Growing a movement: Women in Leadership (WiL)
The final session of the 2024 Women in Leadership (WiL) programme on 1 November 2024 began with a seemingly simple but profoundly symbolic activity: a group of women, holding a ball of string, throwing it from one to another. As the string crisscrossed the room, a web began to emerge—representing not only the connections they were forging but also the support networks and strength rooted in their collective experiences. This web of string (below) encapsulates the essence of the WiL programme: building an interconnected network of women leaders, bound by shared purpose and mutual empowerment.
Still skewed
The WiL programme, offered under the auspices of Universities South Africa (USAf) and its Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme, serves as a crucial intervention in addressing the entrenched gender inequities present within South Africa’s higher education sector. While several ‘women in leadership’ programmes exist within universities, the HELM programme targets and brings together women academics in leadership roles such as Heads of Department, Directors of Schools, Deans and Deputy Deans, and Directors of academic units, to focus specifically on leadership and management praxes. It is unique in this respect, and serves the important purpose of inter- and cross- institutional sharing of challenges and solutions in the inequitable gender landscape of higher education. It also builds a lasting network of collaboration amongst women leaders across the sector.
The government’s first White Paper on the transformation of Higher Education (1997) and its subsequent National Plan for Higher Education (2001) recognised gender inequalities as a key concern for the creation of an equitable and just higher education system, serving as a foundation for specific redress measures. This strong and enabling policy framework, alongside targeted initiatives, has led to substantial improvements in women’s participation across the sector.
According to a 2023 UNESCO report, Women’s participation in higher education in Southern Africa, the two decades between 2000 and 2020 saw the number of women enrolled in higher education increase from 210,280 to 665,629 (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2023). The number of women graduates also rose dramatically from 42,762 in 2001 to 151,170 in 2020, accounting for 64% of all graduates. Additionally, the participation of women in STEM fields improved, with women graduates in these disciplines rising from 16,381 in 2005 to 34,217 in 2020, and the number of women completing their PhDs increased from 333 in 2000 to 1,522 in 2020.
Women’s participation in academic posts also improved significantly, with the number of female academic staff increasing from 7,353 in 2010 to 35,103 in 2020, reflecting a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.7 for academic staff (DHET, 2023).
Building towards equality
1 November 2024 marked the culmination of the current cohort’s transformative journey—one launched with the explicit intention of reshaping the leadership landscape of higher education by emboldening women to assume roles of executive authority and institutional governance. Through a strategic combination of seminars, peer learning groups, and individualised coaching, WiL seeks to challenge systemic barriers that have historically excluded women from leadership positions. The seminars, for instance, provide targeted awareness on navigating institutional politics and gender dynamics, while the peer learning groups offer a sustained support system for addressing leadership-specific challenges unique to women in academia. Together, these elements cultivate participants’ capacity to address biases and advocate effectively for more equitable practices within their institutions.
The imperative for such a programme is indisputable. As the programme leader, Professor Denise Zinn (left) notes, “the gender composition of South African higher education reveals a paradox: although women are well represented within academic and professional ranks, they remain conspicuously absent from senior leadership positions”. The WiL programme thus aims not only to increase the numerical representation of women in these roles but also to foster a leadership culture that is diverse, inclusive, and innovative. This ambition is embodied in the programme’s design, which focuses on enhancing participants’ leadership, management, and personal development skills, all while building a resilient community of support that extends beyond the programme itself.
The image above represents a developmental process involving personal and contextual transformation, related to leadership and personal growth. At the core is a shift in self-awareness, which involves recognising one’s strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and identity. This self-awareness forms the foundation for developing leadership capacity and capability. Understanding oneself is key to effective leadership.
Next is the realisation of agency, which refers to taking control of one’s actions and influencing the environment. This stage includes an enhanced understanding of oneself in a broader context, leading to a clearer sense of one’s role and responsibilities. The application of learning and agency is the next step, reflecting the integration of these insights into real actions. This stage is about “living the change,” where theoretical learning and self-awareness are actively put into practice.
The final stage involves transforming the broader context. Individual change, particularly through agency and leadership, can lead to environmental transformation. This is a perceptual and emotional shift, not just an intellectual one. The arrows between the circles indicate that the process is iterative—personal transformation and leadership capabilities continue to evolve, reinforcing and reshaping the context in which one operates. This model illustrates that effective leadership starts with self-awareness and grows into influencing and transforming the environment. It is cyclical, suggesting a continuous loop of development, both personally and within the broader context.
WiL employs a multifaceted pedagogical approach, encompassing interactive seminars, humanising pedagogies — methodologies that acknowledge and validate participants’ lived experiences — peer group discussions, and personalised coaching, delivered through a mix of online and in-person formats. These diverse modalities cater to varied learning preferences and ensure a holistic leadership development experience. Participants have engaged in ten intensive sessions, each lasting three to four hours, facilitated by Professors Zinn and Schreiber, as well as esteemed guest presenters who hold prominent leadership roles within higher education.
This diverse facilitation exposes participants to a breadth of leadership perspectives, while providing them with tangible examples of success. The peer learning groups, a foundational component of WiL, foster a collaborative learning environment that allows participants to reflect, share, and derive insights from each other’s experiences, thereby nurturing a sense of solidarity and collective growth. The networks formed through the peer learning groups extend beyond the duration of the programme, and become a lasting support structure for the participants.
Personalising the pathway
Individual coaching is a cornerstone of the WiL experience, offering participants tailored guidance through personalised coaching sessions, by highly experienced, fully certified coaches conversant with the context of higher education institutions. These sessions diverge significantly from the seminars, which address broader leadership themes, and the peer learning groups, which emphasise collective reflection and exchange. To complement the broader focus, coaching sessions focus intensively on individual growth, built around each participant’s unique leadership aspirations and challenges. This approach facilitates profound personal transformation, equipping participants with the self-awareness and strategic acumen necessary to navigate complex leadership landscapes. These coaching sessions ensure that the journey to leadership is not only professional but deeply personal, coupled with a wealth of experience and expertise affirming each participant’s distinct narrative.
The culmination of this learning process is the creation of a reflective Portfolio of Learning, a comprehensive document that captures each participants’ reflections on the experience and impact of their programme, as well as the collective learning of their peer groups, as well as creative engagements that resulted from their interactions in the programme. Upon completion, participants are awarded a Short Learning Programme (SLP) certification from Nelson Mandela University, formally recognising their learning on this programme, and their readiness to lead in new ways.
The power of an expanding network
“As WiL concludes its fifth cohort, the numbers speak to its expanding influence: 131 women have successfully completed the programme, with an additional 35 participants currently engaged,” says Professor Zinn. “But the true measure of WiL’s success transcends these numbers. It lies in the vibrant, growing network of women leaders who are transforming their institutions and communities. The upcoming alumni gathering, planned for early next year, represents the first of many such events, aiming to solidify the ongoing empowerment, support, and exchange of knowledge among participants.”
Patrick Fish is a Communication Consultant for the HELM programme.
