Women in senior management positions at South African universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Ramohai
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Management Positions ◽  
South African Higher Education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present reasons for the mobility of women in senior management positions in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of women underrepresentation and retention challenges in institution of higher learning in this country, it is pertinent to share the experiences of senior women, with the aim of understanding institutional structures and cultures that make it difficult for women to survive in senior positions. Design/methodology/approach The paper used a qualitative approach. The focus of this paper was on the women who had held or were still holding senior management positions in higher education in South Africa. The requirement for this paper was that these women should have moved out or across institutions while at a senior management position. This paper drew from five women from different institutions and involved them in in-depth interviews. The women who fitted the category of senior management in this paper included deputy vice chancellor, deans and heads of departments. Findings The findings indicated that the decisions to opt out of senior management positions for the women ranged from personal to institutional. The personal reasons that emerged from this paper pointed mainly to issues of salaries. The women opted to move out of their positions for better salaries which they believed they would get in the private sectors or in other institutions. Professional development also led women to move to more promising spaces that could afford them an opportunity to grow. Apart from these personal reasons, hostile institutional cultures were cited by all women as the most serious contributory factor to their turnover. Of these, they cited patriarchal practices that led to oppression and dominance, which made it difficult for them to cope in the senior positions they held. Originality/value This paper aimed to respond to a gap in research on senior management women’s mobility in higher education, specifically in South Africa. According to Samuel and Chipunza (2013), there is a serious concern that pertains to retention of senior management within African higher education. However, most studies do not provide a focused attention on women but offer a general interpretation of senior management turnover. There seems to be lack of research that aims at understanding the contextual reasons that lead to turnover of women senior management in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of low representation of women in senior positions in specifically South African higher education and calls for equity, the study looked at the reasons why higher education institutions at times fail to retain this most sought after group (women) in these positions of power. Understanding issues around this matter has the potential to contribute towards improved practices while adding a voice to discourses around gender equity and equality.

The Development and Establishment of Technology in South Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
N.P. du Preez ◽  
P. van Eldik ◽  
M. Möhr ◽  
H.H. van der Watt
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Importance Rating ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Diffusion Of Technology ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
High Level ◽  
South African Higher Education

In a two-part analysis (Part 2 follows on pp 27–31), the authors discuss the key results of a South African project conducted during 1996 which focused on the factors relating to the development and establishment of technology in a country. The study investigated through a detailed questionnaire survey and a literature survey the various factors that promote the development and establishment of technology by comparing their perceived importance with the actual role they currently play in South Africa. This paper, Part 1, concentrates on the role of higher education. The importance of academic institutions in supplying high-level human resources was rated very highly (90.47%) but the role it is currently playing in reality was rated at 52.8%. Closely connected with this, the availability of high-level skilled technological people was given an importance of 89% while the current reality was rated at only 43%. This clearly shows that the South African higher education system is performing poorly in addressing these vital needs. The availability of entrepreneurs with innovative and creative skills to participate in the development and diffusion of technology was given an importance rating of 84.3% against a current situation of 42.2%, again indicating South Africa's weak performance. The results of the survey and the consequent recommendations are important to all developing countries with newly industrial economies.

The role of business intelligence in sustainability reporting for South African higher education institutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1185-1203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Calitz ◽  
Samual Bosire ◽  
Margaret Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stakeholder Satisfaction ◽  
South African Higher Education

Purpose This paper aims to show that business intelligence (BI) is a key component of a sustainability-reporting framework for higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach Four questionnaires were administered to Registrars and managers at 21 South African HEIs and at selected international HEIs. The data analysis entailed both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings The study confirmed that factors such as management buy-in, the availability of BI reports and the provision of reporting guidelines were positively related to effective strategic planning. The study shows that the use of BI by South African HEIs is still at a low maturity level. Research limitations/implications The case study used is the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The implications are relevant for all 26 HEIs in South Africa. Practical implications HEIs must invest in technological tools, including BI to provide information in understandable and usable formats for management and other relevant stakeholders. Social implications BI reporting can assist all stakeholders to obtain the relevant and required information relating to HEI operations and strategic management initiatives and activities. Originality/value The study concludes that HEIs ought to invest in BI technologies that can assist the sustainability reporting process to ensure stakeholder satisfaction and regulatory compliance.

