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By Edwin Naidu
A new report by the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) has reinforced the need for universities to improve the recruitment and retention of women and persons with disabilities in senior positions at tertiary institutions.
“The universities must improve recruitment of women and persons with disabilities in academic, top and senior management positions to achieve equal representation according to the Employment Equity Act,” says the report.
The State of Gender Transformation at Tertiary Institutions 2023/2024, as part of ongoing hearings, focuses on four universities: Walter Sisulu University, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, University of Fort Hare and the University of the Western Cape.
The responses were analysed and investigative hearings were held as part of the commission and the country’s goal of creating a society free from gender inequality.
In its report, the CGE urged universities to provide adequate funding for gender transformation to achieve their employment equity targets and manage the retention of female staff.
However, the commission found that some universities were reluctant to review their sexual harassment policies to align with the Code of Good Practice 2022.
This reluctance to review policies subjected staff and students to lesser protective measures than what the law provided.
The GGE’s annual performance plan for 2023/24 required it to conduct hearings on gender transformation at universities.
The hearings aimed to understand gender dynamics, the slow pace of transformation and the creation of inclusive environments.
Despite legislative progress since the adoption of the Constitution, challenges remained in achieving gender equality in higher education.
Findings and Recommendations
Walter Sisulu University
Findings: Skewed gender representation at senior levels, lack of disability representation, inadequate policies for parental obligations and sexual harassment.
Recommendations: Develop an employment equity plan, implement flexitime policies, conduct sexual harassment workshops and ensure the employment equity manager performs their duties.
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University
Findings: Over-representation in senior positions, lack of policies for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and challenges in addressing employment equity barriers.
Recommendations: Address skewed representation, finalise policies for disability and LGBTQIA+ inclusion, align sexual harassment policies with the Code of Good Practice and conduct awareness campaigns.
University of Fort Hare
Findings: Over-representation of black men in senior positions, lack of policies for persons with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and non-compliance with sexual harassment policy standards.
Recommendations: Implement programmes for designated groups, finalise and approve inclusive policies and align sexual harassment policies with the Code of Good Practice.
University of the Western Cape
Findings: Majority representation of women in senior positions, outdated policies and non-compliance with sexual harassment policy standards.
Recommendations: Review and update policies, implement planned transformation programmes, provide gender awareness training and ensure inclusion of gender non-conforming persons.
Higher Education Resources South Africa (HERS-SA) executive director Brightness Mangolothi said much more needed to be done to advance women in the tertiary space.
She said HERS-SA, which has been working to improve the status of women in higher education, found that, in general, women were given the most challenging jobs when men did not seem to want them, resulting in them being destined to fail.
Universities South Africa (USAf) chairperson Francis Petersen said gender equality was an imperative that could not be ignored, and that it was committed to bringing about change.
Petersen, the vice-chancellor designate of the University of Pretoria, said USAf has several projects targeting meaningful gender transformation. It was mindful that women’s leadership was significantly underrepresented in most universities’ senior executive, management and academic positions.
“Active measures must be implemented to increase the representation of women in these positions.”
INSIDE EDUCATION