TOP WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION BY JESSIE TAYLOR
5 women leaders in Education
Women transforming the tertiary education sector
W
omen are increasingly being recognised as leaders in the Higher Education sector, as efforts are made to improve gender equality at our countries teritary education facilities. According to the Gender Commission's Report On Gender Transformation In Tertiary Institutions although some institutions of higher learning have improved the recruitment of female candidates in academic, top and senior management positions, progress on transformation is still slow.
Women transforming the tertiary education sector PROFESSOR ADVOCATE THULI MADONSELA Professor Advocate Madonsela was one of the people who drafted the final Constitution of South Africa, and she has also served as a full-time member of the South African Law Reform Commission. Among laws she helped draft, are the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, the Employment Equity Act and the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act. She also co-founded and one of the inaugural leaders of the South African Women Lawyers Association. One of her most notable positions was as the Public Protector, an office she held for seven years. In this capacity, she investigated State of Capture. Thuli Madonsela is an advocate and professor of law, holding a Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University. She conducts and coordinates Social Justice research and teaches constitutional and administrative law. She is also the founder of the Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy leadership and literacy social enterprise. Professor Madonsela has been named one of TIME100’s most influential people in the world and Forbes Africa Person of the Year.
DR PRECIOUS MOLOI-MOTSEPE Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, Chancellor of the University of Cape Town is a businesswoman and philanthropist who started her career in medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked in various public hospitals in South Africa as well as at the Medical College of Virginia in the United States. Together with her husband, Dr Patrice Motsepe, she founded the Motsepe Foundation in 1999, and in 2013 they became the first couple from Africa to join The Giving Pledge. Her professional associations include the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board and Centre for Public Leadership Council, the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council, and the Cancer Association of South Africa (past president).
40 | Public Sector Leaders | August 2024