Cultivating Critical Minds: Feminist Scholars Staying Under the Radar and Causing a Ripple Effect

• In Event: Organizing Teacher Leaders for Change

Abstract

Feminist scholars are caught up in the precarious precondition for change in which they need to dissent to the academic game to create change. This qualitative study revolves around strategies senior feminists employ in their interactions and dealings inside and outside of academia. By playing interchangeably offence/defence, they manage to stay under the radar, causing a ripple effect. Furthermore, they estimate the best way to handle criticism by being receptive, standing their ground, and sometimes taking the blows. Thus, these women negotiate the ambivalence they encounter in their daily routines while pursuing academic and societal change. The findings demonstrate that feminist academics reside in a precarious precondition for change and need strategies to persist and endure in academia and society.

Authors

• Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir, University of Iceland

• Thamar Melanie Heijstra, University of Iceland