A. Wildschut

Changing gender profile of medical schools in South Africa

BACKGROUND Since 1994, higher education policy has been committed to equity of access for all, irrespective of race and gender. OBJECTIVES We investigated progress towards these goals in the education of medical doctors, with an emphasis on gender. METHODS Databases from the Department of Education (DoE), Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and University of Cape Town (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences were used to explore undergraduate (MB ChB) trends at all eight medical schools and postgraduate (MMed) trends at UTC. RESULTS Nationally women have outnumbered men in MBChB enrollments since 2000, figures ranging between 52% and 63% at seven of the eight medical schools in 2005. However, the rate of change in the medical profession lags behind and it will take more than two decades for female doctors to outnumber male doctors. A study of UCT postgraduate enrollments shows that females had increased to 42% of MMed enrollments in 2005. However, female postgraduate students were concentrated in disciplines such as paediatrics and psychiatry and comprised no more than 11% of enrollments in the surgical disciplines between 1999 and 2005. CONCLUSIONS The study provides a basic quantitative overview of the changing profile of medical enrollments and raises questions about the career choices of women after they graduate and the social factors influencing these choices.

Exploring Internal Segregation in the South African Medical Profession.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the motivations underlying the specialisation choices of six female specialist doctors working in Cape Town, South Africa and to investigate whether the specific gender work identity associated with that specialism resulted in their motivation to enter it.Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology comprised conducting semi‐structured interviews, where female medical doctors were asked to provide an account of their general experiences as medical doctors in a male‐dominated profession, as well as a more specific question related to their choice of specialisation.Findings – These female medical specialists entered these so‐called soft specialisms mainly for three reasons: so‐called female‐friendly characteristics; exposure to, not necessarily fuelled by interest in, certain specialisms; and so‐called male characteristics.Originality/value – The importance of such research is threefold as it has practical, social, and economic implications. The pr...

Engendering gender equality in professional employment: can policy rise to the occasion?

abstract Women are increasingly accessing employment areas even in traditionally male-dominated fields like medicine, but they struggle to participate to the same extent as their male counterparts, constraining their potential for advancement. As an example of the constraints women face within formal employment, there is clear evidence of gender differences in specialisation, when the literature on gender in the professions is examined. The traditional view is that this is an expected outcome, based on gender preferences resulting from socialisation. I support the more recent assertions that it be seen as a structural constraint, often experienced when a profession is increasingly feminised, due to mechanisms such as; gender stereotyping, gender discrimination, internal segregation and exclusion.

The boundaries of artisanal work and occupations in South Africa, and their relation to inequality

ABSTRACT Improving the access of previously marginalised groups to skilled occupations is vital to growing the South African economy and making strides to a labour market characterised by less inequality. However, under-representation of Africans and deepening gender inequality persist as challenges in artisanal employment. This quantitative picture however does little to reveal the full story of why particular inequalities in artisanal employment continue. The research employed the concept of occupational boundaries to understand how artisanal occupations were understood and how the related domain of work is described and delineated from other forms of work. The findings illustrate how the notion of artisanal work and occupations continue to be strongly constructed by race, gender, age and language in the South African context. As societies across the globe are facing either strengthening and/or new forms of inequalities, it will be critical for scholars concerned with the social and economic relations of work to (1) continue to advocate for understanding how social closure mechanisms play out in the workplace and (2) assist in broadening the gaze of research into inequality to other less understood occupational groups that play a role in perpetuating and strengthening inequalities in labour markets.

How Does Social Inequality Continue to Influence Young People's Trajectories through the Apprenticeship Pathway System in South Africa? An Analytical Approach.

The paper contributes by proposing an analytical approach that allows for the identification of patterns of participation in education and training and the labour market, through empirical measurement of the number of transitions and distinct trajectories traversed by groups of individuals. To illustrate the value of the approach, we focus on an original survey data set of a 2009/2010 cohort of participants in the apprenticeship system in South Africa. The paper demonstrates that despite a clear shift in access, transition into the apprenticeship system remains strongly determined by race and gender. Race, class and gender likewise determine those who experience more complex transitions to the labour market. The methodological and analytical approach thus allows a clear identification of the location and the nature of potential structural inequalities in a pathway system. This ability is critical in many country contexts where social inequalities continue to hamper growth and development, but the ways in which these manifest structurally in skilling systems are often poorly identified and understood, and consequently, blockages are poorly addressed.

The changing nature of artisanal work and occupations: Important for understanding labour markets

ABSTRACT The social and political conditions within which artisans are required to work have shifted globally. The South African policy concern is to train bigger quantities and improve artisanal skills quality, while simultaneously providing more opportunities for young, black and women artisans. A concern for academia is how this shifting milieu will impact on our understanding of artisanal work and occupations and what implications should this have for further research. Using the concept of occupational boundaries, we investigate, at a micro level, real and perceived change to work in three artisanal trades. The study shows that while some elements have changed, the division of labour reinforces the traditional scope of artisanal work in relation to other occupational groups. The findings reconfirm the complex relationship between changes to work and the demand for skills, and importantly highlight the sociology of work as a critical but undervalued dimension in labour market analysis.