Academia, Gender Equity, Feminism, Higher Education, Women Empowerment
Thus far achieving gender equity in the academic leadership of South African institutions of higher learning is a mission not clearly possible. The Commission of Gender and Equity is established in terms of the Constitution of the Republic South Africa, 1996 and is mandated to transform the South African public and private sector institutions in order to ensure a balanced representation of gender within the South African labour force. Such mandate seems to be making a little impact on promoting women to assume academic leadership of institutions of higher learning. This paper therefore would like to argue that while equity is required ideally in workplace environment, the realistic environments often dictate otherwise. The social and the political realities on the ground suggest a different scenario that resultantly keeps the status quo alive with women taking back seat in academic leadership of higher learning institutions. Since the argument in this paper is conceptual, data is conveniently obtained from literature and document analysis. Few women appointed in academic leadership in institutions of higher learning never demonstrated strong leadership endurance and are removed before their term expires. This paper therefore concludes that the achievement of women empowerment in institutions of higher learning is possible if it is strongly ability driven with a strong established support mechanism in place.
Full Text : PDF
- Albertyn, C., 2009.The Stubborn Persistence of Patriarchy: Gender Equality and Cultural
- Diversity in South Africa. Constitutional Court Review, 165-208.
- Assman, A., 2014. Gender Equality in Japan: The equal employment opportunity Law
- Revisited. The Asia-pacific journal, 12(45), 1-13.
- Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2006. A Tool Kit for Mainstreaming Gender in Higher Education in Africa.
- Badat, S., 2010. The challenges of transformation in higher education and training institutions in South Africa. Development Bank of Southern Africa, Johannesburg.
- Boundless.,2015.TheFeministPerspective.Availablonlinfromhttps://www.boundless.com/sociol ogy/textbook/boundless-sociology textbook. [Accessed June2015].
- Butler, J., 1988. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal, 40 (4), 519-531.
- Cape Higher Education Consortium. 2013. Reviewing of initiatives in equity and transformation in three universities in South Africa. Carnegie Corporation of New York, New York.
- Cheung, A., 2014. Rewards help institutions to focus on gender equality. Available on http://www.newscientist.com.[Accessed June2015]
- Department of Labour (RSA), 2013. Commission on Employment Equity Annual Report 2012-2013. Pretoria: Department of Labour
- Gosalbez, I.P, and P.P. Merino,.nd. Equality in Spanish Universities: A Reflection on the impact of equality action in Spanish Universities.
- Habibi,A,.and Morrow,S,. Research Productivity and the State in South Africa.
- Transformation:Critical Perspectives on South Africa,62.
- Haugstads, B, 2013. Promoting gender equity in research organizations. Available athttps://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt[Accessed July 2015]
- Keisum, L.B., L., Abrahamsson, &Ronnblom, M., .2015. Entrepreneurship and Gender Equality in Academia- a Complex Combination in Practice. Nordic journal of working like studies, 5(1), 69-92.
- Lay, K, And J.G Daley. 2007. A critique of feminist theory. Advances in Social Work, 8(1), 49-61 Macape, B., 2013. V.C Contract Extension Angers Critics. IOL News: Pretoria.
- Machika, P., 2014. Mind the Gap: The Place of Woman in Higher Education. Available on
- .http//: mg.co.za/article/2014-08-12-mind the gap-the place of woman in higher education.[Accessed June 2015].
- Mahlangu, L.M., 2008. An assessment of employment equity targets in the South African Public Service. South African Association of Public Administration and Management Gauteng Chapter conference, North West University, North West Province.
- Makhanya, M., 2013.Advancing Gender equality in higher education and the broader society. University of South Africa, Pretoria
- Makhubu, N., 2014. TUT V.C quits. Pretorianews: Pretoria.
- Mamabolo, M.A., and M.P. Sebola., 2014.Achieving Woman Empowerment in Two Decades of Democracy in South Africa.Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(27), 1079-1085.
- 80 A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) www.ijhem.abrmr.com
- International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM) Vol. 2 Number 1 August 2015
- Masanja, G.V., &Huya, B., 2010. Increase Woman’s Participation in Sciences, Mathematics and
- Technology Education in Africa. National University of Rwanda & University of Dar es Salaam.
- Mason, M.A., 2011. The pyramid problem. Available at http//:chronicle.com/article/The-Pyramind- Problem/126614.[Accessed June2015].
- Mello, D.M., 2008. South African’s International Governmental Relations in a Globalized World.
- South African Association for Public Administration and Management conference, North West University, North West Province.
- Nieuwoudt, S., 2014.Gender Inequality Still Deeply Entrenched at Universities. Available online from.http:// www.sun.ac.za/English/list./news/dispfrom.aspx?ID=1688.[Accessed June 2015].
- Olifant, M., 2015.South Africa falling short in gender equality. Available at http://mg.co.za/article/2015-05-04[Accsesed June 2015]
- Phillips, M., Moos, M., & Nieman.2014. The impact of government support initiatives on the growth of Female Business in Tswane South Africa. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(15), 85-92.
- Rarieya, J., Sanger, N &Moolman, G., B.2014.Gender Inequalities in Education in South Africa.Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria
- Republic of Rwanda., 2011.Achieving MDG-3: Gender Equity. National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda:Kigali.
- Rice, C.C.,201. Eve and evidence. What research tells us about gender equality. Available at http://curt-rice.com/2015/03/08[Accessed June 2015]
- Rubagiza,J. nd. The Role and Impact of Woman Academics in Promoting Gender Equality and
- Woman’s Human Rights in The Great Lakes Region. Available at http//:UNESCO.org/new/fileadmin.[Accessed June 2015]
- Schmidt, M., & Mestry, M., 2014. South African Principalship, agency and intersectional theory. Canadian and international education, 43(1).
- Sebola, M.,&. T., Khalo,. 2010. Implementation of employment equity: a Case of The Universities of Venda and Pretoria. Journal of Public Administration, 45(1.1), 202-217.
- Sebola, M.P., 2009. Affirmative Action Policy: The Administrative Efficiency and Socio-Cultural Impact in South African Society. Journal of Public Administration, 44(4), 1102-1112.
- Shackleton, L., nd. Lost in Liberalism: A case study of the disappearance of gender agenda at a South African University. Feminist Africa, 9, 23-39
- Walby, S,. 2003. The European Union and gender equality: Emergent varieties of gender regime.National feminism in a transnational arena conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
- Walby, S., 2004. The European Union and gender equality: Emergent varieties of gender regime.Social politics, 11(1), 4-29.
- Tickle, L., 2013. Gender equality on high education must be made a global priority. http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/mar/06/gerder-equality-univer. [Accessed June 2015].
- 81 A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) www.ijhem.abrmr.com
- International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM) Vol. 2 Number 1 August 2015
- Walters, S., 1999. Lifelong Learning within Higher Education in South Africa: Emancipatory potential.
- Wessels, J. S. 2008. Public Administration Scholarship without Conditions: A South African Perspective. Journal of Public Administration, 43(2. 1): 276- 288.