Take a Girl Child to Work Day
Encyclopedia
Take a Girl Child to Work Day is an annual corporate social investment event, held in South Africa
since 2003. Companies involved organise for female learners (school pupils), usually from disadvantaged backgrounds, to spend the day at their place of work on the last Thursday of May. The initiative is organised by Cell C
, a cellular service provider, and endorsed by the South African Department of Education. It has been called South Africa's "largest collaborative act of volunteerism".
as they lack the skills to make them economically independent. Women remain under-represented in the formal economy, and more so in corporate leadership positions. This is because there are career opportunities that were previously not accessible to women, and other opportunities that individual women may not be aware of.
Additionally, there are challenges and constraints faced by female South African children:
Thus, the goal of the Take a Girl Child to Work Day initiative is to "deepen the thinking of the girl child with regard to their infinite roles in society, enhance her self-esteem, inspire and motivate her to reach her full potential and through exposure to diverse careers and positive role models assist her to prepare for the world of work". Additionally, Cell C believes that the impact will be far-reaching, as "benefits will be shared as she pass[es] them onto her children, her community and her country".
Each year there is a theme for participants to focus on. For example, in 2009 the theme was "Change your world", a challenge for participants to be self-empowered and "Be the agent of the change [they] want to see in [their] world", taken from the quote by Mahatma Gandhi
.
In her article Girl children in the workplace - reflections of a mother in the workplace, Illana Melzner argues that the initiative does not address the demands and responsibility of motherhood, nor encourage equal parenting. Given that 80% of women under 50 in South Africa are mothers, she feels that this the cause of under-representation, rather than a lack of awareness. She feels the responsibility of male partners (in heterosexual relationships) is not given any attention, and suggests scope of the initiative be expanded to "Take a Girl Child to Work and Make a Boy Child Cook the Food, Look after Small Children, Clean the House and Do the Shopping Day". Finally she notes that (in 2005) Cell C itself does not offer day care facilities
for its employees, and like many South African corporations, has unequal parental leave
.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
since 2003. Companies involved organise for female learners (school pupils), usually from disadvantaged backgrounds, to spend the day at their place of work on the last Thursday of May. The initiative is organised by Cell C
Cell C
Cell C is South Africa’s third cell network after Vodacom and MTN, and the first cellular provider operating a dual band GSM 900/1800 MHz network, with over 7,4-million subscribers according to recent reports in Business Day and myadsl...
, a cellular service provider, and endorsed by the South African Department of Education. It has been called South Africa's "largest collaborative act of volunteerism".
Rationale and goals
Despite advances in legislation, the majority of women in South Africa still suffer from gender inequalityGender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
as they lack the skills to make them economically independent. Women remain under-represented in the formal economy, and more so in corporate leadership positions. This is because there are career opportunities that were previously not accessible to women, and other opportunities that individual women may not be aware of.
Additionally, there are challenges and constraints faced by female South African children:
- teenage pregnanciesTeenage pregnancyTeenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
leading to school dropoutsDropping outDropping out means leaving a group for either practical reasons, necessities or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves....
(statistics show that four out of ten girls become pregnant at least once before the age 20) - HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and child-headed families - high levels of sexual abuseSexual abuseSexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
, rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and violence against womenViolence against womenViolence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...
and girls - under-representation within the corporate world
Thus, the goal of the Take a Girl Child to Work Day initiative is to "deepen the thinking of the girl child with regard to their infinite roles in society, enhance her self-esteem, inspire and motivate her to reach her full potential and through exposure to diverse careers and positive role models assist her to prepare for the world of work". Additionally, Cell C believes that the impact will be far-reaching, as "benefits will be shared as she pass[es] them onto her children, her community and her country".
Each year there is a theme for participants to focus on. For example, in 2009 the theme was "Change your world", a challenge for participants to be self-empowered and "Be the agent of the change [they] want to see in [their] world", taken from the quote by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
.
Level of involvement
Companies may register under different levels of involvement as defined by Cell C:- Formal partnership is offered to a limited number of companies who sign up before a given deadline. (For example, in 2009 it was offered to the first 260 companies who registered by April 3.) Formal partners must host a minimum of 20 learners selected by Cell C in cooperation with the Department of Education. Cell C provides transport for the learners, runs introductory workshops for the company and school, and supplies guidebooks and promotional material.
