Negotiating “third space” during COVID-19: A decolonial Afrikan feminist analysis of higher education female students’ experiences in Malawi and Zimbabwe

• In Event: Access, Gender and the impact of Covid-19 on Education in Africa

Proposal

A 2020 World Bank publication reveals that over 220 million postsecondary students have either suffered an end to their studies or experienced a significant disruption because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the impact on tertiary education institutions is unparalleled, forcing institutions to shut down, some indefinitely, with adverse consequences on equity and efficiency among other things. Based on the evidence from this study, Malawi and Zimbabwe, however, have faced huge challenges in leveraging educational technology to support learning continuity in higher education. Women and girls, including female university students, bear the brunt of operational challenges due to university closures, gaps and limitations in technological advancements. Understanding these experiences is important in informing the improvement of pedagogical practices and interventions for educational technology in emergency and non-emergency remote learning in higher education institutions in countries such as Malawi and Zimbabwe. This paper is a decolonial Afrikan feminist analysis of the experiences of female university students in Malawi and Zimbabwe during the university shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. While multiple studies and reports also highlight the growing concerns of the gendered dimensions of the impact of COVID-19, including mental and physical health of women and girls, economic and educational opportunities for girls, there is still very limited research on the experiences of African female students in higher education.

This qualitative study engaged with 20 young women in higher education institutions in Zimbabwe and Malawi. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus groups and photovoice elicitation. We used an inductive approach to analyze the narrative data shared by the participants. Our analysis places young women’s experiences in conversation with the material oppression of global inequalities, patriarchy, gendered histories, and current realities of girls’ and women's unpaid care work. The two main theoretical lenses that inform our paper are Nego-feminism (Nnaemeka, 2004) and “The third space” by Homi Bhabha.’ Nego-feminism is the theory that emerged to explain the site and everyday lived experiences and practices of young women. Drawing from Nnaemeka’s articulation of the “third space of engagement” through nego-feminism, this paper highlights the centrality of challenging and interrogating patriarchy and hegemonic dominance, through negotiation on shared values and attitudes that can be used as organizing principles within the African context. Nnaemeka pleads on “building on the indigenous” to mainstream theorize the African people’s experiences through the formation of their own theory drawing from their own material realities. Through the lens of nego-feminism, the African principles of "give and take" as well as compromise are utilized to guide when, where, and how a third space can be created and negotiated with the goal of not just to deconstruct, but to also re-construct communities of possibilities. In this paper, we explore the concept of “third space” as conceived by Homi Bhabha (2004) and adapted by Nnaemeka. We use the concept to describe the unique and hybrid spaces that young women found themselves in as they negotiated multiple responsibilities in an unpredictable and ambiguous transition from on-campus learning back in the home after the shutdown due to the pandemic.

Our study found that the transition to working on college education during the pandemic was a challenging experience for young female students. Many of the participants highlighted that balancing school work and other emergent gendered responsibilities was not easy. Nevertheless, the study revealed that young women carve out new ways and spaces for embracing new realities, including strengthening connections with friends and family, and developing a renewed sense of determination to complete their education. The young women’s stories highlight an overarching theme of having to settle in a “third space” to navigate and negotiate Socio-physical spaces, Economical Spaces, Gender, and Cultural Spaces, and Education Technological spaces. The study also revealed that, beyond the spatial and geographic locations and the borders that separate the Malawian and Zimbabwean students and co-researchers, lies a third space of shared experiences, dreams, and challenges. While education may have flexibly moved over to a remote setting, albeit with many challenges, that flexibility did not automatically happen within the social sphere and space. The gender relations of power and gendered social expectations have been maintained, thereby placing a huge burden on female students. The challenges in accessing technology because of cost and connectivity issues only served to worsen the young women’s situations. Consistent with other research, both of these groups shared that the burden of gender roles and responsibilities was exacerbated by the pandemic (UN Women 2020).

We engage in issues explored in this paper, cognisant of our current global reality where border/ immigration oppression, nationalist, nativist and fundamentalist attitudes are on the rise. The concept of “third space” allows us to unsettle some of these rigid and anti-human perspectives by reminding the reader that some challenges humans face, including the young women in this study, transcend arbitrary geographic borders and identity divisions. The young women’s shared and common challenges in Malawi and Zimbabwe urge us as scholars to transgress teaching and learning by resisting dominant narratives and forces through the creation of our own third space(s) of engagement. In practice during crises and transitions, educators need to center the voices of all learners, especially those who are marginalized such as women and girls, and create room for dialogue to ensure gender-sensitive policies and programs.

Authors

• Nyaradzai Changamire, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Pempho Chinkondenji, University of Massachusetts Amherst