GERMAN EQUALITY

by Sibongile Sibeko

It is a sad yet true reality that despite the progress that has been made towards the transformation of education and academia over the last 20 years, women continue to face challenges and discrimination in these spaces. Gender discrimination in education has been very evident and underlying problem in many countries, especially in developing countries where cultural and societal stigma continue to hinder growth and prosperity for women. During the Tübingen-South Africa Program 2019, the seminar on Gender Equality focused mainly on the challenges faced by women in higher education and the proportion of men to women that enter the higher education system in pursuit of their undergraduate degree to those that end up in the Professoriate. 

It is often thought that issues around gender inequality and the prevalence of patriarchy are only evident in developing countries, and especially in African communities. However, this seminar taught us that the crisis is just as evident in European countries. At Tübingen University and at the University of the Witwatersrand, the number of female students that register for an undergraduate qualification exceeds that male students. However, the number of male professors is far more than that of female professors. In South Africa, this decline is also seen in terms of race; where although a large proportion of students in undergraduate degrees are black, most of the professors, academic staff and University Management are white males. In order to address this, one needs to closely examine the systematic conditions which exist in both of this institutions, and examine whether they inclusive and promote the success of female (and black) candidates. Factors that should be considered include University pregnancy policies (for both students and academic staff), sexual harrassment policies, flexibility of working hours, as well as general patriarchal social norms which exist within certain cultures and societies. 

For example, in both Germany and South Africa, women are expected to fulfil the role of being the primary caregiver in their families. Therefore, many young women are pressured into caring for their younger siblings or starting their own families instead of getting a postgraduate education. Furthermore, because patriarchal norms centre a woman's value and identity around the quality of her husband, young girls are taught that pursuing a postgraduate degree makes you less desirable to men. Therefore, in order to effectively transform the academia in both Germany and South Africa, more effort needs to be made by the respective University's to make the space more conducive to women. 

Thank you to Dr. Ingrid Hotz-Davies for the amazing seminar. Hopefully each of us will carry the lessons that we learnt today to our home universities, and that we will one day become strong, impactful women such as yourself.