In my humble opinion, this is a subject that should have come out of the closet a long time ago. Much seems to be done about the "previously disadvantaged" here in South Africa, but very little done about the way women are treated and viewed in the workplace. In all fairness to the male specimens, women themselves are mainly to blame for this - women are reluctant to take their rightful place in society for fear of hurting the extremely fragile male ego! I say, get over yourselves and do what needs to be done.

Regards
Nikki

Ntokozo Ndlovu

06 October 2006 at 08h00

The Centre for Learning and Teaching at Wits University is on an initiative to encourage the advancement and empowerment of women in academia. "If one takes a look at the structure and proportion of women at Wits, and in academic institutions, there are very few women in senior positions, even in boardrooms," says Professor Margaret Orr, director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Wits University, and co-author of the book Buttons and Breakfast.

Orr says that there is need to understand why women are not progressing in academia, and how they have not been touched by the developments of empowerment. "We need to remove the barriers that are keeping women back," she says.

The Wits University Wonder Woman project is an initiative specifically aimed at uplifting, and empowering women in the field of academia. The Wonder Woman project trains a group of 15 to 20 female academics on personal and professional levels. "Research shows that women are more involved in taking care of students, they do a lot of teaching, and a lot of the professional housework of the institution," Orr says.

She says men do a lot of research, and take high profile tasks, that enable promotion. The Wonder Woman project assists women to move away from taking up the "professional housework tasks of the institution", and to make assertive decisions on where they want to be in the institution and work towards that.

"The project equips women with life skills and values, negotiation skills, assertiveness, voice and presentation skills.

"It gives women the kind of skills they need to get to senior positions in academia, and in turn recognises the amount of power vested in women," says Orr. It allows them to understand what to do when they are intimidated or patronised, and how to present themselves favourably and confidently. It assists them in negotiating their worth, and in working towards getting assertive roles and high profile jobs.

In assisting women, and inspiring young women to get into academia, the Wonder Woman recently launched the book Buttons and Breakfast. It is dedicated to all working women of South Africa, and to bring men to understand the inspirational struggles of women in the work environment. Co-author of the book Orr says that the book came out of the Wonder Women project, and it is a narration of experiences of women in academia. "It is a platform where they tell how they have juggled motherhood, work, conflicts with male colleagues, and how they have learnt to manage their lives and rise to the top," she says. She says that the message is of survival, and how lives of women are incredibly rich, and how all can be done. "The buttons and the breakfast, the job and the family, but it cannot be done without hardships. "It's ok to sometimes feel overwhelmed with the amount of work and responsibilities, and it's ok to feel it's too hard, but the most important message the book sends out is that despite all the hardships, it is all possible," she says.

Buttons and Breakfasts can be purchased from Incredible Books.