establish the effectiveness of the B.Ed(EAPPS) programme in helping female graduates of the programme manage some of the problems they encountered in their day to day operations, hence their employability as managers apart from gender related problems.
The investigation had the following objectives;
(a) to ascertain the effectiveness of the B.Ed(EAPPS) programme as offered by the Zimbabwe Open University and
(b) to recommend solutions for the elimination of any problems with the view to improve course delivery in the B.Ed(EAPPS) programme hence graduate effectiveness and social justice.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The population of the study was the graduate students of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (1993, 1994 and 1995) intakes of the B.Ed(EAPPS) graduate programme of the Zimbabwe Open University in Bulawayo urban. There were 65 B.Ed(EAPPS) graduates employed as head or deputy head in Bulawayo urban. A questionnaire complemented by interviews was employed to collect the data. The questionnaire contained both closed and open ended questions and was successfully delivered and collected personally by the researcher or administered through interviews by the researcher to 49 of the respondents giving a 75 percentage rate of return. Percentage and content analysis were used to analyse the data.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The analysis was classified into a number of areas, namely characteristics of respondents, problems emanating from; course delivery, resources management, gender other problems and positive outcomes linked to the B.Ed(EAPPS) course.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS
Seventy five percent (37) of the respondents were from the 1st and 2nd intakes of the B.Ed(EAPPS) programme, that is those who entered the university in 1993 and 1994. The most common age range of the respondents was 40 years and above which made up 47percent (23) of the respondents, followed by those of 30 years and below, 35 percent(17) and age range 31-39years who made only 18 percent (9) of the respondents.
The biggest number of respondents were deputy heads who made up 65 percent (32) of the respondents followed by heads who made up 35 percent(17). Of the respondents, 41 percent (20) had no previous school management experience before their promotion and their teaching experience before promotion ranged from 4-11 years.
2. PROBLEMS EMANATING FROM THE B.ED(EAPPS) COURSE
STRUCTURE/DELIVERY
· Most of the respondents cited a weakness in the way the Computers Unit of the course was delivered. They felt that it did not prepare them enough and most had to do extra work on computers on their own after the course in order to be able to use computers at their work places. They felt that the theory should be done at the same time as the practical course so that they immediately complement each other.
· The respondents also cited the following as problems they encountered while they were on the course;
- Materials such as unit modules not being delivered on time at times.
- A shortage of reading materials in the form of books, journals
etcetera in the library.
- Absenteeism of some part-time lecturers at weekend school after
students had travelled long distances
- Delayed or lack of feedback on assignments and other work by
some part-time lecturers and
- A general poor communication system between students and
regional or national university centre.
· The respondents were also of the opinion that while the course prepared them very well for their school management positions, they felt that it would have been even better if the course had a gender related component. They felt that most of the problems they encountered were gender related and most were ill equipped to deal with such problems
3. PROBLEMS LINKED TO RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
· Some of the problems raised were, poor infrastructure, lack of resources such as books, non payment of fees by students, illness of support staff and teachers, lack of equipment such as vehicles, etcetera.
· Also mentioned was the existence of crime in poor neighbourhoods in the form of thefts of school property and burglaries.
4. GENDER RELATED PROBLEMS
Gender related problems raised emanated from the following areas;
· men’s behaviour
· other women’s behaviour
· women’s own behaviour
· stereotyping and society’s attitude towards women.
5. OTHER PROBLEMS
The other problems raised were;
· discrimination
· tribalism
· corruption
· shortage of material and financial resources for higher education and
· lack of administrative skills and training programmes by government.
6. POSITIVE OUTCOMES LINKED TO THE B.ED(EAPPS) COURSE
The respondents also cited the following responses about the course.
· Some of their colleagues have since got scholarships and went for further studies after graduating from the course
· Some of their colleagues have since got promoted to management positions after doing the course.
· Some of the respondents qualified for a Masters Degree course and are already doing higher degree work.
· Some of their colleagues have since left their jobs after graduating for greener pastures/jobs, both within Zimbabwe and outside Zimbabwe.
· Some respondents felt that they were now better school managers and respectable heads of schools after going through the course
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of the study while showing that the course prepares the graduates quite well for school management role, they have also revealed areas of the course that need improvement. The computers unit for example need restructuring. It is the view of the writer that such a course be taught through a hands on minds on approach as suggested by the graduates. A more practical approach, it is felt is likely to help the would be graduates better. To quote a native American proverb “Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may not remember; involve me and I will understand.”
As for the other problems raised such as a shortage of library resources in the form of books, journals etcetera, it is hoped by the writer that with an improved financial position, the university should make this a priority area of improvement. The writer is of course well aware of the current levels of inflation in the country which make it very expensive to import books and journals.
For effective course delivery, the writer recommends that there be an improvement or a tightening up of screws on delivery of course modules to students, part-time lecturer absenteeism, feedback on assignments and an improved communication network between regional centres and students as well as national centre and students. Zimbabwe being a developing country, it is also hoped that with advancement in technology such as the internet, telecommunications etcetera, the university will one day be able to have internet facilities in every region as well as in remote rural satellite centres for students to be able to communicate and for easier course delivery.
From the findings of the study, the B.Ed(EAPPS) graduates are doing very well from the training provided by the course, hence the course is effective, however, the graduates cited a lot of gender related problems which they felt could have been easier handled if the course had included a component on gender. Some of the gender related problems raised included the following; problems emanating from men’s behaviour such as flirtation, derogatory stereotypes of women and abuse of affirmative action programmes. A unit on gender issues may perhaps help in so far as it gives students a grounding on how to handle such issues at the work place. According to Smith et. al.(1985) “The most obvious training need is to prepare the participants for the problems they will face as women in management jobs”.
Other problems mentioned include the following;
Other women’s behaviour, for example, lack of respect for fellow women and resistance to leadership by fellow woman. Also problems from traditionalist woman’s role such as refusing leadership positions, discouraging fellow women from taking leading roles etcetera can also be handled under the same unit. The problem of the society’s attitude towards women such as male dominance etcetera, I feel may be better tackled through national programmes to cater for the public in the communities and society at large. There is also a need to provide female role models in top management positions in organisations within the country. Most of the respondents cited male role models and at times non Zimbabwean female role models who are far removed from the Zimbabwean scene. Smith et. al. (1985) concur with this view as the writer.
The other problems raised by graduates are those of corruption, discrimination, tribalism, shortage of material and financial resources, lack of training programmes and administrative skills training by government. It is the view of the writer that such problems are a serious scourge of society and are better handled at national level through enforcement of laws or enactment of laws that prohibit discrimination, tribalism, corruption etcetera.
CONCLUSIONS.
The following conclusions were drawn from the findings of the study.
· There is need to improve the way the computers unit is taught in the B.Ed(EAPPS) Programme. A more practical approach is recommended.
· There is need to improve or tighten up on assignment feedback, communication, part-time lecturer attendance at weekend school, provision of resources such as books, journals and modules.