By Taegan Devar, industrial psychologist and the MD of PeopleSmart
Championing women leaders – raise your voice
The 4th annual Women & Leadership in Engineering, Infrastructure & Innovation event held on 12-13 March 2025 brought industries from both the public and private sector together to talk business and build sustainable networks. ©African Mining, incorporating Mining Mirror
On the 12 and 13 March this year, I attended the Women and Leadership conference for engineering and technical leaders, hosted by Pinpoint Stewards. Watching these powerful women in STEM – driving innovation, solving complex problems, demonstrating technical excellence, leading teams and contributing to nation-building – was incredibly inspiring. I left with the conviction that our world would be a better place if more women were leading the way across all spheres of work.
And yet, despite meeting countless courageous, confident, and capable women, I also heard many stories about the persistent challenges of working in male-dominated industries. From navigating work-life balance and parenting responsibilities, to facing ongoing discrimination, lack of workplace support, and the need for essential resources like changerooms, PPE designed for women and nursing rooms – the hurdles remain significant. While progress has been made, it is simply not enough.
This raised an important question: how do we get to the point where gender equity is embedded in organisations through real, structural change, not just symbolic gestures like an annual Women’s Day breakfast or token gifts? Leadership must recognise that gender equity is not just a compliance requirement but a core organisational value. Inclusive and transformed cultures foster happier workforces, which is not only good for business but, more importantly, good for people.
Dr. Gugu Moche from the National Research Foundation highlighted this point in her presentation on unconscious bias. Citing World Bank statistics, she noted that nine out of ten men and women hold biases against women. She also highlighted a troubling disparity: while 43% of STEM graduates are women, only 19% hold senior roles in tech fields. This gap costs the economy billions in lost talent, stifles innovation, limits GDP growth and reduces competitiveness in the global market.
It starts with us
As Sunday Times reporter Suthentira Govender recently highlighted in an article on workplace bullying, research shows that nearly 70% of female employees in South Africa experience bullying from fellow women in positions of authority. Contributing factors to bullying include personality traits such as narcissism or psychopathy, toxic workplace cultures, inadequate policies, poor leadership and complex power dynamics.
I have heard many women speak about the need to “play the game” and “climb the ladder”, but how can women leaders use their positions of power to lift other women up, rather than competing or acting as gatekeepers? At the conference, many attendees emphasised the power of mentorship and the importance of creating supportive environments where women can share their stories, know they are not alone, and learn how to make their workplaces safer and more inclusive for future generations.
As women, we need to explore our own biases and how we treat other women in their personal and professional lives. Let us start there. We can have a massive impact if we commit to ensuring that the next generation of women leaders experience greater inclusivity and safety.
Taegan Devar is an industrial psychologist and the managing director of organisational development company PeopleSmart. Supplied by PeopleSmart
Bringing men with us
This work cannot be done by women alone. Men should also recognise the value of gender equity and actively champion it. How can we foster greater awareness in our organisations; engage men in discussions about gender equity and highlight the benefits of having women in leadership roles? Conversations in this space can be challenging, often confronting deep-seated cultural norms and learned behaviours. However, when we acknowledge that gender equity affects all of us – our daughters, partners, mothers, nieces – and indeed men – and critically assess which beliefs serve us and which no longer do, we create the space for meaningful dialogue and change.
What can a strategic approach to gender equality look like?
To be fair to organisations, many may default to the women’s day breakfasts or token gifts because they are unaware of where to begin to impact structural inequality in the workplace. In our work in Women in Mining, we have learnt many lessons about what is having an impact – organisations that adopt some of these approaches are seeing the needle move. Here are a few to consider:
Understanding women’s needs in your organisation: Start by asking women in your organisation about their experiences working there. What is working well? What needs to improve? And, what needs to be done to address their challenges?
Leadership support and buy-in: It is critical that any equity initiative is led and supported right from the top. It needs to be put on the agenda, and one way to do this is to share with leaders the outcomes of the above needs analysis and enable leadership to hear directly from women working in their organisation.
Prioritise key areas of focus and create a clear plan: Create a clear plan that addresses the challenges identified in the needs analysis and establish a multi-stakeholder structure to ensure that there is a team to deliver and report regularly on this.
Engage the organisation to champion women: This work cannot be accomplished without the collaboration of both men and women to champion the cause. Ensuring that you create engaging awareness campaigns and opportunities to share initiatives and get the whole organisation involved is critical for buy-in and sustainability.
I left the conference feeling a sense of hope and comradery – that as women, if we can truly champion one another, anything is possible. In the words of Rebeca Andrade, on her competitor, gold medallist Simone Biles: “I know that she wants to win, but she will continue rooting for me. And she knows that I want to win, but I’ll keep rooting for her.”
| At the Pinpoint Stewards Women and Leadership in Engineering, Innovation & Infrastructure event in March, Taegan Devar, MD of PeopleSmart, asked Dr Gugu Moche group exec: Digital Transformation and acting, DCEO: Research, Innovation, Impact Support and Advancement (@RIISA), the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), “What are the steps we should take to tackle unconscious bias the tech sector?” | 
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| About: PeopleSmart (www.peoplesmart.global) is an organisational development consultancy working across South Africa and the continent. The company focusses on leadership development, the design of self-sustaining wellness and safety programmes, Women in Mining, executive coaching, and team building. For more information contact info@peoplesmart.global |
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