Breaking barriers: Empowering women in higher education and beyond

As we reflect on Women’s Day 2025, we cannot understate the importance of continuing to encourage women to pursue careers in occupations in high demand or ‘scarce skills’. There remains much room for representation of women in key fields that are crucial to South Africa’s development. 

According to Stats SA, women account for only 13% of graduates in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines. In engineering and ICT, this gap is even more pronounced. And yet, these are the very sectors expected to drive our economic recovery and global competitiveness and secure our collective future.

When women are absent from these fields, our society loses out on talent, innovation, and leadership. Worse still, poverty is perpetuated in households led by women, particularly in communities where access to opportunity is already limited. At ISFAP, we want to see women succeed in their higher education pursuits and in life. We provide a comprehensive wraparound support model that includes tuition, accommodation, meals, textbooks, devices, mentorship, psycho-social support, and workplace readiness training. This model is especially vital for women in demanding programs, where confidence can be undermined by imposter syndrome, cultural expectations, or lack of representation.

When a woman graduates and enters a high-demand sector, she does more than uplift herself, she shifts the trajectory of her family and community. Moreover, visible role models matter. When young girls see women who look like them in white lab coats, at the head of classrooms, in hospital scrubs, behind major technological breakthroughs, broadens their sense of infinite possibilities encouraging them to dream beyond boundaries.

We’ve seen what’s possible when we support women from poor and missing middle backgrounds as they pursue a university degree in a high-demand sector. We need more partners in both the public and private sector to join us in this mission. South Africa’s skills shortage is not going away, but neither is the brilliance of its young people, which remains a largely untapped resource, and that extends to our young women as well. Investing in women in high-demand occupations is not an act of charity. It is an investment in a skilled workforce, in inclusive economic growth, and in a more equitable South Africa.

Women continue to face unique challenges in accessing higher education, particularly in traditionally male-dominated fields like technology, engineering, and sciences. Our mission goes beyond providing financial support; we aim to create pathways that will enable every young South African to pursue their dreams without financial constraints.Nokuthula Siqebengu is Head of Fundraising at ISFAP