Women and Transformation in the Workplace

BY: .

By Busisiwe Ramabodu

South Africa has come a long way to address the imbalances of the past. However, now and then, incidences occur that remind us all that there exist latent residues of the past that often catch us by surprise. The case of Adila Chowan – where she was referred to as “an employment equity candidate” – is one such example.

Such cases remind us of the latent views that still linger on and undermine progress made. Such views also undermines the individuals’ professional credentials and qualifications, which have been acquired through sheer hard work and having nothing to do with one’s gender or race. The findings of the Johannesburg High Court against the accused board member provides South Africa with hope and is exemplary against those who hold such latent views.

The reality is that issues of gender transformation still linger on, and studies have found that in South Africa and globally, women remain underrepresented in critical and leadership positions. The Higher Education sector is not unique in this challenge. Out of 26 universities, only four have females as vice-chancellors. At UKZN, the split between males and females at senior management level is approximately 35% female and 65% male whereas there are more females overall at the University.

Some challenges women experience in the workplace make it harder for women to rise through the ranks or succeed in their roles. Gender stereotyping expects women to be soft, emotional, submissive and nurturing while men are expected to be domineering and powerful. This creates a power imbalance where women who demonstrate leadership qualities such as dominance, assertiveness and self-promotion are perceived more negatively by others, including fellow women, while men are often reaffirmed for the same leadership behaviours.

Other studies have found that family demands can pose a significant obstacle to women’s career advancement and leadership as women mostly carry these than men do. Women have also been said to underestimate their capabilities; ie women wait until they 100% meet the criteria before putting themselves up for a senior role; whilst it is said men put themselves up when they meet only 60% of the criteria, www.forbes.com 

It is also important to note that gender transformation goes deeper than just gender. Judy Dlamini, in her book, Equal but Different found that women of different races experienced diversity differently i.e. “race was the dominant social identity for Black women, and gender was the dominant issue for White women” and class, generational issues, language and culture were deemed to be sources of prejudice for all women.

Considering where we come from with gender transformation, the laws and regulations that exists to enable it, the slow progress, as well as the contributing factors as outlined above, there are a number of things that need to be reinforced in order to see real progress:

•    Respect for women is paramount. Respect is more important than empowerment because disrespect for women is often the source of prejudices they experience. Empowerment can be deemed to be condescending towards women because many of them manage to achieve great work in the midst of the prejudices.

•    Stereotypes and unconscious biases need to be brought to awareness, challenged and transformed. Stereotypes and prejudices live within people; therefore challenging them requires introspection from individuals (men and women). We cannot address what we are not aware of.

•    Women and men need to tear down past conditioning and socialisation that feed the perceptions and assumptions they hold about women.

•    Women need to lift one another up. Someone once said that one’s success is determined by how many more women they bring to the table once they are there. Platforms for networking, sharing knowledge and experiences must be created to achieve this.

•    More men need to come to the party during conversations on gender issues. It is pleasing to note that a growing number of men are beginning to take matters of gender equality to heart.

Mrs Busisiwe Ramabodu is the Director: Human Resources Development at UKZN. She writes this piece in her personal capacity.