With August being Women's Month, much attention has been drawn to the role that women play in South African society in general. Less has been said about the role of women in engineering and sciences.
One of the fundamental rights that is entrenched in the South African Constitution is the right to equality. The Constitution further provides that gender discrimination, amongst other categories, is presumed to be unfair until the contrary is proven. It can be seen that since the birth of democracy in 1994, the post-apartheid government has prioritised gender equality and the empowerment of women, and remarkable progress has been made. A range of laws, policies and programmes are being implemented by government to protect and promote women's rights. Civil society has also made significant contributions in furthering the cause of women. While great advances have been made towards gender equality, women continue to be noticeably excluded from many areas of society, in particular the formal economy.
An important aspect of this economic exclusion is the unfair treatment of women in the workplace. Women are highly vulnerable to a lack of education and equal employment opportunities, and unemployment. Women continue to make up the majority of the unemployed, and the majority of those employed are not given the same opportunities as similarly skilled and qualified men.
The women of the 1950s did not participate in the freedom struggle and sacrifice their lives only to continue living as marginalised, second-class citizens in a democratic South Africa and being overlooked for positions reserved for men only. Women should have equal access to all opportunities our society provides. They need to be given the opportunity to participate more fully in the country's development, decision-making and transformation in both government and business.
The appointment of women in all levels of government is evidence of president Thabo Mbeki's commitment to gender empowerment and promotion of women in government, and is an affirmation of the role of women in this country.
More women are playing key roles in all spheres of government than ever before and there is an impressive representation by women within the legislative, executive and judicial organs of state. They are in positions to influence government policies, programmes and mainstream gender issues. The appointment of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as the deputy president is a huge step forward for the empowerment of women because it is the first time in South African history that a woman has risen to such a high political office.
While some progress has been made towards gender empowerment in government, the social and economic battles in the private sector are far from over.
Women are inadequately represented across all sectors of the economy because an overwhelming majority of all top and senior management positions are still held by men. While draft plans on women's empowerment have been developed, actual practice is often not in accordance with stated policies. Yardsticks need to be developed to measure progress made towards implementing empowerment plans.
The president has appealed to South African businesses to appoint more women to middle and top management positions. According to him, unless South Africa's public and private institutions make serious efforts to close the gap between policy and practice on empowering women, they will be guilty of dealing in 'empty rhetoric'.
One of the most challenging areas to achieve gender equality is in the technical and engineering fields. There are relatively few women qualified in the professional disciplines of science, technology and engineering. Even then, they are not given the opportunity in an area that is traditionally reserved for men and there are still many barriers.
Education for women, with specific focus on mathematics, science and technology, is an important step that can change their position dramatically. All sectors of society need to put skills development, management development and bursary programmes in place to equip women with the necessary education and skills to lead the country in the future.
Measures exist that protect the rights of women. However, the implementation of these measures is mostly done by men. Hence, the most important partner in the struggle for women's rights is men. Striving towards gender equality should be in co-operation with and not to the exclusion of men.
Rewarding and recognising women's dedication, diligence, competence, delivery, inventiveness, innovation, commitment and abilities in the workplace is an important step forward in achieving gender equality. Women can achieve on their own merits, but they need to be given the opportunity in the first place.
The transformation of our society into one which sees women as equal counterparts will be a long and difficult process. But it is in South Africa's interest to eliminate discrimination, protect women's rights and promote the empowerment of women.
Jaime Chan
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