Study: Southern African media houses still divided by gender
Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on August 6, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Media in Southern Africa continues to be a difficult environment for women to work in or break into, according to research released Thursday by Southern African non-government organisation Gender Links. Among the findings: Men are the predominant employees in media houses in Southern Africa, while just two of the countries have achieved the parity target, the study's executive summary states.
The study, "Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media," examines media houses in the Southern African Development Community: Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe (not including Angola).
The study, "Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media," examines media houses in the Southern African Development Community: Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe (not including Angola).
However, the study points out, all figures should be read in context.
"Lesotho's media is dominated by a government ministry with a high proportion of women. In the case of South Africa, the figures were not disaggregated by race, due to the regional nature of this study. The 2006 Glass Ceiling report on South African newsrooms showed that black women, who constitute 46% of the population, account for only 18% of newsroom staff."
In management, women make up less than 25 percent of top management, are just over 25 percent of board of directors in media houses, and are more likely to be in clerical or administrative support positions, according to the study. When it comes to senior management positions, women make up between 20 percent to 39 percent of those positions in 10 of the 14 countries. Averaged out, that number is 28 percent. In Lesotho, however, 50 percent of senior managers are women, according to the study.
Meanwhile, men are more likely to be employed based on open-ended, full time contracts than women, at 58 percent versus 42 percent, respectively.
In newsrooms, male journalists are more likely to cover "hard beats," such as investigative or in-depth reporting (80 percent), sports (76 percent) and politics (75 percent). Women, on the other hand, cover things like gender equality (71 percent), gender violence (71 percent) and health (59 percent), according to the study.
One reason for the newsroom divide is that women are not viewed as equals by their male counterparts.
"We expect women to be home at 6 p.m. cooking, and not at press conferences mingling with ministers," one respondent is quoted by the study as saying.
For more on the study, "Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media," visit the Gender Links Web site.
"Lesotho's media is dominated by a government ministry with a high proportion of women. In the case of South Africa, the figures were not disaggregated by race, due to the regional nature of this study. The 2006 Glass Ceiling report on South African newsrooms showed that black women, who constitute 46% of the population, account for only 18% of newsroom staff."
In management, women make up less than 25 percent of top management, are just over 25 percent of board of directors in media houses, and are more likely to be in clerical or administrative support positions, according to the study. When it comes to senior management positions, women make up between 20 percent to 39 percent of those positions in 10 of the 14 countries. Averaged out, that number is 28 percent. In Lesotho, however, 50 percent of senior managers are women, according to the study.
Meanwhile, men are more likely to be employed based on open-ended, full time contracts than women, at 58 percent versus 42 percent, respectively.
In newsrooms, male journalists are more likely to cover "hard beats," such as investigative or in-depth reporting (80 percent), sports (76 percent) and politics (75 percent). Women, on the other hand, cover things like gender equality (71 percent), gender violence (71 percent) and health (59 percent), according to the study.
One reason for the newsroom divide is that women are not viewed as equals by their male counterparts.
"We expect women to be home at 6 p.m. cooking, and not at press conferences mingling with ministers," one respondent is quoted by the study as saying.
For more on the study, "Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media," visit the Gender Links Web site.
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