2. Topics to be discussed:
• How well represented are Women in our Workforce?
• World Economic impact on Women.
• Barriers for Women.
• How does South Africa compare to other countries?
• Proportionate representation of women leaders.
• Women leadership positions.
• Current challenges and initiatives.
• What does all this mean for South Africa?
• What can women do and what should be done?
• Where to from here?
• Conclusion
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4. • The South African government
introduced a number of
initiatives as well as legislation to
specifically support women post
Apartheid.
• However, gender and race
discrimination is still an issue.Women’s Report 2011
4
How well represented are
women in our workforce:
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How well represented are
women in our workforce:
• As women worldwide are being
exposed to better educational
opportunities, the role of women in
the workplace is also changing
dramatically, resulting in more women
participating in the workplace.
• Unfortunately, high unemployment
rates are evident for women, and will
persist. Women’s Report 2011
6. Table 2: Statistics on women in the South African workplace
2011
% increase
from
2010-2011
Unemployed women 2 237 000 3,2%
Total number of women working 16 642 000 1,3%
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How well represented are
women in our workforce:
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How well represented are
women in our workforce:
Table 1: Demographics of women in South Africa (OEDC, 2010; Stats SA, 2010)
Item Number
Total Population 47 850 700
Female population 50.90%
Women’s life expectancy 52 to 55.2 years
Fertility rate (average births per female) 2.7 children
Female literacy 87%
Women in parliament 33%
9. • Decline in revenue and profits for big companies
• Decline in share prices, investments
• Slow down in industrial production and manufacturing
• Decline in real income
• Insolvency and dissolution of small businesses
• Job Losses, Retrenchments
• Price increase, interest rate increase, inflation
• A slump in consumer spending (housing, furniture, cars,
clothing)
• Inability to service debt, and therefore, more debt
• Cut down on nice to have’s
• Poverty
• Survival mode
• We are still suffering the effects of the recession…
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World Economic impact
on Women
10. World Economic impact on Women
• A global survey reported South Africa’s
unemployment rate is the highest when compared
to developed and semi-developed countries such as
the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, and Poland.
• Interestingly, this global survey indicated that female
employment was less affected than male
employment during the global economic downturn.
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12. Barriers for women
• Personal beliefs on gender
– The barriers faced by women relate to: prejudice,
stereotyping, cultural beliefs, and religious orders.
Maintain women submissiveness.
– Further research is required to determine whether
there are personal beliefs that may be located within
cultural groupings that encourage prejudice in the
treatment of women in the workplace.
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14. • Race and gender
Managerial leadership
development programmes
need to bear in mind that the
race and gender dynamics in
South Africa extend beyond
blacks and whites, and need to
be more inclusive of all diverse
groups.
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Barriers for women
16. • Social revolution, cultural prejudices, and
gender bias
• Due to Apartheid and international isolation,
the gender-based social revolution that took
place in the west during the same timeframe
escaped South Africa.
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Barriers for women
18. • Organisational structure
• Aside from barriers relating to race and gender
bias, there is a strong indication that the glass
ceiling (an unofficially acknowledged barrier to
advancement affecting women and members of
minorities) does exist in South Africa.
• Limited support structures and networking
opportunities hinder women’s career
advancement.
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Barriers for women
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• A low salary average
• advancement of female
employees in the form of
out-dated company policies
regarding programmes such
as part-time and flexi-time
work options, job-sharing,
and telecommuting.
• Women’s efforts to grow,
develop, and empower
themselves through
academic and career
development.
Barriers for women
20. Proportionate representation of women
leaders?
• Women believe they have the skills needed to be
an entrepreneur.
• Incongruity exists in that women form the majority
of the work force in education, yet they are
underrepresented in its management.
• Another example, is that there is not a significant
number of professional women in the corporate
communication environment occupying senior
strategic roles, despite the fact that they possess
the necessary abilities and skills.
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22. • Government legislation and policies
– In government and the public sector, women
reaching top-level positions is still uncommon.
– Despite women having the personal belief,
professional skills, abilities, and experience
necessary to be effective, women leaders are still
held back.
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Proportionate representation of women
leaders
24. • The Local Government: Municipal Structures
Act (1998, 11. (3)) specifies that, as far as
councillors elected by proportional
representation from party lists, "Every party
must seek to ensure that fifty per cent of the
candidates on the party list are women and
that women and men candidates are evenly
distributed through the list".
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Proportionate representation of
women leaders
26. • Women constitute one-half of the workforce. Women are no
longer are content to occupy staff positions that don‘t lead to
important line experience – they want careers, not jobs.
• Women constitute a major part of most consumer markets,
and it is growing as more and more women assume
responsibility for consumer purchasing in the home and car
markets.
