Sisters should definitely do it for themselves, especially in business and academia, because men are not likely to give up their positions of power, says Professor Boitumelo Dile, vice dean and head of educational psychology at the University of Johannesburg. Women will have to guide each other because men feel threatened by passing on knowledge to a woman who could one day take their place. Dile said: “The growth and pace of women’s empowerment, especially after democracy, is still very small and the story of women who always have to fight must end.” Director of Education…
Sisters should definitely do it for themselves, especially in business and academia, because men are not likely to give up their positions of power, says Professor Boitumelo Dile, vice dean and head of educational psychology at the University of Johannesburg.
Women will have to guide each other because men feel threatened by passing on knowledge to a woman who could one day take their place.
Dile said: “The growth and pace of women’s empowerment, especially after democracy, is still very small and the story of women who always have to fight must end.”
Executive Director of Education and Programs at Johannesburg Business School Tumisang Nkosi said that while there was continued progress in the institutions, there was still much work to be done.
According to Nkosi, statistics revealed a five percent increase in the representation of women of color in organizations… reflecting little to no improvement. She said women still felt that gender was a barrier to progress, plus microaggression.
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“This was the case before we had Covid and is still an issue today. But we owe it to the next generation to bring about change,” she said.
While it was important to examine the institutions’ history and establish their post-apartheid transformation policies, the higher education professional development advisor at Stellenbosch University, Dr. Jean Lee Farmer, said the number of black women in South Africa that earned a bachelor’s degree more than any other population group.
However, Farmer said they are still underrepresented in senior academic and management positions in the country’s higher education institutions.
“Historically, black South African students received separate education and less money for education from the apartheid government than white students.
“Black women have also been historically and culturally marginalized in their families and society.
“Despite legislation to support transformation, black women remain the most marginalized.”
Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, communications manager and advocate for women’s empowerment, Petunia Thulo, said the struggle of black women in South African academia is a major problem as women rarely get through it.
It should be essential to find out how many black women have completed the bachelor’s degree.
“There are quite a few things that women have to work twice as hard to achieve, which reflects the difficulty of being seen and recognized in that space,” she said.
“There are still many issues of bias within boardrooms and research teams. The odds always seemed against, first being black, then being a woman.
Thulo added that it was important for institutions to establish constructive mentoring programs from secondary to senior ranks, as this build would ensure the sustainability of that approach. She said these could be good projects that should deliver tangible results.
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“There will be more black females in that space. I can’t imagine a more progressive country and a healthier society without women in leadership positions,” she said.
“Equal opportunities are very important [but] have become far-fetched. More conversations are needed to find out how to introduce young black women into the academic space and to make sure those projects have a long-term function.”
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