Gender and race: Is transformation really a ‘double-edged sword’?
Women and the disabled are still underepresented
The transformation environment that we are experiencing today is radically undermining 20 years of democracy — and sidelining the issues of gender equality in the workplace. A public investigative hearing by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) took place recently, intended to hold chief executives responsible for the private sector’s slow pace of transformation and address the issue of there still being a predominance of white males holding executive positions.
These latest hearings discovered that particularly black women and the disabled are barely considered for senior executive positions. It is also disturbing that there is a deep pool of capital in women and people with disabilities who are qualified to fill top roles, but they are usually relegated to holding administrative positions with little or no future prospects.
Blue chip companies such as SAB Miller, Tiger Brands, Pick n Pay, Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Rhodes Food Group, Sasol and Big Five Construction were among the companies invited to participate and explain from their perspective the perturbing lack of representation of women and the disabled.
In accordance with the Gender Equality Act of 39 of 1996 as amended, the CGE is obliged to investigate both the public and private sector to ascertain the extent of transformation in their respective workplaces.
The hearings were structured to ascertain the vulnerabilities and risks experienced by women in their respective workplaces, ascertain the general level of non-compliance by employers with obligations flowing out of specific provisions in labour legislation aimed at promoting equality or affirming the rights of women, and to discover the reasons why employers fail to comply with obligations aimed at promoting gender equality in the workplace.
Deeply rooted obstacles to equality
Lack of emphasis regarding proper sexual harassment policies, and the paucity of employment of women and the disabled in senior positions cannot be ignored no matter how good the intent, and these imbalances must be addressed through such means as bursaries.
While some things may have changed a little since the Employment Equity Commission’s most recent report in 2014, at that time only 30% of top management positions in South Africa were held by people of colour. Only 13.6% of these were African, and only 21% of the positions were held by women. Generally the statistics indicate alarming disparities that still translate along racial and gender lines.
The argument is often advanced that those who seek senior positions must obtain them on merit, qualifications and experience, but there is still a dearth of women and disabled people in the country filling such positions.
“South Africa sits on a doubleedged sword, in that we have both racial and gender commitments to achieve,” says Jakes Doorsamy, head of human resources at Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. “Progress on both elements varies from industry to industry. Within the pharmaceutical space, as it is seen as caring and health enhancing, it leans very favourably towards women, with a current approximate ratio of 2:1 in favour of women.
“This has been historical, so in our industry there never really was a gender transformation challenge,” continues Doorsamy. “However, that being said, the industry as a whole has been white-dominated, especially in senior levels. Leaders within pharmaceuticals believe that because they have met the gender element, they do not prioritise the racial element as per the demographics of the country.
“This needs to be addressed, with the bonus being black females [employed] across all levels of organisations. We need to ensure balance in terms of diversity and inclusion.”
Matthew Govender, managing director of Barloworld’s enterprise business unit Siyakhula and executive for empowerment and transformation, believes that in order to grow a competitive economy with shared prosperity, it is vital to embrace diversity and inclusion.
Serious impediment
“Across the breadth of our nation — from the classrooms and halls of academia to the corridors of commerce and industry, we as South Africans seem, once more, gripped by the pull of colour and culture — the conundrum of ‘us versus them’. This surge has real implications and consequences for the prospects of a shared future,” stresses Govender.
“Many view racism, gender and other exclusions as prevalent in the workplace today, and this remains a serious impediment to South Africa’s socioeconomic progress.”
Govender says there is no doubt that race and socioeconomic status are a nuanced story in South Africa. He asks the question: at what point do we start shifting the debate from race alone, to one that really interrogates the reasons for a widening poverty gap, and one that addresses the gender diversity gap in corporate and industrial structures?
He says that in a country trying to institute and redress imbalances and move towards the transformation and spread of the requisite skills base across racial [and gender] groups, the process would also need to harness talent and find novel ways of thinking about attaining broader economic inclusion and participation.
Corporate philanthropy
“Let us commit ourselves to making South Africa better with a national conversation around the issues of race and gender, and how they impact the various spheres of our public life. Let us share constructive dialogue, perspectives and solutions for a positive social climate and inspire a world of difference that facilitates inclusive growth and shared prosperity,” he concludes.
The problem of gender inequality is a global one and a recent paper published by Helen Clark, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, talks about engaging the private sector in advancing gender equality at work. She says that while globally, young women and men entering the labour force today have nearly the same level of educational qualifications, the reality is that they often do not face equal opportunities in the world of work.
“Women earn, on average, 24% less than men. In S&P 500 companies [an American stock market index based on the market capitalisations of 500 large companies], women hold only 4.6% of chief executive positions and take under 20% of board seats. Yet research suggests that increasing the proportion of women on boards of directors is linked to better financial results and higher levels of corporate philanthropy,” says Clark.
She reminds us that in rich and poor countries alike, women carry a disproportionate burden of doing unpaid work: caring for the young, elderly, sick or disabled family members and in obtaining and preparing food.
“These tasks not only demand substantial time and energy but also can prevent women from fulfilling their aspirations and deprive economies of women’s full talents and contributions. Women’s equality in the workplace is a critical component of gender equality and sustainable development. It would not only improve the prospects of millions of women, but would also have a profound impact on the development of countries.”
Clark cites the World Economic Forum’s recently released Gender Gap Report 2016, which notes recent estimates suggesting that economic gender parity could add an additional $240-billion to the GDP of the US, $1.201-billion to that of the US, $526-billion to Japan’s, and $285-billion to the GDP of Germany.
Development imperative
Conversely, gender inequality carries a steep cost. UNDP’s Africa Human Development Report 2016 estimates that total annual economic losses due to gender inequality in the labour market have averaged $95-billion per year since 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa, and may have been as high as $105-billion, or 6% of the region’s GDP in 2014.
Clark says the importance of private sector engagement in advancing gender equality in the workplace cannot be overstated. How business does business, and to what degree it ensures that men and women can contribute and benefit equally, will have a huge impact on whether sustainable development is achieved. By making gender equality central to its business practices, the private sector can be a driver of progress that benefits all.
“If gender gaps can be closed in labour markets, education, health, and other areas, then poverty and hunger eradication can be accelerated,” said Clark at the launch of the Africa Human Development Report 2016. “Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is the right thing to do and is a development imperative.”
The UNDP report analyses the political, economic and social drivers that hamper African women’s advancement and proposes policies and concrete actions to close the gender gap. These include addressing the contradiction between legal provisions and practice in gender laws, breaking down harmful social norms and transforming discriminatory institutional settings, and securing women’s economic, social and political participation.
The report says deeply rooted structural obstacles such as unequal distribution of resources, power and wealth, combined with social institutions and norms that sustain inequality are what are holding African women and the rest of the continent back. The report estimates that a 1% increase in gender inequality reduces a country’s human development index by 0.75%.
The report makes it clear that countries that invest more in gender equality and women’s empowerment are doing better on human development. To ensure Africa’s inclusive growth it is critical that half the continent’s population — girls and women — are allowed to play transformative roles.