Abstract

CAMERON, A.  and  DRENNAN, G.. The geoscience education pipeline in South Africa: Issues of skills development, equity and gender. J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. [online]. 2017, vol.117, n.6, pp.567-576. ISSN 2411-9717.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/2017/v117n6a7.

South African mining operations depend on the skilled professionals produced through the tertiary education sector. In geoscience courses at the University of the Witwatersrand, which lead into the mining sector, there has been a significant increase in student intake over the past 15 years. This increase has been characterized by a radical shift in demography: in classes where white male students once formed the majority, black female students are now in the majority. This demographic shift appears closely linked to policies addressing issues of social justice and transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. We document this change and consider the role played by employment equity legislation (as in the Mining Charter) and corporate social investment strategies in the mining industry, notably through bursaries offered to black female students. We also look at the changing needs of the industry, where the critical need for managerial skills, not just technical knowledge, is highlighted through data from surveys of past students and industry managers. Our findings indicate the need for a curriculum adjustment to meet these changing requirements, as well as more rigorous selection criteria for bursars than simply gender, race, and appropriate matric results.

Keywords : geoscience education; student demographics; skills development; equity; gender; bursaries.

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