Browsing by Author "Prozesky, Heidi Eileen"

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    A gender perspective on career challenges experienced by African scientists
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2019) Prozesky, Heidi Eileen; Mouton, Johann
    Empirical knowledge of the career challenges that confront African scientists, and women scientists in particular, holds an important key to achieving future success in the science systems of the continent. In this article, we address a lack of evidence generally on the careers of scientists in Africa, by providing the first continent-wide description of the challenges they face, and how these challenges differ between women and men. Our analysis of questionnaire-survey data on approximately 5000 African scientists from 30 countries shows that women are not more challenged than men by a variety of career-related issues, with the exception of balancing work and family, which the majority of women, regardless of age and region, experience. Contrary to expectations, women are not only less likely than men to report a lack of funding as having impacted negatively on their careers, but have been more successful at raising research funding in the health sciences, social sciences and humanities. These results, as well as those from a comparison of women according to age and region, are linked to existing scholarship, which leads us to recommend priorities for future interventions aimed at effectively ensuring the equal and productive participation of women in the science systems of Africa. These priorities are addressing women’s work–family role conflict; job security among younger women scientists; and women in North African and Western African countries.
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    'I don’t want to go back to the farm' : a case study of Working for Water beneficiaries
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2013-09-20) Hough, Jan A.; Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
    In addition to clearing invasive alien plants, the Working for Water (WfW) Programme, as a South African government public works programme, provides short-term employment and training to empower the poor in finding alternative employment within the labour market. Several studies indicate that its beneficiaries become financially dependent on WfW projects and tend to be reluctant to leave the programme. The sociological reasons for this reluctance, however, remain largely unstudied. We therefore address this gap by reporting on a case study of four WfW projects in the Western Cape Province. Face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries suggest that a number of push and pull factors contribute to their dependency on WfW. Chief among these factors is a fear among previous farmworkers of returning to farm work. It was found that the latter can be linked to a historical power-relations legacy between landowners and farmworkers, mainly created by institutional racism still prevailing on many Western Cape farms. These findings bear important implications for the implementation of a new draft WfW policy aimed at encouraging private landowners to employ WfW beneficiaries on their land as clearers of invasive alien plants.
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    Mobility, gender and career development in higher education : results of a multi-country survey of African academic scientists
    (MDPI, 2019-06-14) Prozesky, Heidi Eileen; Beaudry, Catherine
    Empirical knowledge of the mobility of African scientists, and women scientists in particular, holds an important key to achieving future success in the science systems of the continent. In this article, we report on an analysis of a subset of data from a multi-country survey, in order to address a lack of evidence on the geographic mobility of academic scientists in Africa, and how it relates to gender and career development. First, we compared women and men from 41 African countries in terms of their educational and work-related mobility, as well as their intention to be mobile. We further investigated these gendered patterns of mobility in terms domestic responsibilities, as well as the career-related variables of research output, international collaboration, and receipt of funding. Our focus then narrowed to only those women scientists who had recently been mobile, to provide insights on the benefits mobility offered them. The results are interpreted within a theoretical framework centered on patriarchy. Our findings lead us to challenge some conventional wisdoms, as well as recommend priorities for future research aimed at understanding, both theoretically and empirically, the mobility of women in the science systems of Africa, and the role it may play in their development as academic leaders in African higher education institutions.
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    A review of methodological trends in South African sociology, 1990–2009
    (Taylor & Francis, 2015-11-26) Basson, Isabel; Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
    This article reviews the research methods and methodologies employed by South African sociological researchers when conducting research, as published in academic peer-reviewed journals during the period of 1990 to 2009. Specific attention was given to trends in terms of qualitative and quantitative methodologies employed, as well as sampling, data collection and data analysis methods utilised. The article addresses, among others, the concern expressed in the literature that an over-emphasis on one approach is unhealthy for the development of the social sciences in a country; and it explores whether such an over-emphasis occurred. Data were obtained from a stratified, systematic sample of 111 research articles sourced from various online databases, and both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted. Data analysis primarily involved the use of descriptive statistics, but bivariate analysis and chi-square tests were also employed. The main findings of the research are that, from 1990 to 2009, both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed to an equal extent, while among sampling methods non-probability methods predominated. Both local and international collaboration increased over the years, and a quantitative methodology was significantly more likely when international collaborators were involved.