Grace Ese-osa Idahosa, Dina Zoe Belluigi, Nandita Banerjee Dhawan
{"title":"“Going beyond the call of duty”: academic agency and promoting transformation for sustainability in higher education","authors":"Grace Ese-osa Idahosa, Dina Zoe Belluigi, Nandita Banerjee Dhawan","doi":"10.1108/ijshe-09-2023-0454","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\n<p>In the past decade, against increasing global inequality, higher education has grappled with increased demands for social justice, transformation and decolonisation. While a lot of research in South Africa has focused on the (im)possibilities of fostering racial, gendered, socio-economic and cultural change, the connection of such change to questions of sustainability has been less explored. The purpose of this paper is to specifically explore the agency of academics to foster transformative initiatives for sustainability within the context of institutions historically serving under-represented populations.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\n<p>Using a qualitative methodology, this paper highlights the importance of considering sustainability in processes of transformation. This paper is specifically interested in how academic faculty and those in assigned leadership positions view their agency in relation to promoting transformation for sustainability at the institutional level. Drawing on data generated from semi-structured interviews with 13 participants at an historically Black university in South Africa, this paper details academics' and leaders’ experiences and perceptions of their agency.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Findings</h3>\n<p>This study reveals the adverse interactional dynamics within higher education institutions, which negatively impact academics’ participation as key agents in change processes. Positional and identity challenges faced reveal the persistence of colonial and apartheid legacies of racism, sexism, Afrophobia and xenophobia – which casts a shadow on possible trajectories of transformation and sustainability. This has serious implications for the common good, given South Africa's regional import for knowledge production and decolonisation within universities; its key role in the African 2063 Agenda; and the wider global Sustainable Development agenda.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Originality/value</h3>\n<p>This study highlights insufficient engagement with the sustainability of transformation efforts within the context of South Africa. This study also emphasises the relation between transformation imperatives and racial, socio-economic, gender and epistemic justice imperatives of sustainable development.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":47989,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-09-2023-0454","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
In the past decade, against increasing global inequality, higher education has grappled with increased demands for social justice, transformation and decolonisation. While a lot of research in South Africa has focused on the (im)possibilities of fostering racial, gendered, socio-economic and cultural change, the connection of such change to questions of sustainability has been less explored. The purpose of this paper is to specifically explore the agency of academics to foster transformative initiatives for sustainability within the context of institutions historically serving under-represented populations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative methodology, this paper highlights the importance of considering sustainability in processes of transformation. This paper is specifically interested in how academic faculty and those in assigned leadership positions view their agency in relation to promoting transformation for sustainability at the institutional level. Drawing on data generated from semi-structured interviews with 13 participants at an historically Black university in South Africa, this paper details academics' and leaders’ experiences and perceptions of their agency.
Findings
This study reveals the adverse interactional dynamics within higher education institutions, which negatively impact academics’ participation as key agents in change processes. Positional and identity challenges faced reveal the persistence of colonial and apartheid legacies of racism, sexism, Afrophobia and xenophobia – which casts a shadow on possible trajectories of transformation and sustainability. This has serious implications for the common good, given South Africa's regional import for knowledge production and decolonisation within universities; its key role in the African 2063 Agenda; and the wider global Sustainable Development agenda.
Originality/value
This study highlights insufficient engagement with the sustainability of transformation efforts within the context of South Africa. This study also emphasises the relation between transformation imperatives and racial, socio-economic, gender and epistemic justice imperatives of sustainable development.
期刊介绍:
The aim of International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education is to provide up-to-date information on new developments and trends on sustainability in a higher education context, and to catalyse networking and information exchange on sustainable development as a whole, and on the SDGs in particular, on a global basis. Authors are invited to submit papers from the following areas: Environmental management systems, Sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goals, Curricular innovation, Campus greening, Operational aspects of universities, Energy, water, recycling, waste management, Planning and design of campuses, Environmental reports, Environmental policies and action plans, Staff and student initiatives. Other themes associated to the above or emerging topics will also be considered