U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2005-2006

Mabokela, Reitumetse

• Full Professor
  
• Michigan State University
  
• Department of Educational Administration
  
• United States

Dr. Mabokela's research seeks not only to understand the experiences of marginalized populations, but aims to inform and influence institutional policies as well. She has keen interest in understanding global dynamics that impact policies within institutions of higher education. A significant part of her research examines higher education concerns in international contexts, specifically South Africa. Her current research interests include an examination of race, ethnicity and gender issues in post-secondary education; leadership issues among Black female faculty and administrators; and organizational culture and its impact on historically marginalized groups.

Dr. Mabokela is an active member of a number of professional organizations including the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), where she is currently on the board of directors. She has published articles in academic journals including Comparative Education Review, American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of Negro Education, and The Review of Higher Education, among others. She is the recipient of the "George Bereday Award for Best Article of the Year" published in the Comparative Education Review (2004).

Selected Publications

• Mabokela, R.O & Madsen. J.A. Culturally Relevant Schools; Creating Positive Workplace relationships and Preventing Intergroup Differences (Routledge Falmer, 2005)
  
• Mabokela, R.O. & Magubane, Z. (Eds.). (2004). Hear Our Voices! Race, Gender
  and the Status of Black South African Women in the Academy. University of
  South Africa (UNISA) Press. Pretoria, South Africa.
  
• Mabokela, R.O. and Mawila, F.N.K. (2004). The Impact of Race, Gender and
  Culture in South African Higher Education. Comparative Education Review 48
  (4), pp. 396-416.
  
• Mabokela, R.O. (2003). "Donkeys of the University:" Organizational
  Culture and Its Impact on South African Women Administrators. Higher
  Education 46 (2), pp. 129-145.
  
• Mabokela, R.O. (2002). Reflections of Black Women Faculty in South African
  Universities. The Review of Higher Education 25 (2), pp. 185-205.

One of my primary concerns as a scholar-researcher is to foster organizational culture(s) within institutions of higher learning where all scholars, specifically marginalized ones can succeed. My research seeks not only to understand the experiences of marginalized populations Blacks and
women in particular, but aims to inform and influence institutional policies to increase access and equity for these groups. The study I propose to undertake during the New Century Scholars fellowship year is a qualitative investigation in which I will interview 15 intentionally selected senior women administrators from four institutions in the Gauteng province (South Africa), to gain an understanding of how the intersection of race and gender informs and influences their professional lives and leadership identities. I will conduct a systematic inquiry guided by the following questions:

a) How does the intersection of race and gender shape the professional identity and practice of women leaders?

b) What strategies do women leaders employ negotiate professional obstacles around issues of tenure, promotion and professional advancement;

c) How do their strategies vary across institutional type (that is, technikons vs. universities or historically Black vs. historically White universities)? This study emerges partly from my previous research conducted in South Africa, but also from mutual research interest expressed by faculty and dean at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), which has extended an invitation during the NCS fellowship year.

This research can contribute significantly to the New Century Scholars Program theme in a number of ways:

1. advance current literature that systematically examines the continuing significance of race and gender on access, within the changing landscape of higher education in South Africa;
2. at a theoretical level, provide alternative conceptions of gendered leadership that embrace other "ways of knowing" or leading;
3. provide instructive insights to the global discourse around equity and access issues, and stimulate alternative ways of engaging contested concepts (e.g. identity) within South African discourse;
4. contribute to the considerable gap in the literature that systematically evaluates how far South African universities have come in their efforts to create accessible and equitable institutions since 1994.