A new report by the Commission for Gender Equality noted that some universities are reluctant to review their sexual harassment policies, resulting in inadequate measures being in place to protect victims and punish perpetrators.
Institutions of higher learning need to recruit more women and people with disabilities to achieve the equal representation dictated by the Employment Equity Act.
A new report by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) also noted that some universities are reluctant to review their sexual harassment policies, resulting in inadequate measures being in place to protect victims and punish perpetrators.
“It is also vital that universities provide adequate funding for gender transformation to achieve their employment equity targets, as well as manage the retention of female staff,” said the report, which focused on gender dynamics at Walter Sisulu University, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, University of Fort Hare and the University of the Western Cape.
At Walter Sisulu University, the 13 top management positions comprise eight African men and five African women with no representation of people with disabilities and other races. Men occupy 583 academic staff positions and women 516. At the administrative level, 473 positions are occupied by women and 394 by men.
“These figures indicate that women are in the minority in top and senior management, as well as at academic levels,” the report says.
The university has an assigned employment equity manager with decision-making authority, but the report says this has not been effective, “given the skewed employment equity representation”.
The institution does not have a flexitime policy, childcare facilities or policies to enable the reasonable accommodation of parental obligations.
“The lack of such a policy demonstrates a reluctance to implement the provisions of the Code of Good Practice on Pregnancy and After the Birth of a Child, particularly clause 5.2.2, which requires consideration for protective measures and adjustments to working arrangements for pregnant or breastfeeding employees,” the report said.
At Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, the commission found that men were overrepresented in the top, senior and academic positions, as well as the professor and dean levels.
“The university is having difficulties in addressing employment equity barriers that are deeply rooted in the social culture of the institution and further perpetuated by the location, scarce skills and some unattractive disciplines,” it said.
The University of Fort Hare has 18 senior management positions, of which only four are held by women, with no representation of those with disabilities.
The report further found that the university’s sexual harassment policy was not compliant with the Code of Good Practice.
Although there are laws in place to address gender equality, there is not much awareness, said Brightness Mangolothi, the director at Higher Education Resource Services-South Africa (HER-SA).
“The Code of Good Practice on Pregnancy is a taboo issue that is not talked about, and the Code of Good Practice on Harassment is yet to be fully engaged on. Where policies exist, there is poor education and implementation of policies and monitoring, and evaluation remains a challenge,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Gender Equality has applauded the University of the Western Cape after it found that of the 2 553 people the institution employs, 1 552 are women and 1 001 are men.
“Gender equity is seen as a priority at the university, and the work of the Gender Equity Unit is foremost in this endeavour,” the report said.
It recommended that the university include a section on gender on the payroll personal data verification to enable human resources to capture information on gender diversity.
In terms of Article 10 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, the government is obliged to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women to ensure their equal rights with men in the field of education.
While the report has been welcomed by HER-SA for raising “pertinent issues”, the organisation called on the Commission for Gender Equality to address what “needs to be done to get universities to commit to the implementation of the recommendation”.
The department of higher education said it has been working to address gender gaps in institutions.
“The department of higher education and training is working with the CGE and the Higher Health [an organisation in the department that deals with gender-related issues] to identify trends and challenges [by] working with institutions,” said the department’s communications director, Lucky Masuku.