Human Factors in Management and Leadership, Vol. 92, 2023, 18–28 https://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe1003730 A Changing Demographic - Profiling South African Female Quantity Surveyors Daniël Johannes Hoffman, Faith Dowelani, and Benita Gertruida Zulch University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa ABSTRACT The growth and prosperity of a profession such as the discipline of quantity surveyors in South Africa are, amongst others, linked to informed self-knowledge and integrating that knowledge into future strategies and planning. When the profile of a professio- nal discipline is stable, this management process is relatively simple and can rely on previous and existing self-knowledge. However, a young democracy and developing country like South Africa often presents additional management challenges. Strate- gies relying on the composition of the profession of 5 to 10 years ago may be found wanting today. Successful progress and effective succession planning will require pro- fessional disciplines and organisations serving these professions to keep up to date with environmental changes. These changes include the profile or composition of the profession. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many industries and professions alike. However, the pandemic also provided the need for self-reflection and the time and space to perform such contemplation. The South African Associa- tion of Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), assisted by the University of Pretoria, analysed all members on their database with a comprehensive questionnaire. A total of 626 valid responses were received from respondents, representing approximately 14% of registered QS’s in South Africa. The data from these questionnaires indicate that significant changes are occurring in the profile of the ASAQS membership. The South African quantity surveying profession of the past consisted mostly of male members of European descent. The changes amongst quantity surveyors are very apparent in the age and racial make-up of the current membership. A total of 42% of QS’s are not older than 35 years old, while 51% of QS’s are of non-European descent. Gender is another important profiling aspect describing the changing face of South African quan- tity surveyors, with females making up more than 26% of all QS’s and 60% of female QS’s not older than 35 years. This study will describe the growing number of female quantity surveyors in South Africa by evaluating aspects such as age, gender, race, locational spread, academic qualifications, nationality, registration status with the Council of South African Quantity Surveyors, and length of the current employment term will be used to provide a detailed description of the female quantity surveyors in South Africa. The above information will be of significant value to the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors, the management of quantity surveying firms and institutions such as universities that offer accredited academic programmes for the training of quantity surveyors. The findings can also be shared with quantity surve- ying professionals across international borders to compare against the profiles of their millennial cohorts of quantity surveyors. Keywords: Construction, Female, Profiling, Quantity surveyors, South Africa © 2023. Published by AHFE Open Access. All rights reserved. 18