Celebrating Women in Higher Education

This book considers the structure and demographics of the workforce in nursing and midwifery higher education, observing the gender divide, highlighting the impact of intersectionality, and exploring the challenges and opportunities this provides. Divers and Chenery-Morris look at the power of clinical practice, the perception of nursing and midwifery as 'women's work,' perceptions of meaning around being female, social mobility, race, sexuality, the 'caring role,' academic identities and the role of men. To investigate these issues, they introduce intersectional case studies of the lived experiences of women working in higher education and make connections to the wider international literature, in particular sociological, feminist and gender theories. The chapters are linked to larger questions that encompass the purpose of universities more generally, including social mobility, generating new knowledge, challenging irrelevant practices or those rooted in colonisation, and reflexivity culminating in visions of the future for the professions. Showcasing a range of experiences and voices from nursing and midwifery academics, this is an important contribution to discussions of gender in higher education and in the caring professions. It will interest advanced students and researchers from nursing, midwifery, education, sociology, and gender studies.

Jo Divers is Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health, University of Suffolk, UK. Sam Chenery-Morris is Dean of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health, University of Suffolk, UK.

Introduction. Celebrating Women in Higher Education - A Case of Nurses and Midwives, 1. What it means to be female?, 2. The Power of Practice, 3. Nursing and Midwifery Education; Women's Work?, 4. The Social Mobility of Nursing Educators, 5. Being a Black academic in a predominantly white university, 6. (In)visible Sexuality, 7. Working Mothers & Carers, 8. Neurodiversity, Chronic Illness and Disability: Working in Nursing & Midwifery HE with an Unseen Impairment, 9. Whataboutery? What about men in nursing and midwifery education?, 10. Why We Need to Celebrate Women in Nursing & Midwifery HE