Muslim women academics in higher education: Reflections from South Africa

Abstract

In this chapter, we present the experiences of five Muslim women academics at their South African universities in a time of transformation. All five women are respected and accomplished individuals in their academic environments. We wanted to understand the prevailing organisational culture and the ways in which aspects of that culture could impede or encourage the process of inclusion of Muslim women as a minority within the university. The chapter is organized in two parts. In the first part, we contextualize Muslims within the bigger racial and ethnic landscape and provide an overview of transformational initiatives in higher education. In part two, we present our experiences.