Female driver-partners operating on the Uber app have shown that in a predominantly male-dominated industry, they too can rise above gender stereotypes.
The results from a recent Driving Toward Equality report showed the benefits that ride sharing has provided female drivers. This included “flexibility” and “hidden benefits”, such as the additional security of an emergency in-app button and GPS-tracking of every trip.
Due to ride sharing, female riders felt more independent and had increased freedom of movement.
Babalwa Jama and Bongiswa Maqina are two Uber female driver-partners who have used the technology of the app to help better their lives and work.
Jama, 37, works as a financial literacy trainer when she’s not busy driving with Uber. A mother of two boys, she enjoys providing financial literacy training to the youth in her community so that she can educate them on how to better manage their finances. Uber has given her the opportunity to provide for her children.
She said that the location tracking features and the in-app emergency button had helped her feel a lot more comfortable and safer when she was driving.
“Uber has allowed me to start my own business on training and development in financial literacy, which has provided me with the means to support myself, and has given me the opportunity to set and achieve my own goal of being a successful businesswoman.”
Bongiswa Maqina is 36-years-old and is a very passionate and dedicated woman who draws inspiration from her supportive family.
The one thing she loves the most about being a driver-partner is that she is afforded the ability to juggle many things at once, which enables her to prioritise and focus on the things in life that she deems to be important.
Working for Uber has allowed Maqina to meet many remarkable people.
“I once met a lady who left a lasting impression on me as we had a wonderful conversation about life which inspired me to look at things differently and motivated me to work harder."
The location tracking feature, along with the other safety attractions that the app allows, has provided her with a sense of security. The flexibility that ride-hailing provides is acknowledged by the 67% of South African women who were surveyed and believe that this is the most valuable benefit of driving with Uber.
From this flexibility, Maqina who also works as a network marketer, has been able to work two jobs and attend a lot of business seminars in her free time to broaden her knowledge and equip herself with the necessary tools that will aid her in her dream of offering diversity within the transportation industry.