Page 3 - Unisa CSET Mid Year Highlights 2025 Digital

One the challenges that we have in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector, is that, historically it has been known to be a playground for male academics. To change this narrative, you have to be intentional and go down to the grassroots, at the school level and showcase that there are women who have come through the ranks and become high profile academics in all streams of science, engineering and technology at CSET. It very important for us recognise the role that women are playing in STEM; it helps us to breakdown the stereotype that women are ill-equipped, under prepared and that STEM was not designed for them. We do not only recognise women for the month of August but ought to ensure that we are intentional with the kind of appointments that we make at the college, as far as employment equity is concerned. We should underline that employment equity does not mean that we are doing women a favour but we appoint them because they are excellent.
There is a growing number of excellent women professors who have joined the college including the recently appointed Distinguished Professors, and for me that is gratifying. If you look again at all departments across the college, there is a number of women who are Senior Lecturers and Associate Professors and a number of them have raised their hands for ad-hominen promotions in 2025 and have indeed come through with flying colours. Their will to succeed in order to change the narrative, has propelled them to submit their credentials which exceed what would be the minimum requirement for them to be considered for the promotion.
Not just being appointed as academics , we also look at the leadership potential in the women. If you look across CSET; we have quite a number of women who are either chairs of departments or heads of portfolios. That underpins the confidence that the college has in the leadership and capabilities for women to lead their departments. Their leadership has been excellent because they have worked hard to ensure that there other women who are going to follow in their footsteps so that they become beacons of success in order to allow the next generation of women to come through and be considered chairs of departments. Other female academics can see that it is possible to lead male academics. We discourage the patriarchal attitude where the man thinks the science is only limited to them.
We reflect also at the growing number of female postgraduate students doing their masters and doctoral degrees under the college. A case in point is our flagship institute, iNanoWS that has more female students enrolled for their postgrad studies at M&D level. This is unprecedented and unheard of in the rest of the university community that there will be such large number of female students enrolled considering the very high stakes for one to be admitted under the institute.
In reflecting on the achievements and highlights that we have enjoyed as a college during the first half of the year, most of these have been attributed to women in one way or another. For example, Prof Usisipho Feleni has made several appearances and received a number of awards since the year started. We also have others who have followed in her footsteps like Dr Muthumuni Managa who have received numerous acknowledgments and sources of third income stream, Prof Nomvano Mketo who has received her NRF C2 rating and Dr Busi Ndaba-Vatsa whose has been recognised by the NRF for her contributions as an early career researcher.
The more female academics that you have leading research groups, the more likely you are to have female students who would want to enrol under their leadership and supervision. The leadership of the college must be intentional about gender balance and bring out the best in the science and engineering environment as a scarce skill college.
I must also emphasise that Professor Thenjiwe Meyiwa, the outgoing VP-Research, postgraduate Studies, Innovation and Commercialisation at this university, whom I’ve been reporting to, has been an excellent leader. There has also always been a passion from her to see that we grow the participation of women academics in the science and engineering space. With her exemplary leadership (still publishing research papers and graduating students while being
FROM THE DEAN’S DESK
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