Social innovation and transformation in academia: the interventions of the female academic leaders fellowship in South Africa

Abstract The significance of addressing gendered and racialised inequalities through social innovation is widely recognised, yet the mechanisms through which such change occurs within academic institutions remain under-examined, particularly in historically unequal contexts such as South Africa. This study examines the Female Academic Leaders Fellowship (FALF) as a locally grounded form of social innovation operating within South African higher education. Drawing on longitudinal data collected between 2021 and 2023, the study combines programme-level career data with in-depth interviews conducted with 46 African women academics. Guided by Tarde’s theory of social change, the analysis explores how processes of imitation, collective engagement, and institutional navigation shape academic trajectories over time. The findings indicate patterned improvements in research productivity, postgraduate supervision, conference participation, and career progression among fellowship participants. Across cohorts, fellows produced over 90 peer-reviewed publications, with a substantial proportion appearing in high-ranking journals, supervised postgraduate students to completion, and expanded their academic visibility through national and international conference participation. Qualitative findings highlight the relational and institutional dimensions of the fellowship, particularly the role of mentorship, peer support, and collective recognition in strengthening leadership confidence and navigating promotion and probation processes. At the same time, persistent systemic barriers were identified, including opaque promotion criteria, extended probation periods, and the cumulative mental health strain associated with academic precarity. The study demonstrates that social innovation in higher education can operate through relational and institutional mechanisms that reshape access to resources, recognition, and opportunity, even within structurally constrained environments. By foregrounding women academics’ lived experiences, this research contributes to scholarly debates on social innovation, gender, and transformation in academia.