A Proposed Gender Equality Framework for Female Engineering Students in South Africa: Phase One

Abstract

Worldwide, women are under-represented in traditionally male-dominated fields such as engineering and in academia. In Europe, initiatives such as Athena Swan have been implemented so that universities can formally commit to gender equality. The Systemic Action for Gender Equity (SAGE) is another European Charter which implements interventions to advance gender equality in seven European universities, supporting structural, cultural and political change to eradicate sexism, bias and discrimination. Progressive gender equality policies and equity clauses have been enacted in some African countries including South Africa and Kenya. However, gender skewing is still prevalent in universities in terms of throughput, completion rates, study areas and postgraduate enrolment. This research proposes the development of a gender equality framework for a South African university by reviewing literature on gender mainstreaming, gender equality frameworks and gender analysis including the South African gender context and women in academia, particularly, the attraction and retention of women in engineering fields. Based on the literature study, a gender equality framework process comprising of four phases was proposed to obtain baseline information regarding the current state of gender equality strategies within engineering fields using gender analysis as well as manufacturing and university sector status quos. A gender quality framework is then proposed to support the inclusion and retention of gender diverse communities. The proposed gender equality framework for universities could contribute to retaining women in male-dominated fields as well as highlighting discrimination and inequality practices in policies and processes, culture and the classroom. This equality framework is vital to attract, retain and support women in traditionally-male dominated fields such as engineering.