Microsoft Word doctoral thesis final[1]. doc

3.3.1    Overview of statistics on women’s under-representation 
 
It is evident from the literature that advanced countries such as the UK, the USA, and 
Australia are concerned about the under-representation of women at the top in higher 
education. Citing Kennedy (1995), Jackson (2002) notes that the absence of women in 
the highest echelons may be the result of the discrepancy between "equal opportunities 
policies and practices and the patriarchal system on which Higher education institutions 
are based" (Jackson 2002:28). Heward (1996) puts forward a similar argument to 
Jackson's when she asserts that the "hegemonic masculinities" of higher education 
institutions ensure that policies to redress discrimination remain policies and are rarely 
translated into action. Moreover, it is the "hegemonic masculinities" which privilege men 
and disadvantage women, resulting in more men being promoted to senior levels while 
very few women make it to the top. 
 
Women professors are still outnumbered by their male counterparts even in advanced 
countries such as the USA and the UK.  Jamieson (1995) reported that in the Unite States 
higher education, 15% of women were full professors; 28% associate professors and 40% 
assistant professors. A report in a South African University’s weekly newspaper, stated 
that only 8% of full time professors and 19% of fulltime associate professors were 
women in 1999. A gender audit carried out in the UK in 1998/9 revealed that only 9.8% 
of the professorial complement in that country’s higher education institutions was women 
(Halvorsen 2002). 
 
Although the number of women in top administrative positions in South African 
universities showed an improvement between 2000 and 2002, the highest number of 
women was and still is clustered at the bottom of the administrative hierarchy. Out of a 
total possible number of available senior and top positions (1647), only 217 (13.2 per 

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cent) were occupied by women (Zulu 2003:101). These figures indicate a gap in the 
representation of women in top level management structures in universities in South 
Africa. The situation is similar in the UK, where despite the existence of formal equal 
opportunities policies and gender monitoring systems, there are hardly any women vice- 
chancellors, pro-vice-chancellors, college principals or faculty deans. According to a 
2001 study, conducted by Forster in a UK university, more men than women held 
professorial positions. Even where women were better represented, they had not 
increased their representation at senior levels and although women in UK universities 
make up 33 per cent of all academic staff - men hold 85 per cent of professorial positions.