4.5. Views and beliefs about gender equity and science education
4.5.3. Everyone has the right to equal opportunities: the artificial/social/traditional
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male domination results in scaring females away from sciences and making sciences classrooms an alien place for females. These findings resonate with radical feminism as discussed in the conceptual framework by Sikes and Measor (1992) that boys dominate in classrooms. The boys’
interests dominate the curriculum while the interests of the girls are not considered. The findings highlight that teachers concentrate on boys and this lowers the self-esteem and confidence of girls.
The reviewed literature shows that although the democratic South African government has made great strides in attaining gender equality in most spheres of life, there is still gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with respect to successful participation in education and training and professional careers. The literature shows that at school levels in South Africa, there has been a continuous increase in the enrolment of girls in Mathematics and Physical Science to the extent that there have been more girls studying high school Mathematics and Physical Science. However, more boys have passed these subjects than girls, which raises questions about gender equality. At South African institutions, the STEM fields have been and are still dominated by males with regard to both enrolment and success.
4.5.3. Everyone has the right to equal opportunities: the artificial/social/traditional
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Participants also stated that in science for instance, most universities encourage women students to apply for bursaries and scholarships, and award them more than their male colleagues. Nhlanhla stated, “I still think that the opportunities may be different in the sense that like I said when you look at the way sciences are taught they seem to make boys feel more comfortable to do sciences in a tertiary level. When you see in the science content, the scenarios the males still feature a lot in the examples making it look like the sciences are for males”.
Nhlanhla further explained, “I think we have equity imbalances we have less opportunities that are given to females to study sciences so that’s why I said there must be deliberately way of trying to bring about equity by promoting more females to come up and equalising with the males by doing sciences and maths at school level and tertiary level”. Nomusa responded, “I see it as a right thing with benefits as people of South Africa because you will find that males in this country have that thing because they are men. They want to rule and leave that controlling life. They think they are the ones who have a say. They think if you are not a male you don’t have a say with a country you are living in. They act as if you don’t have a brain and you mind is not working well because they will always tell you what to do. We are not going to reach to a point where we will say that we are equal now”.
Lattifa added, “this is a very good move. I support it 120 %. We are no longer in apartheid now things have changed now. This will help to address the scars of the past and will empower women at the same time. We are living in a democratic country so every citizen must enjoy the benefits and fruits of democracy. Everyone have the right to equal opportunities and equal access to the resources and education”. The participants blamed the apartheid government which created inequality and imbalances between males and females. However, they recognised that South Africa is transforming by the promotion of equal rights for its citizens (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996).
Muzi elaborated, “there is everything good about it. Females, biologically more prone to mood and emotion, should just be supported to compensate for this fact. At the same rate, it should be allowed and encouraged to incorporate the female touch in the science and science education mix.
Women bring sensitivity, emotional presence and emotional intelligence, as well as humane aspects to the field of science and science education. Their contribution balances science and
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science education to reflect our dynamic society. Science can benefit from that, in spite of science being a world of reason, of objectivity, and less of emotion and subjective feel.” It seems that Muzi has the assumption that women are being marginalised in the sciences because of their feminine traits that include being sensitive, subjective and emotional. Muzi reasons that science is generally not compatible with feminine traits, it demands reasoning and objectivity without human feelings attached to it. However, Muzi seems not to support the nature of science and its demands. He thinks that real life situations are complex and dynamic, subjectivity and objectivity, and emotions and reasoning contribute to a real and balanced human being even if he/she is a scientist. Muzi therefore thinks that females are needed in the field of science, actually their participation in science is important as it contributes to a more real and balance field, “their (females) contribution balances science and science education to reflect our dynamic society”. It is interesting to note that Muzi is well aware that one of the major cause of the marginalisation of females in the science is that there is a generally notion that due to their feminine nature they are too weak and not fit to do sciences. This notion is documented in the literature, for example Mlambo-Nguka (as cited in Adichie, 2016); Moletsane and Reddy (2011); Mathur-Helm (2005).
David explained, “the Constitution of South Africa does not allow any discrimination based on gender or any other factor. This is as regards to gender equality. Nevertheless, it is not enough for women to be equal to men. Equality, gender equity should be prioritized because women have different needs that should be addressed first before we can talk men and women equality. Gender equity is a must do thing”. These results correspond with South African government policies and legislations developed in favour of females discussed in Section 2.5 of the literature review chapter. On the other hand, Nomusa believed that the opportunities are there and open to everyone equally, the problem is with the girls who do not grab the opportunities. Nomusa remarked, “the opportunities are there but people are not there. The problem is with us females we don’t want to seize opportunities or else the problem is that we don’t meet the requirements”.
The findings revealed that most of the participants’ statements tend to show the deficit model of thinking, where females need to be ‘fixed’ because they are ‘deficient’ in one way or another.
According to the interview responses, the participants either think that women are lazy, shy, lack self-confidence or they lack required skills and they are too emotional for higher positions.
According to Mathur-Helm (2005), South African women still face socio-economic struggles. The
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apartheid policies favoured men, especially White men, and this resulted in unequal sharing of resources and information between males and females (Mathur-Helm, 2005). The South African government has now given females the equal opportunities as their male counterparts in all spheres of life. All the participants supported and agreed to equal opportunities for everyone. They also believed that there was a great deal that needs to be done by the government.
These views and beliefs concur with the liberal feminism that focuses on equal opportunities for different sexes. Participants also think that the opportunities may be different in the way sciences are taught. Four of the participants also believe that women do just as well as men when given a chance at education. However, due to society’s male domination and other stereotypes, the path to success for women tends to be more challenging than that for their male counterparts. Women still do not receive the full needed cover and protection against male perpetrators. The responses of Physical Sciences teachers resonate with the report of Moletsane and Reddy (2011) that females remain underrepresented in Science, Engineering and Technology fields. Very few women register for Engineering at postgraduate level. As a result, few women end up working in the SET sector.
4.5.4. Socialisation has contributed to current gender inequity: Societal practices