Leadership In Post-Democratic South Africa - Building Support Towards The Advancement Of Women

Abstract Within a continuously changing environment, leadership qualities cannot be static. The ability to adapt leadership styles pro-actively or in response to change, is an important quality. This paper reports on a survey carried out amongst a small group of women in higher education, at a women’s leadership academy in South Africa. It explored whether, with the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994 and post this period, there was a difference in the view of the characteristics of leadership in higher education compared to the apartheid period (pre- 1994), and what that view would be if it had changed. It also further explored whether there was a view that the characteristics of leadership was gender specific. Lastly, questions focused on whether there was a need for continued support for women towards and in leadership. Comments indicated that participants felt that more women had been included in higher education leadership post-democracy, but that leadership qualities were still gender specific, with traditionally viewed masculine characteristics still predominant. The responses also reflected a continued need for support and development for women in and towards higher education leadership, with various suggestions on the forms this should take. Responses resonated with the scholarly literature arguments for adaptability in leadership, considering organisational and environmental sustainability and ever-increasing complexities of these milieus. The paper reports on the findings of the survey using a qualitative approach, although numerical data is minimally presented at times. The focus is on the comments to the survey questions, with a qualitative analysis and presentation of findings, linking these to the literature on leadership qualities and support for women towards and in leadership. KEYWORDS: leadership characteristics, gender, South African higher education, leadership support for women