Exploring the impact of sexual harassment on teacher identity: An autoethnography

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version
Primary Supervisor

McGregor, Glenda V

Other Supervisors

Lennon, Sherilyn F

Editor(s)
Date
2020-08-05
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

This research examines the impact of sexual harassment on teacher identity and, in so doing, opens up conversations around gendered harassment in institutional settings. Drawing from my own experiences, I use autoethnography to lift the curtain on the unacknowledged, misunderstood and often overlooked. Autoethnography moves beyond traditional methods of inquiry to wholly embrace the subjective position of the researcher (Chang, 2008). In this way it is able to offer insights into the ways that identity, power, and culture interrelate in institutional settings. In documenting and then critically reflecting on my personal and professional challenges of being an experienced white female teacher newly employed at an Independent Australian School in a large capital city, I shed light on the gendered nature of workplace harassment from a position that is often silenced. In intertwining my first-hand experiences with the literature, I weave between feelings of powerlessness, critical reflexivity, and scholarly reflection to explore the construction of institutionalised norms and examine how language, subjectivity, and power-relations impact on gender. This research builds on existing knowledge by offering an alternative perspective – that of the researcher’s – to deepen understandings of the social complexities and challenges many women face in institutional workplaces.

Journal Title
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type

Thesis (Masters)

Degree Program

Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)

School

School Educ & Professional St

Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

sexual harassment

sexism

higher education

institutional misogyny

Persistent link to this record
Citation