State of Women’s Employment and Education in South Africa

DEEP-IDEA SA Workshop provided an update on the British Commission-funded research project between the Universities of Plymouth, Reading, and Cape Town, focusing on the inclusion of women in construction and the potential positive impact of digital technology. This keynote speech commenced with a visualisation of the beautiful, rural countryside of the Eastern Cape during the late 1960s. Exclusion from mathematics and science subjects applied to all black Africans; additional limitations existed on women, for example, limitations of movement and job opportunities; and the legal status of minors, reversed only by the 1996 final Constitution. Applying cultural-historical activity theory provides insight into progress made, but also the magnitude of the challenge that faced South Africa in 1994, persisting to date. Women now fulfil a range of roles, many at management level, particularly evident in the banking sector, administrative roles, and within the police service. In the construction sector, however, fewer women are employed, although in the informal construction sector, which has grown slightly faster than the formal sector, women have established and lead construction companies. Nationally, women constitute 51% of the population. In education, females have overtaken males at the secondary school level, and now predominate in tertiary enrolment. Registration of women is limited in areas of: electrical infrastructure, engineering, architecture and built environment. Exclusion from mathematics (as opposed to mathematics literacy) and science limits entry to technical qualifications. The unemployment level remains a source of concern, with youth between 15 and 24 years of age at 62.4%, disproportionately affecting young women. The Presidential Youth Initiative, part of the Basic Education Employment Initiative, recommenced in 2025 to offer 200,000 school assistant opportunities. These statistics provide the agenda for participant discussion, including obstacles to mathematics provision.