Academic staff and employment equity profile in Business Management departments at universities in South Africa

This article is a report on an attempt to determine the composition of academic staff of Business Management departments at South African universities. The objective was to determine the qualifications, level of employment and ranks filled by academics from the designated groups (black, coloured and Indian) and whites. Business Management and related departments from 13 universities representing 136 academics participated in the study. The findings indicate that academics from all the designated groups combined, constitute only 40%, as opposed to 60% whites, which indicates a shortage of academics from the former group. Thirty one per cent of all academic staff in Business Management have doctorates, and of these, 2% are from the combined designated groups and 29% from the white group. Ranked academics from the designated groups are in the minority: 31% are senior lecturers, 11% are associate professors and 7% are professors. The majority, which is 57%, of academics in business management are male and 43% are female. Representation of females from the designated groups is the lowest at 14%, with white males the highest at 31%. The results indicate that in the senior ranks, the number of academics from the designated groups, especially females, are far below employment equity expectations