Post-school qualifications: do they bring equity and diversity in employment?

EDUCATION STUDIES

Jocelyn Vass reports on a study which analysed the progress towards diversity in the employment patterns for different sub-categories of post-school qualifications.

The study, commissioned by the Department of Labour, forms part of a larger study aiming to understand the progress made towards the achievement of more equitable representation of designated groups in the workforce, which has been a key objective in the transformation of post-apartheid South Africa.

Given that senior, top management and professional occupations generally require a post-school qualification, this study analysed the progress towards diversity in the employment patterns for different sub-categories of post-school qualifications.

The study used the benchmark employed by the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), i.e. the proportion of designated groups in the economically active population (or EAP target).

The Employment Equity Act, Section 20(3) promotes the notion of merit by providing for the advancement of designated groups (black Africans, coloureds, Indians, women and people with disabilities) who are suitably qualified, rather than on group membership alone, whether that is race, sex or disability.

Key findings

In general, more than two-thirds of the formal workforce had a matric qualification or less. In comparison, only 23% of the formally employed had a post-school qualification.

The results suggest that in the formal sector, the absorption of those with matric and a certificate/diploma, or a degree, remained static and relatively small compared to people with lower qualifications.

This imbalance between the employment trends of those with pre-tertiary and tertiary qualifications may partly be a reflection of the inability of the tertiary education system to improve enrolment and graduation rates on a scale and of a quality required in the economy. Further, the ability to address the skills shortage effectively is also impaired as occupations with an observed skills shortage generally require a post-school qualification, for instance among artisans, engineering, the medical professions and so forth.

Among the employed with post-school qualifications, while more than half had a certificate/diploma with matric by 2005, their employment share had shrunk from 61% to 52%. At the same time, the demand for those with degrees grew from 31% to 40% over the period while the demand for those with less than matric and a certificate/diploma remained very low.

The role of a certificate/diploma with matric in creating diversity

The results suggest that some progress was made in inclusive employment patterns in the dominant post-school qualification (a certificate/diploma with matric), especially for blacks. As shown in Figure 1, this was largely driven by increased employment of Africans (53%), growing at an average annual rate of 5.4%. However, Africans were still 21% short of reaching the equitable target of 74% of the EAP. The employment of coloureds grew very slowly, and by 2005, at 8% they were just below their EAP target of 10%. Indians were employed at 4% above their EAP target (3.1%). In spite of the declining share of whites, they were still over-represented, more than three times their EAP share.

When factoring in the role of gender, there was a growing proportion of women and by 2005 the gender ratio was 50:50. In fact, women were over-represented in terms of their EAP target of 45.7%. This relative advantage was well distributed among black women (including coloured and Asian), whereas black African women dominated this type of employment, even though by 2005 they were still 6% short of their target of 34%. At that time, the employment of African women exceeded that of white men (19%), but both white men and women were still over-represented, despite declining shares.

Despite the growing employment of black African men, this group was still under-represented, as was the case with coloured men, who were employed (4%) at less than half their EAP target.

The role of degrees in creating diversity

A more nuanced picture emerges when assessing the effect of population group and gender on the employment of those with degrees. Here whites dominated and were over-represented by a massive margin, as shown in Figure 2. However, there was a gradual narrowing of the black-white gap, as the white share declined from 62% in 1998 to 51% in 2005. At the same time the black share increased from 38% to 49%, growing at an annual average rate of 12.8% - faster than any of the other post-school qualifications.

This increase was largely driven by the near doubling of the African share from 24% to 40% over the period but not at a rate fast enough to catch up with the employment share of whites (51%). Coloured employment (4%) was at less than half their EAP target, while Indians were exceeding theirs.

When factoring in the effect of gender, results show that the gender ratio became more equitable over the period in line with EAP targets. This was largely due to the gains made by African and white women. For instance, the employment of African women with degrees increased at 15.3% p a, but from a relatively low base.

On the other hand, white women were primary beneficiaries of transformation in employment levels as their share grew at more than double (9.1%) the average annual rate of white males (4%). Thus, the employment improvements among blacks with degrees were very uneven.

Interpreting the results

In conclusion, the results suggest that progress towards greater diversity in employment patterns was mixed, depending on the sub-category of qualification. The best progress towards diversity was achieved in employment requiring a mid-level qualification (matric with a certificate/diploma), as all designated groups were represented close to, at, or above their respective EAP targets. This may partly be a reflection of the fact that at this level of qualification the tertiary system has historically had greater capability to produce more blacks and women. However, employment preferences in this labour market for whites were still evident.

The greatest challenge for diversity remains for employment that requires degrees. On the one hand, there was a substantial closing of the white-black gap (52:48) by the end of the period. On the other hand, despite rapid growth in the employment of black Africans with degrees, and a declining annual share of white males, whites continued to be over-represented by a massive margin compared to their EAP target.

A number of factors may be at play here. Firstly, the rapid growth in African employment indicated that there are suitably qualified Africans available who are employable. However, there may not be enough of them, as it is often argued that unemployment among black graduates may be attributed to a skills mismatch between their acquired qualifications and those required in the economy.

Secondly, the decline in the annual white male share may be an indication of a more conscious attempt to transform and diversify hiring practices in the labour market. However, and more controversially, white males may be the sacrificial lamb in the quest for equity by employers, as there are no declines in the high employment shares of white women with degrees.

The continued classification of white women as a designated group, given their high and continued rates of over-representation in the post-apartheid labour market, may begin to represent an obstacle to the progress of other designated groups.

Jocelyn Vass is a chief research manager in the research programme on Education, Science and Skills Development. The full report, Demand for designated groups with formal post-school qualifications: 1998-2005, Vass, JR, Roodt, J, & Qingqwa, S, is available on www.hsrc.ac.za.