SA one of the leading countries for female researchers
South Africa is one of the leading countries for female researchers, with women constituting about 40% of the research field, says Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor.
The Minister made the comments during a public lecture at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, on Friday evening (24 October) where she urged female students to make the most of the opportunities made available to them in science and technology since 1994.
"Forty per cent of South Africa's researchers are women. Of the 40 000 researchers in universities, science councils and business that our latest research and development survey records, nearly half are women. That makes South Africa one of the leading countries for female researchers," said the Minister.
Minister Pandor said that the rights and status of women in South Africa had been greatly advanced since South Africa became a constitutional democracy. "It is well known that better educated women are better for a country's social and economic development," she added.
Minister Pandor pointed out that research skills were some of the most sought-after skills in the world, and encouraged women graduates to start dominating in the research and laboratory fields, where men continue to reign supreme.
"Knowledge and innovation,rather than capital and labour, are the drivers of economic growth in all countries.The current affluence of high-income countries has been massively increased by their investment in scienceand new technologies."
The Minister also noted that, without incentives to support and recognise women in research, significant change was unlikely to take place. "We have introduced interventions to encourage women to publish, including the provision of equipment grants, special conference funding, workshops in publication and writing skills, postgraduate grants and research fellowships for women, as well as active institutional communication about research opportunities."
Looking at the current situation, the Minister said: "Four in 10 academics are women, but they produce only two in 10 publications. In school, girls have the same access as boys, and are performing at improved levels in many subjects. In higher education,women make up more than 50% of the student body, and while we all want to see more of them in scarce disciplines we are proud of their progress."
The Minister also told students that government had prioritised bursaries for research at both universities and further education and training colleges.The governmentalso expanded the National Student Financial Aid Scheme from just over R21 million in 1996 to R8 billion in 2013, and paid bursaries and loans to about 1,4 million students.
The Minister said that the Departmentof Science and Technology was implementinga coordinated approach to science education, science awareness and science communication to attract young people to science.The programmes were intended to reach about 350 000 learners and about 12 500 to 13 000 teachers a year.
"We have adopted a multifaceted approach to the funding of higher education, which includes a combination of targeted funding aimed at the expansion of the system, the production of skilled graduates, and enhancing the capacity of the system to deal with the increasing student numbers," she said.
Minister Pandor said that science and technology played a decisive role in addressing the unacceptable inequality and division in the country, citing information and communication technologies (ICT) that would make health and education services more affordable.
"Our investment in ICT infrastructure has not only narrowed but in many instances effectively bridged the digital divide, ensuring that the opportunities offered in an information society are not only for a privileged few."
Enquiries:
David Mandaha
E-mail: david.mandaha@dst.gov.za
Cell: 072 126 8910