Breaking white silences in South African-Dutch collaboration in higher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans Kamsteeg ◽  
Harry Wels
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
South African Society ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
South African Higher Education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show the complex positionality and the complexity that comes with the study of whiteness in South African higher education by Dutch, white academics. This complexity stems from the long-standing relationship between Dutch universities, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) in particular, with their South African counterparts, which predominantly supported apartheid with reference to a shared religious (Protestant) background. Design/methodology/approach The paper rests upon a literature review of the development of South African higher education, and an assessment of the prominent role played by the Dutch Vrije Universiteit in support of the all-white, Afrikaans Potchefstroom University (presently North-West University). The authors, who are both involved in the institutional cooperation between Vrije Universiteit and South African universities, reflect on the complexity of this relationship by providing auto-ethnographic evidence from their own (religious) biography. Findings The paper reflects the ambiguous historical as well as contemporary contexts and ties that bind Vrije Universiteit to South African universities, especially formerly Afrikaans-speaking ones. The ambiguity is about the comfort of sharing an identity with formerly Afrikaans-speaking universities, on the one hand, and the discomfort of historical and political complicities in a (still) segregated South African society on the other hand. Originality/value This auto-ethnographic paper breathes an atmosphere of a “coming out” that is not very common in academic writing. It is a reflection and testimony of a lifelong immersion in VUA-South African academic research relations in which historical, institutional, and personal contexts intermingle and lead to a unique positionality leading to “breaking silences” around these complex relations.

Enabling and empowering women in leadership in South African universities – Assessing needs and designing a response

2021 ◽  
pp. 089202062098195
Author(s):  
Oliver Seale ◽  
Patrick Fish ◽  
Birgit Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Women In Leadership ◽  
Senior Leadership ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Management Positions

Gender equity and women’s access to senior leadership and management positions in universities are a major challenge not only in South Africa but on the African continent, too. For women to take up senior leadership roles more potently, it is essential that they not only cope with and compete in patriarchal systems but more so, are equipped to change patriarchal hegemony and shift the management discourse and culture to a pluralistic leadership culture where transformational leadership becomes the norm and praxis. This paper examines a needs analysis for leadership and professional development competencies of women in senior leadership positions in South African higher education and presents the discussion on these findings, based on the data collected from 74 participants. The conclusion reveals the participants’ enthusiasm for personal leadership development as well as their readiness for impacting their leadership contexts. These findings, in turn, shape the content development of the Women in Leadership programme, designed by Higher Education Leadership and Management under the auspices of Universities South Africa.

scholarly journals Challenges and Curriculum Transformation in the Higher Education Sector in South Africa: A Case Study in WASH to Improve the Training of Pharmacists

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-32
Author(s):  
Roman Tandlich ◽  
Nosiphiwe P. Ngqwala ◽  
Aileen Boshoff ◽  
Phindile Madikizela ◽  
C. Sunitha Srinivas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Postgraduate Research ◽  
South African Higher Education

AbstractIntroduction: South Africa is a member state of the “BRICS” bloc (BRICS2017.org, 2017) and the G20 group of the 20 nations/economic blocs, which between them account for the majority of the world’s trade and economic activity. It faces many developmental challenges which are mirrored in its higher education sector. In this article, the authors seek to provide an overview of the challenges that South African higher education faces in the achievement of the developmental goals of the country. The focus of this paper is a case study in WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) to improve context-specific responses that trains pharmacists on knowledge and skills.Methods: The study was performed as a combination of calculations and a literature review to obtain the background or current status of the higher education sector and developmental planning in South Africa. For this, data were extracted from the Statistics South Africa reports, relevant professional articles on South African higher education sector and results of postgraduate research. Workshop results which were obtained as a collaboration between a public and a private higher education institution and results of postgraduate research were used as the paradigm for transformation and decolonisation of the curriculum for a professional degree in South Africa.Results and discussion: Challenges exist in the South African tertiary education sector and the graduation rate currently stands at 65.1% of the target set by the National Development Plan. Around 58.1% of all students do not complete their university/post-secondary education, which could provide a partial explanation for the skills shortage in South Africa. Decolonisation and transformation of the tertiary education curriculum are major topics in the discourse on higher education in South Africa. The authors propose that one way to achieve this would be inclusion of research results and group activities in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene as a topic for possible and partial transformation of the Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum.Conclusions: The current article summarises some of topics and challenges that drive the current discourse, developmental and curriculum debate in higher education in South Africa. Student access and through put at tertiary institutions need to be improved and the curriculum needs to be transformed.

South African higher education reform: what comes after post-colonialism?

