Types and dynamics of gendered space: a case of Emirati female learners in a single-gender context

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with gendered spaces as they emerge from exploring Emirati female learners’ spatiality in a single-gender context. By conducting ethnographic research and utilising Lefebvre’s triad of perceived, conceived and lived space for the analysis and categorisation of students’ spaces, three types of gendered spaces emerged: ‘generally’, ‘absolutely’ and ‘conditionally’. These spaces were grounded in the sociocultural context of the institute and its participants. The research also revealed the dynamics associated with such gendered spaces, including mobility restrictions and the agency of the female learners through the ways these females contested gender segregation practices, negotiating and attempting to establish new positions of power within cultural and institutional constraints.

KEYWORDS:

• Space
• gender
• gendered space
• women
• Lefebvre’s triad
• higher education
• agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 An undergraduate Emirati female student at an Emirati federal university. All participant names are pseudonyms to ensure the anonymity of my participants as in compliance with my ethical approval.

2 During my fieldwork, the total number of female students was 3416 compared to 374 male students (Institutional Research Office).

3 During my fieldwork, there were 286 female and 226 male faculty members and staff (Institutional Research Office).

4 There are references that address, although indirectly, gendered spaces of non-Arab Gulf women (Iranian); for example, see Kian’s (1995) Gendered Occupation and Women’s Status in Post-Revolutionary Iran and Shahidian’s (2002) Women in Iran: Gender politics in the Islamic Republic.

5 For a detailed overview of the methodological map guiding the larger research of which this paper constitutes an important part, see Alzeer (2014).

6 All extracts from the transcribed interviews are kept in their original form without tidying them or removing any fillers, interruptions or language mistakes. Although some excerpts appear incoherent and hard to read, I believe they reflect the participants’ way of communication as second-language speakers and their way of constructing their spatial experience. Capitals are used to denote strong emphasis with louder voice that is often accompanied with strong emotions.

7 ‘Masculinist’ is a term that Gillian Rose has adopted from the feminist Le Doeuff (1991; cited in Rose 1993, 4) in her reference to geography as a male-dominated discipline. Masculinist work can be interpreted as work that excludes women and concerns itself with men and the position of men despite claims of exhaustiveness.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Research Incentive Fund (RIF), The office of Research, Zayed University [grant number R13060].