Citizens, bribery and the propensity to protest

It is widely assumed that the more one experiences corruption the more likely one is to want to protest about it. Yet empirical evidence illustrating this is thin on the ground. This paper fills that gap by focusing on the extent to which self-reported experience of bribery affects the willingness to engage in protests against corruption in Africa. We find that the more one experiences bribery the more one is likely to support anti-corruption protests. A further unexpected finding is that the personal experience of corruption also increases the willingness to rely on bribes to solve public administration problems

The gendered dimensions of food security in South Africa: a review of the literature

MarchThe study establishes that interventions addressing food insecurity in its gendered context imply that women are playing key roles in households and that to meet the food gaps, a combination of factors need to be employed by women and girls that must be supported by the policy framework. Consequently, gender needs to be more strongly foregrounded as a feature of the policy framework; more targeted programmes focused on female-headed households require attention. There is a marked absence of empirical studies addressing women and gender in the food insecurity arena, and that a more holistic understanding of problems is required. To this end, issues such as natural disasters, education, poverty, ageing, technology, ageing, genetically modified foods etc.), should be prioritised in future policy that addresses the multidimensionality of food security to ensure a grounded understanding that could alleviate potential problems related to the position of women and gender more broadly in relation to food security

On working with a single photograph

Drawing on work with children and young people on photo-voice techniques as a creative process and a key feature of 'taking action' in the context of poverty, HIV and AIDS and schooling, this chapter focuses on some of the methodological issues of engaging in close readings of photographs. In so doing it highlights the ways in which one might apply Clifford Geertz's notion of 'going thick and deep' to working with visual data. The chapter highlights the value to social science researchers of visual culture

Gender and poverty reduction in its African feminist practice: an introduction

This essay introduces this special edition on Gender and Poverty Reduction by offering a brief perspective on the meanings of poverty in its relational sense. The essay frames the emerging studies featured in the issue that build on current work across an interdisciplinary field, highlighting conceptualisations of poverty, and raising questions and concerns for future work. As a set, the various contributions integrate both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis to revisit and offer new perspectives on some of the debates on gender and poverty reduction. In addition to introducing the special issue, the essay maps some of the key issues and debates explored in the contributions and their implications for advancing the work on poverty reduction in South Africa.

Postgraduate educational research on violence, gender, and HIV/AIDS in and around schools (1995–2004)

Social issues such as HIV/AIDS, bullying, and violence have recently come to the fore in schooling and related research in South Africa. This article describes and critically analyses Masters and Ph.D. research done in education in the period 1995–2004, with particular reference to the voice given to social issues, namely: gender, violence, and HIV/AIDS and their interconnectedness. It explores issues, trends, and patterns in research emerging in the first decade of democracy in South Africa

Report: an assessment of the participation of women in set industry for Department of Science and Technology

Commissioned by NACI, OctoberPersistent gender imbalances in the workplace, but particularly in the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) sector continue to impact negatively on South Africa's global competitiveness in growing and sustaining its economy, particularly its knowledge economy. One of the major challenges confronting post-apartheid South Africa is that of delivering increased economic growth, wealth creation and improved quality of life for all its citizens. The legacy of apartheid, characterised by racial, gender and social class inequalities, among others, continue to impact negatively on the availability and quality of skills needed to grow the economy. Contributing to these inequalities and to the shortage of skills, particularly in the SET sector, is the country's failure to develop, harness and utilise the SET potential of women who constitute over 50% of the national population. Studies commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology/NACI/SET4Women have all clearly demonstrated the under-representation of women in the SET sector, particularly at senior levels and, in specific fields within the sector. For example, the CREST report recounts that although in 2001 women represented 53% of all higher education enrolments, only 31% of Doctoral enrolments in the Natural Sciences and Engineering were female. Only 7% of Doctoral graduates in engineering were female. The study also showed that only 9% of the teaching staff and 14% of research staff in engineering faculties were female. Furthermore, the report observed that female scientists received only 21% of all research grants awarded by the National Research Foundation (NRF). Of particular concern is the fact that less than 6.4% of all publicly funded research projects were identified as having an explicit 'gender dimension'. Thus, despite the marked increase in women's entry into the higher education system of South Africa during the past decade, women remain under-represented within the SET sector. The bottleneck gets even smaller at postgraduate degree levels, particularly in the field of engineering. This means that only a small proportion of South African women end up working in the SET sector. As available literature suggests, an even smaller number ends up being retained and moving up the promotion ranks within the sector. To illustrate, the Women in Corporate Leadership Census (Business Women Association and Catalyst, 2004) shows that women who enter the SET industry are also under-represented at senior levels given that approximately 60% of all companies have no women board directors. The study measured the number of women on boards in executive management of every listed company on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), as well as 17 of the largest state-owned enterprises for the first time in South Africa. The results revealed that women held only 221 of the 3125 directorship positions in these companies and that out of a total of 364 chairs of boards, only 11 were held by women. Furthermore, compared to 357 male CEOs and MDs, only seven were women. As Kahn (2004) concluded, such 'stark imbalances in gender and racial representativeness in the science and technology system require urgent attention'. Critical to addressing these imbalances is the need to increase the rate and quality of innovation in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET), and to produce a diverse, well-trained and innovative SET workforce that can spearhead economic growth, wealth creation and the improvement of quality of life for the people of South Africa

The social self in self-study: author conversations

Knowing more about ourselves as teachers and teacher educators change us, provokes growth, jolts us out of complacency -sometimes radically, in ways that can seem transformative. IN the course of examining one's practice systematically, a pivotal "aha' moment can occur, a jolting of the kaleidoscope that shifts our view when we reach one of those precise or fuzzy points at which we are irrevocably changed. The very process of self-study itself changes its practitioners and their situations. Seeing things differently, self-study can prod us to take action.