WOMEN IN THE ACADEMY - THE POLITICS OF SPEECH AND SILENCE

This paper examines women's voice and silence in the academy. It begin s with a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of feminine voice and silence, and then analyses the gendered production of girls'/wome n's voices throughout their schooling careers from the primary to univ ersity classroom. This is followed by a discussion of the contradictor y politics of voice when differences clash among women (students) of c olour. I argue here that 'granting' spaces for women's speech may be p edagogically desirable but has potentially silencing effects. In closi ng, I consider some pedagogical strategies that can potentially enable women to better partake in the management of their own academic, soci al, and political interests.