Science and Technology Interaction in Africa September 2009

Gender equality is one of the core ideals preserved in the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution (1993). The government has, therefore, adopted the approach of ‘mainstreaming gender’ in order to respond to gender inequalities. To do that, the government has established ‘gender desks’ or ‘gender focal points’ within each government department, whose responsibility is to ensure the integration of a gender perspective into all policy and implementation activities. The government has also developed policy and legislation that tagged women as a specific group e.g. Employment Equity legislation.

As part of a number of interventions suggested by the National Plan and R&D Strategy to address gender equity challenges, the establishment of the South African Reference Group [SARG] of Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (currently known as the Science, Engineering and Technology for Women [SET4W]) sub-committee of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) was proposed. The aim in establishing the sub-committee was and still is to strengthen women-led initiatives in all phases of participation within the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) sector, from school to career achievement.
As a result of the continued significant gender imbalances in the SET sector coupled with little evidence of strategies to address these, in 2008 the SET4W sub-committee commissioned a follow-up study to update the 2004 report entitled Facing the Facts: Women’s Participation in Public Sector Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) in South Africa. Therefore this updated report continues to:
•     Benchmark the status of women’s participation in public sector SET
•     Inform the activities of SET4W
•     Inform planners and policy makers within government, higher education and SET institutions in terms of initiatives for women in the SET sector.
This condensed report is merely intended to provide highlights of salient findings in a concise format for a broad readership. It is hoped that these findings will stimulate interest in the status of women in the SET sector.