Women's Day is celebrated annually on 9 August. This year, the theme is “Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future” (Source: https://www.gov.za/WomenDay2021).

Here you can view a gender comparison based on highest level of education. The maps indicate the percentage of females with a higher education qualification (NQF 7,8,9 and 10) per municipality compared to males. Figures are based on the Census 2016 Community Survey. At NQF levels 7 & 8 (Bachelors & Honours level respectively)  females tend to make up a larger proportion than males. However, at NQF level 9 & 10 Masters & Doctoral level respectively) , this relationship is reversed. You can also see that the spatial distribution of % of females with the highest level of education is not equally spread throughout South Africa.

“The coherence and clarity in these gender comparison maps appealed to me, despite my limited background of Geography. As a village woman who acknowledges the need for a change in the narrative and the plight of rural women, reading these maps evoked a wave of superfluous emotions in me. The maps narrate the true story of South African women, it tells a story of a true ‘Imbokodo’ who stayed behind in the village to fend for her children, while her husband left for the big cities to find employment or improve his education.  Contrary to popular notion that there are structural barriers to women’s access to education, the map shows that women in some rural areas of the country fearlessly progressed to achieve higher qualifications (PhD and Masters) at a higher rate than men.  Notwithstanding the fact that there is still a need for women empowerment programmes in order to realise an achieving society, particularly rural women” (Lunga Ngcongo).