According to Madikizela and Michell (2022), the absence of a varied workforce and leadership in the South African construction sector impedes innovation and slows down the industry’s ability to adapt to rapidly changing economic and technological development. This has a negative influence on organisational growth. Hence, the government tasks the construction industry to increase the employment of women in traditionally male workplaces to address gender inequality (English and Bowen, 2012). This project is designed to build capacity and enable academics and practitioners from the UK and South Africa to collaborate to address gender imbalance issues.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility; advancing gender balance in the South African Construction Industry; (IDEA-SA)
A British Council funded project between UoP, UK and UoCT, SAfrica
Project Rationale
IDEA-SA will tackle critical challenges of women’s underrepresentation in higher education and the work environment of an important sector of the economy. On one front, the project will provide an educational window for South Africa to see women in a different light, not as weaker vessels but as active members of the industry with innovative minds and significant values. On the second front, the project will yield an explicit demonstration of what needs to be done to achieve gender balance in the construction industry in the host country. We expect that improvements in gender equality will contribute to growth in employment, progress in career development, and positive change in the social and demographic components of the South African construction industry.
Project Outcomes...
Through international collaboration among practitioners, academics, and higher education and industry stakeholders, IDEA-SA project will employ strategies to ensure that opportunities stimulated by this project are inclusive of and benefit women and other neglected groups such as people with disabilities, youth, and indigenous people. Capacity building through workshops will be delivered to stakeholders who will, in turn, empower these people. The strategies will affect sustainable development, economic growth, and poverty reduction by exploring the potential of:
A better understanding of the relationship of complex variables between education, employment, and societal issues for all genders,
Providing equal opportunities to all genders post-higher education, including decision-making and senior positions,
Lessening imbalance and discrimination and promoting all rights for women and girls, including employment and wages,
Providing equal access to resources, services, and opportunities,
Decreasing gender gaps in human capital in both education and employment,
CONTACT US
For more, please contact us at:
Dr Olugbenga Oladinrin : olugbenga.oladinrin@plymouth.ac.uk
Prof Abimbola Windapo : abimbola.windapo@uct.ac.za
Ms Christiana Ekpo: xtyekpo@gmail.com