Seen but not heard : risks and dilemmas of/for researching women

Feminist political projects are currently characterized by a desire on the part of feminist researchers to unmask the apparent neutrality of contemporary contexts exposing the ways in which women and men are positioned differently. This position, in turn, postulates that there are political consequences of being positioned as a ‘woman’ or a ‘man’ within particular geographical, temporal and cultural contexts. In this paper therefore I address the risks and dilemmas for academic women in a regional university by exploring two key contexts around the notion of academic women as stakeholders. Firstly I attend to the way in which these women can be seen as stakeholders in a feminist research process ? a context where their voices are heard. Secondly I present the notion of academic women as stakeholders in their workplace ? a context where academic women are seen but their voices are not heard.