Abstract:

The South African women working in the engineering field face a harsh reality. In spite of politically correct policies and increasing campaigns that are championed by the South African Government for the women promotion and protection, progress is very slow. Men from all racial groups and social backgrounds, although very divided along economical and racial lines, miraculously do agree that engineering is not a suitable career path for women. In the past the South African white women were employed mainly in secretarial, administrative, nursing, primary and high education sectors. Until recently the white women were employed in the tertiary teaching system, had to use a separate, lateral entrance in order to access the working place. The career opportunities for the African and Coloured women, due to poverty and lack of education, were limited to that of domestic workers, office cleaners or house wives. Today career opportunities in engineering have been made available to women as many of the big corporations specifically target women from the previously disadvantaged communities for schooling and employment. However old habits die hard and there is a strong undercurrent of discrimination against female engineers in the working place. Women protection and promotion policies are fundamental toward attaining real freedom and empowerment. In spite of the Constitutional protection that the women enjoy, our extremely patriarchal society has a problem tolerating women in the engineering field. This study tries to understand the reasons behind the male engineers’ attitude and suggest some strategies forward.

Keywords:

Engineering education for women.