African women — the largest demographic in the country — are significantly under-represented among science graduates at some of SA’s top higher education institutions. At the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town (UCT), African women — including those from the rest of the continent — account for 3% and 16% of science graduates, respectively, the worst output of this demographic in the country. Women represent more than half of science graduates at some historically black universities. At Walter Sisulu University, three of every five science graduates is an African woman. At the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, coloured and African women comprise 52% and 53% of their science graduates, respectively. There is also a lack of diversity in science academia.This is often blamed on a "leaky" pipeline: African women leave the sciences before they are qualified enough to be hired as academics. According to the 2013-14 Nation...
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