An exploration of gender imbalances in management positions in higher education in South Africa : a case study of the University of Limpopo

Abstract

Education is of paramount value to the empowerment of women and also brings about positive change in our societies. Higher Education has since been in existence for so many years. Traditionally, its management structure has always been dominated by males. The government has since put in effort to ensure we have female representation in management positions. However, progress in this endeavour has been somewhat slow, regardless of the efforts made. Accordingly, this study sought to explore why gender imbalances continue to exist in institutions of Higher Education, particularly at the University of Limpopo. The study was conducted with fifteen women in management positions. The study highlighted the causes of gender imbalances in management positions and further captures the voices of women in management positions. The study also documented the roles women play in this institution and also includes strategies that can be put in place to address the problems raised. This has been captured from the women’s perspective as the study used feminist qualitative research methods. This meant that the study was conducted in terms of the participants’ perspective as feminist research methods suggests. The analysis has been completed using the Thematic Analysis approach as the themes that emerged were coded and analysed from that point. The study revealed that there is still gender imbalance in management positions in the University of Limpopo. According to the study, this was due to a number of factors such as the multiple roles women play that delay them to progress academically. Also, this showed that only few women met the requirements for occupying management positions as the criterion for highest qualification was not met by many in order to enable them to apply for these positions. In the category of women that did not meet the requirements, there have been delays in them obtaining their doctoral studies and some showed no interest in applying for the jobs given the number of challenges faced by those women that are in management positions. These, amongst others, included the deep patriarchal culture entrenched by men at the University of Limpopo who feel uncomfortable to be led by women.