The academic staff profile of Geographers at higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa: the challenges for transformation

South Africa's first national democratic elections in 1994 marked a turning point in the history of the country. Since democracy much of the focus of African National Congress (ANC)-led government has been on redress and transformation across all spheres of society, including higher education....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of geography in higher education 2022-04, Vol.46 (2), p.222-240
Main Authors: Breetzke, Gregory D., Hedding, David W, Pijper, Lauren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic careers
Academic Rank (Professional)
academic staff
Blacks
College Faculty
Democracy
Demographics
Educational Change
Educational History
Elections
Equal Opportunities (Jobs)
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Geography
Higher Education
Higher education institutions
higher education institutions (HEIs)
Institutional Characteristics
Males
Profiles
Race
Racial Differences
Racial Segregation
Social Change
South Africa
Teacher Characteristics
transformation
Transformations
Whites
Women Faculty
Workforce planning
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Summary:South Africa's first national democratic elections in 1994 marked a turning point in the history of the country. Since democracy much of the focus of African National Congress (ANC)-led government has been on redress and transformation across all spheres of society, including higher education. This paper examines one important aspect inherent in transforming higher education; that is, changing the academic staffing profile of its institutions to more accurately reflect the demographics of the country. Specifically, we examine the academic staffing profiles (gender, race, and rank) of Geographers employed at higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa and compare these statistics to national academic staffing trends. Results indicate that Geographers in South Africa are most often white and male although these findings mirror national percentages. We also found a paucity of black African Geographers at more senior academic positions as well as a lack of black African female Geographers. Racial inequities in the distribution of academic staff were noted with white male Geographers disproportionately located at historically white institutions while black African Geographers are disproportionately located at historically black institutions. We discuss these, and other results, in the broader context of the transformation of the discipline of Geography in South Africa.
ISSN:0309-8265
1466-1845
DOI:10.1080/03098265.2020.1856797