A report done written by Christy Bragg, Roshan Stanford, Liz Macdaid, Bassier Dramat, Lynette Munro, all of The Green Connection, identified problems in the demographic profile of the environmental sector. A list of problems highlights where transformation in the sector is yet to be achieved.
EIA&M (as represented by IAIA and other organizations) is not demographically representative and there remains a disproportionate number of Whites in the sector relative to the national population demography profile.
There is not uniform distribution of demographic groups and of gender in EIA&M service providers and civil society organisations across provinces
There is unequal demographic representation across EIA&M public, private and NGO sectors:
• There is a greater proportion of Whites in NGO jobs relative to the total, than in other demographic groups.
• Whites are over-represented in all sectors except government
• Asians are under-represented in NGOs , Coloured and Asians are often under-represented in the sectors
Within the EIA&M professional registration bodies, the demographics spread is not representative of the wider population but candidate categories indicate an increasing HDI membership:
• Professional categories are White-dominated but Candidate Categories are dominated by Blacks.
• The highest proportion of Blacks occurred in a low category level Candidate Engineering Technician, indicating skills shortages
• IAIA conference delegates showed whites as over-represented.
EIA&M in government shows high transformation and gender representation.
The HDI component at undergraduate level is increasing but not at postgraduate level; there are large variances across universities and disciplines:
• Women are under-represented in environmental higher education relating to EIA&M
• Demographic representation in the EIA&M private sector is skewed and transformation is slowed; there is a lack of formal policies and/or skills development
• Networking is perceived as a crucial skill in EIA&M for gaining work and recognition
• There is perception of a high staff turnover among HDIs within EIA&M
• Paucity of information on EIA&M graduate output compared to skills scarcity
• Paucity of information on cultural tension within the EIA&M work environment
• Soft skills are lacking in education and training programs of EIA&M applicants
• Report-writing, people and language skills needed for EIA&M
• Little is being done to raise awareness of EIA&M as a career; Secondary schools have very little environmental information
• Need for more entrepreneurial skills within EIA&M; there are few black specialists or HDI-owned EAPs in EIA&M
• NGOs involved in EIA&M show uneven transformation