- Supporting partnership is offered to companies who host schools of their choice. (They are encouraged to host schools from historically disadvantaged communities.) Companies provide their own transport. Cell C supplies guidebooks and promotional material.
- Informal partnership is offered to companies who cannot host a school. Instead employees are encouraged to bring their female relatives to work.
Additional initiatives
Additional initiatives have also been set up to complement the original event:- A writing competition, where pupils answer a number of questions on a competition form.
- Career Choice Expos have been held in seven provinces since 2007. Their aim is to extend the programme to the remote rural schools, and extend the impact of the event beyond the day. The expos focus on industries where there is a high level of skills shortage among women, including telecommunications, engineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, ITInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, miningMiningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and commerceCommerceWhile business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
. - The Girl Child Bursary Fund was established in 2007 to enable qualifying pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain access to tertiary education. Funds are being raised through public SMS donations (matched by Cell C) and corporate donations.
- Initiative Awards are presented to companies that maintaining relationships with the schools they hosted, or otherwise made an effort beyond the annual event.
- Alumni of the event are asked to give feedback, including their current employment status
Male children
This initiative focuses one whole day on empowering female children, because of their historical and current disadvantages (see Rationale and goals). However, male children are not ignored. They are asked to reflect on their relationship with women, and informed about what behaviours are not acceptable. Exercises given in the handbook are explicitly aimed at both female and male children.History
| Date | Theme |
|---|---|
| 2003 May 29 | Unknown |
| 2004 May 27 | Unknown |
| 2005 May 26 | Unknown |
| 2006 May 25 | Unknown |
| 2007 May 31 | Unknown |
| 2008 May 29 | Choice empowers |
| 2009 May 28 | Change your world |
| 2010 May 27 | Not yet defined |
| 2011 May 26 | Not yet defined |
Criticisms and concerns
The criticisms and concerns of any corporate social responsibility initiative also apply to this one. Cell C does not directly counter any concerns on its website, but proposes many positive outcomes and seeks feedback from participants.In her article Girl children in the workplace - reflections of a mother in the workplace, Illana Melzner argues that the initiative does not address the demands and responsibility of motherhood, nor encourage equal parenting. Given that 80% of women under 50 in South Africa are mothers, she feels that this the cause of under-representation, rather than a lack of awareness. She feels the responsibility of male partners (in heterosexual relationships) is not given any attention, and suggests scope of the initiative be expanded to "Take a Girl Child to Work and Make a Boy Child Cook the Food, Look after Small Children, Clean the House and Do the Shopping Day". Finally she notes that (in 2005) Cell C itself does not offer day care facilities
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
for its employees, and like many South African corporations, has unequal parental leave
Parental leave
Parental leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off work to care for a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. Often, the term parental leave includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave...
.
See also
- Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work DayTake our daughters and sons to work dayTake Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day is an educational program in the USA that revolves around parents taking their children to work for one day. It is the successor to Take Our Daughters To Work Day, which was expanded to include boys in 2003...
, usually held on the fourth Thursday of April in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is a similar initiative launched by the Ms. Foundation for WomenMs. Foundation for WomenThe Ms. Foundation for Women, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1973 by Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Marlo Thomas. Established at the height of the feminist movement, the Ms...
in 1993 - International Women's DayInternational Women's DayInternational Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
on March 8 - National Women's DayNational Women's DayNational Women's Day is an annual public holiday in South Africa on August 9. This commemorates the national march of women on this day in 1956 to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the "pass", special identification documents which curtailed an African's freedom of...
, a South African public holiday on August 9 - 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, held between November 25 (International Day against Violence against Women) and December 10 (International Human Rights Day), and known in South Africa as 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children
- Women in South AfricaWomen in South AfricaIn general, all racial and ethnic groups in South Africa have long-standing beliefs concerning gender roles, and most are based on the premise that women are less important, or less deserving of power, than men. Most African traditional social organizations are male centered and male dominated...
- Women in the workforceWomen in the workforceUntil modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...