ETD Collection

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Blacks--South Africa

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    Factors affecting the retention of generation Y black women in the finance sector in Johannesburg, South Africa
    (2018) Dhlomo, Monhlanhla Happiness
    The world of work has changed over the years because of globalisation and new ways of doing business. In order for organisations to remain competitive in the market, they need to adapt to these changes by ensuring that they attract, develop and retain the right talent. This is particularly acute amongst South African organisations as they need to retain the right talent due to skills shortages and employee mobility. The issue of skills shortages is a result of black people not being given a good education and opportunities in the past during apartheid (IDASA, 1995). Also, now that there has been improvement made with giving the historically disadvantaged (i.e. black men and women) preference with regard to employment in South Africa, this has created opportunities to move and change jobs. Hence, this research explored factors that contribute to the retention of employees in the South African context. It specifically looked at Generation Y black female professionals from the ages of 25 to 35 years old working in the finance sector. The reason for this is because Generation Y, in comparison to other generations (i.e. Baby Boomers and Generation X), are currently those who are mostly employed. As much as affirmative action has made progress in giving the disadvantaged preference with regards to employment and empowering women by giving them more opportunities in the workplace then men, black women are still not developed and promoted in the workplace as they should be. This has led to organisations being challenged by the legislation to develop and promote black women in the workplace. Also, this gives black women more opportunities to constantly seek for better jobs and hop from one job to the next. This has created a challenge for organisations to retain them. Furthermore, the industries that have a high turnover according to Statistics SA (2016) and Compdata Surveys (2016) are finance, mining and manufacturing, with the highest being finance. A qualitative research design was used to explore factors that contribute to the retention of Generation Y black female professionals. The results showed compensation, work/organisational environment in relation to career development opportunities, gender inequality/discrimination, racism, lack of support, mentorship, harassment, work overload, reward and recognition, and work-life balance as challenges that Generation Y black female professionals face in the workplace. These also showed as factors that have an impact on the retention of Generation Y black female professionals. Also, the results showed that these challenges and factors have a psychological and professional impact on Generation Y black female professionals. Recommendations on the strategies that organisations can implement to improve the retention of Generation Y black female professionals are discussed. Suggestions ii to improve future research on the retention of Generation Y black female professionals are also discussed.
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    Occupations and breast cancer in women treated at a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg
    (2015-04-17) Abrahams, Odette Natasha
    Introduction This is the first study in South Africa to look for an association between breast cancer and occupations in black women. Breast cancer is one of the commonest forms of malignancy experienced by women in South Africa and its incidence is increasing (1). Approximately six million women work in South Africa, some of these women are likely to be exposed to carcinogenic agents during their daily working lives. Many occupational carcinogens to the breast have been described and there is some evidence suggesting that many more synthetic chemicals used in different industries may also have carcinogenic properties that have not fully been explored as yet (2). This study plans to identify occupations that place black women at risk of breast cancer in the South African context. Thereafter, it will assess if there is an association between shift work (a known carcinogen to the breast) and breast cancer in black women in South Africa. The findings of the study could be of particular significance to the local context, given that women are entering the workforce in increasing numbers possibly putting more women at risk. Aims The aims of the study are to identify occupations that possibly increase the risk of breast cancer in South Africa, and to specifically assess if there is an association between shift work and breast cancer in black South African women. Objectives To determine whether there are associations between different occupations and breast cancer in black women by calculating the odds ratios (ORs) for breast cancer in different occupations in South Africa. To examine the association between shift work and breast cancer in black women adjusting for variables that may confound the association. Methods The study is an unmatched case-control study using secondary data from the existing Johannesburg Cancer Case Control Study (JCCS) database. The JCCS study is a large ongoing study that recruits black male and female cancer patients with all types of cancers receiving treatment at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH), a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg. All women patients recruited from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2009 were included in the analysis. This included 1 903 cases and 3 990 controls. An expert group was set up to estimate the likelihood of occupational engagement in shift work for the existing occupational groupings present in the JCCS database. These occupations were classified into: a) high probability of shift work; b) possibility of shift work and c) unlikely to do shift work. ORs were estimated using logistic regression. Those who had never worked were the reference category. Bivariate analysis was then carried out to estimate ORs between individual occupations and breast cancer and later to estimate ORs between the likelihood of involvement in shift work and breast cancer. Multivariate logistic regression followed a forward stepwise approach and all the possible confounders present in the JCCS database were considered. These included age, smoking, drinking alcohol, age at first menarche, parity, age at menopause, use of oral contraception and retroviral status. Results With regards to occupation, the bivariate analyses showed significant ORs for breast cancer in the occupational categories of health, education, social services, retail, hospitality, construction, food, textile and manufacturing, with the highest OR in education (OR 2.33, 95% CI: 1.44 – 3.78) and social service (OR 2.39, 95% CI: 1.24 – 4.58) followed by office workers (OR 2.17, 95% CI: 1.47-3.20) and health workers (OR 2.01, 95% CI: 1.33-3.04). Agriculture (OR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.32 – 0.94) and domestic workers (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.75 – 1.22) had ORs under one. Following the adjustments for possible confounders, no statistically significant ORs were found between specific occupations and breast cancer. However, manufacturing had the highest OR (OR 1.44, 95% CI: 0.42- 4.94), followed by office workers (OR 1.44 95% CI: 0.31- 5.94) and health workers (OR 1.31, 95% CI: 0.36-4.76) as compared to the never worked group. In the bivariate analyses there was an association between a possibility of doing shift workers and breast cancer (OR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.41-1.97). Similarly, women who had a high likelihood of participating in shift work had an elevated odds ratio for the disease (OR 1.76, 95% CI: 1.44-2.15). After adjusting for confounders in the multivariate model the ORs for both shift work groups were increased with women who possibly did shift work having an OR of 2.18 (95% CI: 1.34- 3.56) and those who had a high likelihood of carrying out shift work having an OR of 2.13 (95% CI: 1.26- 3.61). Conclusions The bivariate analyses identified elevated ORs for breast cancer in some occupations but in multivariate analyses no statistically significant OR were found. Nevertheless ORs>1 were found for the occupational categories of manufacturing, office and health workers. This study reports a strong association of breast cancer and shift work, which is supported by the literature. However shift work still remains necessary for the functioning of many industries. Many gaps still exist, however, and this study has tried to address one of the neglected areas of occupational risks for breast cancer development.