• Women’s presence changes the conversation, number and
type of substantive issues which are considered is broadened.
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Women Leadership Positions
28. • In a Harvard Business Review article, Adler
presented his findings, showing that
companies with the highest percentages of female executives
delivered earnings far in excess of the median for other large firms
in their industries.
• The increased participation of women in the
workforce generally and their advancement to
positions of influence is a strategy that promotes
long-term viability.
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Women Leadership Positions
30. • One thing is certain: Women’s rise to power, which is
linked to the increase in wealth per capita, is happening
in all domains and at all levels of society.
• Women are no longer content to provide efficient labour
or to be consumers
• We have entered the age of “Womenomics, the
economy as thought out and practiced by a woman.”
Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, Financial Times, 10.03.2006
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Women Leadership Positions
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On average, women and men possess a
number of different innate skills. And
current trends suggest that many
sectors of the twenty-first-century
economic community are going to need
the natural talents of women.
Helen Fisher, The First Sex: The Natural Talents of Women and How They Are Changing the World‖
34. Women as an economic force
• Women contributed more to the expansion of the
world economy than new technology or the emerging
markets of China and India.
• Dividends for wider community: women re-invest
more than 90% of their income
• Women generally control resources of the household
• Women are the single biggest and least
acknowledged- force for economic growth on the
planet.
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Current challenges and
initiatives
• Now more than ever in South Africa,
legislated opportunities favour women in
industry.
• We can predict, that there will be an
increase in the number of successful women
if career management strategies,
mentorship, personal ownership and control
are in place.
• Furthermore, self-directed learning (where
the individual takes the initiative and
responsibility in educating themselves) leads
to job satisfaction
36. • Mentorship is key in creating a supportive
infrastructure to further women in their careers.
• Both organisations and individuals are
accountable for putting effective strategies in
place to promote the empowerment of women,
thereby positively influencing the productivity
of the labour market.
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Current challenges and initiatives
37. What does all this mean for
South Africa
• It is in everyone‘s best interest to bring qualified
women into leadership positions, especially now
when fresh perspectives are needed.
• We can no longer afford to set gender boundaries
around leadership.
• The power is in the purse strings: until women are
equitably represented in leadership in the private,
economic sector, they will be marginalised in every
other arena.
• What‘s good for women is good for men, business
and the global economy‖
• Ilene H Lang, President and CEO, Catalyst
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38. • We are in a “war” for talent.
• The war will intensify.
• There is a severe shortage of effective leaders at all
levels.
• Women are under-represented in our leadership
ranks at or near the top.
• Women‘s strengths match the New Economy‘s
leadership needs.
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What does all this mean for
South Africa
40. What can women do and what
should be done?
• A nation‘s competitiveness depends significantly on whether
and how it educates and utilises its female talent.
• To maximise its competitiveness and development potential,
each country should strive for gender equality i.e. to give
women the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities as
men.
• In the current global financial and economic crisis, it is more
vital than ever that women‘s economic participation does not
shrink, but is in fact seen as an opportunity to make headway.
Laura D Tyson
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What can women do and
what should be done?
Concerted efforts should be made to identify
high potential women.
They should be coached for participation at
board level, i.e. expose them to the company's
business, bring them within the ranks by
appointing them to subsidiary boards.
Abe Thebyane
42. • Include the transformation objectives as part of the
CEOs performance mandate and link a significant
portion of their performance bonus to the
achievement of these objectives. Women on Board research.
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What can women do and what
should be done?
44. • Companies could fast track the development of
women, through the ranks, to make sure they obtain
hard core, relevant business experience at a senior
management level and understand what makes
business tick, prior to being appointed to a board.
Women on Board research.
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What can women do and what
should be done?
45. Where to from here?
• What are WE, as women, doing to uplift
other women, to empower them, to prepare
them for leadership positions?
• What are WE teaching our young girls?
• What are WE doing in our communities?
• What are WE doing in our work
environments?
• What are WE doing to protect our girl
children? How are we preparing them to be
LEADERS, right NOW?
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46. Conclusion
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“So often, it takes only one woman to make a
difference.
If you empower that woman with information, and
training, or a microloan, she can lift up her entire family
and contribute to the success of her community.
Multiply that one woman’s impact by a hundred or a
thousand, and perhaps a million lives can change.”
Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State
48. I have 3 challenges for you!!!
• It ALL STARTS WITH YOU!!!
• What happens after this conference?
• What legacy are you going to leave behind one day?
• What is your personal mantra?
My personal mantra:
ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservative women don’t make history!women don’t make history!women don’t make history!women don’t make history!
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