Outsiders Reflecting on Invisible Institutional Gender Norms

Abstract

In higher education (HE), especially in countries viewed as socially equal, often there are embedded normative institutional practices. This raises two intersecting issues: (1) how the perception of a Nordic social justice national ideology and policies may not translate into a reality for all and (2) how homogeneous non-colonial countries could contain invisible threads of gendered institutional coloniality which affect women and non-local/transnational women to a greater degree. Our study is unique as the research context is Finland, a Nordic socially equal country. The reality is that there is embedded inequity in institutionalized normative practices. The study employed a multi-perspective online survey with quantitative and open-ended questions. Our study investigated the following overarching thematic research questions: To what extent do unspoken gendered normative practices in HE affect transnational women’s lived realities? What are the factors and aspects intersecting expectations and beliefs of gender roles and practices that highlight how coloniality seeps into even perceived HE institutions in social equality countries? Our findings raise awareness and questions. For future implications to consider how coloniality is still embedded in institutional normative practices, we must first understand how these practices affect women in ways of being academic.