The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has launched the WRIGHT initiative at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). The department said the plan aims to grow the number of women who take part in and lead research and innovation.
Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina spoke at the launch. She said she welcomed the fact that WRIGHT is based at a university of technology.
“Universities of technology connect research to industry, to professional practice and to communities. They move knowledge from the laboratory, the workshop and the field into processes, products and services. Women must be able to take part at every point of that journey,” Gina said.
According to SAnews, the launch comes as MUT puts R2 million into research projects for first-time researchers. The university also plans to start a research journal that covers many fields, a research conference and a programme called “MUT in Research”.
Gina said WRIGHT could help women build lasting research careers. She said it could also help them move into leadership roles at the university and in the wider research system.
The deputy minister said women now play a larger part in South Africa’s research workforce. But she warned that having more women in the field does not mean they get equal chances to rise and lead.
Figures from the 2023/24 National Survey of Research and Experimental Development show that women make up 47.7% of the country’s research workforce. They also make up 52% of the academic workforce and 62.6% of university enrolments.
Women are named as authors on about 45% of scientific papers, according to the survey. Around the world, women make up between 31% and 33% of researchers, a share that has barely moved in ten years.
Gina also said South Africa needs to do better at turning research into products and businesses. She said the country’s results in patents and commercialisation are still below the level the government wants.
She said women’s ideas and leadership lead to research that better meets the needs of society. She said this matters more as new technologies change economies and communities.
The deputy minister pointed to the work of Professor Naidoo, who has trained more than 100 students. Of those students, 89% were women. Gina said Naidoo’s research on tuberculosis and HIV has helped shape treatment plans and policies in other countries.
“These women show what the system can produce when capable people are given support and opportunity,” Gina said.
The government said South Africa first committed to ending gender gaps in science in the 1996 White Paper on Science and Technology. The 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation repeated that goal.
Gina asked the WRIGHT Steering Committee to build partnerships and to listen to women at every stage of their careers. She also asked the committee to share what it learns with the rest of the research system.
“When a girl in a rural classroom looks at a woman in science, she should be able to say: this life is possible for me too,” she said.
Source: this article is based on reporting by SAnews.gov.za. Image: GCIS via SAnews.gov.za. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.