Activist or Advocate? Redefining Scholarly Risk in an African Research Context

This chapter explores my roles as reflexive researcher, scholar and a blend of advocate and activist. It illustrates the ways in which I managed to redefine and reconceptualise the study through navigating relationships and in the face of cultural, political and environmental challenges. Conducting research in certain West African societies deemed as patriarchal poses risks for women owing to gender inequalities, stereotypes and male-dominated influences. My study explored the subjective wellbeing of female undergraduate students in higher education, resulting in an emphasis not only on personal and mental risks for the participants, but also on professional and reputational risks for myself as the researcher. Mitigating these risks involved decisions about the epistemological approach of postcolonial feminist theory and the participatory methodologies used in the study.