(En)gendering risk : reflecting on risks and dilemmas when researching academic women in a hostile terrain

Stronach and MacLure (1997) argue that research is not value-free and that, through the use of a poststructural approach, researchers can create uncertainty around the perceived neutrality of researching in various contexts. Feminist research, by its very nature, is subject to particular political and ethical issues and risks. The methodology is undeniably subjective, and in the academic workspace, where research tends to be valued for its objectivity and economic potential, feminism is all too often perceived as lacking legitimacy by academics of both genders. Thus the university can be a hostile terrain. Despite the risks of the 'phallocentric smog' (Moore, 2003) and the negativity and suspicions of some colleagues, the researcher in this field needs to be prepared to work strategically with the uncertainties related to the choice of topic, participants and site(s) of engagement. In this chapter, I explore my own dilemmas arising from the ways in which research can be a 'risky business' when researching academic women in an Australian regional university. Researching the subjectivities of these academic women, and the 'work' that they do, requires attention to the political dimension of their 'situatedness' (Suchman, 1987), and a particular ethical approach that values women. This exploration offers educational researchers an insight into the challenges and opportunities involved with strategically investigating messy contexts and nomadic women. In the past, the concerns and inequities confronting wonlen have so often been ignored and rendered invisible. Today there is a need to undertake research that both minimises harm and maximises empowerment in engendering social change. Women's knowledge and experience in an acadelnic environnlent should be legitinlised and values.