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Cloete ◽  
Johan Muller
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
South African ◽  
Academic Culture ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
National Commission ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
South African Higher Education

Since the fall of the apartheid regime South African higher education has begun to undergo a process of fundamental transformation. First-world universities, which were beneficiaries (however unwilling) of past racial inequalities, have had to adapt to the urgent needs of what is a post-colonial and, for the majority of its citizens, a third-world society. South Africa, therefore, provides a particularly sharp example of the encounter between a higher education system established within the European tradition, in terms of both its institutional and its academic culture, and a society in the process of radical change. This encounter has been mediated through the work of the National Commission on Higher Education which attempted to produce a compromise that would enable South African higher education to be both ‘Western’ (in terms of academic values and scientific standards) and also ‘African’ (in terms of its contribution to building the capacities of all the people of South Africa). The tension between the university's claims to represent universal knowledge and the counter-claims that ‘local’ knowledge traditions should be accorded greater respect, therefore, is much sharper than in Europe.

scholarly journals Intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice: Transforming South African higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nomalungelo I. Ngubane ◽  
Manyane J. Makua
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Philosophical Framework ◽  
Social Justice Theory ◽  
South African Higher Education

Background: Universities, globally, and in South Africa, continue to be confronted with demands for transformation, humanisation of pedagogical practices and to embrace social justice.Aim: In this article, we bring to the surface possibilities of Ubuntu pedagogy within a social justice framework. We intersect Collective Fingers Theory and Social Justice Theory to propose the notion of Ubuntu pedagogy, which draws from African philosophy of Ubuntu. We argue that Ubuntu pedagogy provides an alternation to the current pedagogies that draw from European theories for teaching and learning in the South African higher education context. We put forward that, Ubuntu pedagogy, when embraced with understanding and dignity it deserves, has the potential, firstly, of initiating students from other cultures other than African cultures to the values of Ubuntu and, secondly, of reconnecting students with their values and cultures, but it has a capacity to cultivate social justice values of equity, recognition and fair participation amongst students from diverse social backgrounds.Setting: South African Higher Education.Methodology: The authors draw from literature to position the article within Ubuntu philosophical framework and social justice lenses. Themes emerging from literature are as follows: Intersection of Ubuntu philosophy and social justice, Ubuntu pedagogy and transformation in higher education and guiding principles for possible implementation of Ubuntu pedagogy.Results: At the intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice, classroom practices are designed to respond to students’ cultural competencies and to embrace all linguistic repertoires that students bring to the classroom for learning. Students are treated equally and with dignity and respect regardless of their social backgrounds.Conclusion: We argue that higher education classrooms in post-apartheid South Africa should enable equal access, equity and inclusivity for all students. We therefore recommend Ubuntu pedagogy as a culturally and socially just pedagogy for transformative higher education classrooms. This article contributes to the continuing dialogues about transformative pedagogies, decolonisation and social justice in South African higher education.

scholarly journals Public pastoral care as nexus and opportunity for a transformed practical theology within decolonisation discourse in South African higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vhumani Magezi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
South African ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
The World ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
South African Higher Education

The discussion on decolonisation of universities that started in 2015 has been raging in different spaces within South Africa and other parts of the world. The question of the relevance of the curriculum in universities, which is a curriculum that is responsive to South African and African issues, has come to the forefront. The discipline of Theology has also been challenged to reflect on its curriculum. Given these developments, this article considers practical theology within the on-going discussion of decolonisation in South African universities. In doing so, it attempts to address the question: What are some of the issues to consider in decolonisation of practical theology in South Africa universities? Firstly, the article sketches the background to the context of the discussion. Secondly, it provides a synopsis of the discussion of decolonisation in universities. Thirdly, it highlights some colonial entanglements of practical theology evident from the current situation. Fourthly, it proposes pointers for basic steps towards decolonisation of practical theology. Fifthly, it concludes by highlighting the threats to the proposed decolonisation attempts. The article assumes a coloniality and decoloniality framework even though it is not explicitly stated.

The Higher Educational and Industrial Challenges Facing South Africa

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-114
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Whiston
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The South ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Global North ◽  
South African Higher Education

South Africa, following the dismantling of Apartheid, now faces enormous educational, industrial and economic challenges. Simultaneously it must address gargantuan social and infrastructural problems, attend to the most urgent basic needs while also encouraging significant economic growth. The author has recently completed an extensive survey and analysis of the South African higher education challenge within the context of the critical, social, industrial and environmental dilemmas which must be ameliorated. In this article, he provides an overview of the problems to be faced and suggests a national policy agenda to address those challenges and dilemmas. In one sense the South African ‘dilemma’ is a microcosm of the global ‘North–South’ divide.

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