Despite the high priority government policy places on gender equity, tertiary education remains an overwhelmingly male-dominated terrain.
Ten of the 21 universities responded to the Teacher’s request for data showing how many female academics are employed at each level. The universities of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Pretoria, North West, Zululand, Potchefstroom, Natal, Durban-Westville and Rhodes share a similar pattern: relatively high percentages of women occupy lower ranks in the academic hierarchy, but the figures tail off sharply further up the hierarchy.
Women account for between 30% and 40% of all full-time academic staff at these universities. At the lower levels of lecturer and junior lecturer, they amount to about 40% of staff – and more than half in some cases.
But the picture changes drastically at the other end of the scale. Only about 10% of members of senates – which are universities’ most senior academic bodies – are women, although the Durban-Westville senate boasts a nearly 30% female presence and Rhodes nearly 20%. The percentages of women in senior ranks such as professor, head of department (or school) and dean are also very low.
‘Gender equity has become the forgotten equity,” says Margaret Orr, director of the Centre of University Learning, Teaching and Development at Wits University. ‘It has become a secondary issue, playing second fiddle to race
transformation. The latter overshadowed gender transformation in the past – and that was maybe appropriate. Now the time has come to refocus on women’s issues.”
Women are a designated group in equity legislation points out Amanda Gouws, chair of the Women’s Forum at Stellenbosch University. In 1996, the former minister of education, Sibusiso Bengu, appointed a gender equity task team that included Gouws.
‘The team made many recommendations, but very few have been implemented,” Gouws says. ‘One of these was that the Department of Education’s (DoE) gender equity unit be headed by an appointment at director level. But it’s not – the head is a deputy director – and nothing comes out of that unit.
‘We also recommended that women be promoted into administrative and management positions, but these recommendations were not heeded. There’s no gender equity plan, either in individual institutions or in the government.”
But Nasima Badsha, deputy director general for higher education in the national DoE, stresses that ‘gender equity remains a high priority. In terms of the National Plan for Higher Education [which details a radical transformation of the tertiary sector and was released in March], institutions are urged to address this important area.”
However, Badsha concedes there are worrying trends. ‘While strides have been made in improving access for women students to higher education, there are concerns around lack of gender equity in staff – especially at higher levels.
‘About half the enrolments at university undergraduate level
are women, but they are very under-represented in postgraduate studies – especially in fields such as engineering and technology. We must retain women at postgraduate levels.
‘Institutions should focus on recruiting and retaining women via mechanisms such as targeted scholarships, mentorship programmes and development posts at junior levels, and some are doing this. But this needs the commitment of senior management.”
Sexual harassment is another example of what works against women in higher education, Gouws says. She cites the case of a lecturer at a university in the Western Cape who was well known for harassment of women students, found guilty by a disciplinary hearing – but not dismissed. ‘This sent a bad message to women students and staff,” Gouws says.
Unisa, currently in the media spotlight following the charges of sexual harassment, has still not finalised its harassment policy two years down the line.