Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Intersectionality

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Women of color in the South African workforce: workplace bias and its consequences
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mtya, Busisiwe; Maier, Christoph
    This research study investigates the significance of women of colour in the South Africanworkplace by examining the impact of workplace bias and its consequences. The study takesan intersectional approach, considering the unique experiences and challenges faced bywomen of color in the workforce. The transactional model of coping and multi-level biastheories are employed to analyse the coping mechanisms employed by women of color andthe organizational and societal factors that contribute to bias. This research utilizes aqualitative survey methodology, specifically targeting MBA women of color from WitsBusiness School, who are employed in various industries across South Africa. The surveyaims to capture data on participants' experiences of workplace bias, coping strategies, and theconsequences of bias on their professional growth and well-being.Data collection from the survey questionnaire will be analysed using thematic analysistechniques to examine the correlation between workplace bias, coping strategies, andoutcomes such as career advancement, job satisfaction, and mental health. The study seeks toidentify the specific types of bias experienced by women of color and explore how thesebiases impact their career trajectories and overall well-being. Study findings are expected toprovide a better comprehension of the difficulties faced by women of colour in the SouthAfrican workforce and shed light on the effectiveness of coping strategies in mitigating thenegative consequences of bias. Moreover, the research aims to provide insights fororganizations and policymakers to develop interventions and strategies that promoteinclusivity and equality in the workplace, leading to a more diverse and equitable workforcein South Africa.
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    An intersectionality of race and ethnicity: the glass ceiling in the banking sector in Kenya and South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Genga, Cheryl Akinyi Margaret; Maier, Christoph
    Even though progress has been made in the Kenyan and South African banking sector, Black African women remain a minority in Top Executive leadership positions. Previous research on the “glass ceiling” focuses on Black African women as one homogenous group not acknowledging the diversity dimensions of Black African women from Africa. Invisible factors such as race and ethnicity have been stated to contribute to the glass ceiling in the banking sector, yet this has not been investigated making Black African women more invisible. This research primarily aims to provide an understanding of the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and career advancement of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. This research further aims: to describe the obstacles that Black African women still face, to analyse the diversity of Black African women in management, to identify the reasons as to why some Black African women have been able to crack the glass ceiling in the Kenyan and South African banking sector and to give recommendations to stakeholders as to how they can help crack the glass ceiling for Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. To address the research objectives, this research applied a qualitative Intercatergorical Intersectionality Approach to provide an understanding of the relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. This was facilitated by the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups that were carried out with the participantsbeing Black African women managers in the Kenyan and South African banking sector in Nairobi and Johannesburg, respectively. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis in which themes and patterns were identified to address the research objectives. Firstly, findings from the research illustrated a relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender. The extent of the relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender was discussed by the role of race, the role of ethnicity, the intersectionality of race and gender, and the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender in the career advancement of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. Secondly, the findings identified the obstacles that Black African women still face in the banking sector, which were discussed and described into three groups: Black African women are their own worst enemies in the banking sector. Thirdly, the findings illustrated the diversity dimensions of Black African women managers from the Kenyan and South African banking sector in relation to their race, ethnicity, and the positions that they held in the banks they were working for. Fourthly, the findings highlighted reasons as to why some Black African women managers had cracked the glass ceiling (discussed with the use of the glass ceiling scale). Fifthly, the findings recommend that stakeholders have to be fully committed if they want to help Black African women crack the glass ceiling in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. In conclusion, through the findings, this research provides a conceptual framework to understand the glass ceiling in relation to the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector
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    The intersectionality of social generations, locale, and race, in diversity management in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Nayager, Kesagee; Carmichael, Terri
    This qualitative case study explores the intersectionality of social generations (known as cohorts), locale (space and place), and race, how it may influence intra-generational differences in South Africa, and the meanings that intra- generational differences may have for diversity management studies. Whilst intersectionality studies commonly focus on the intersecting of social categories such as race and gender, little is known about the intersectionality of social generations, race, and locale (space and place) in the workspace in South Africa and about intra-generational differences and the meanings it may have for studies on diversity management. Whereas the literature on the phenomenon of social generations tends to portray social generations as homogenous and as defined in the American context, this study contributes to studies on local social generations by examining how intra-generational differences may be facilitated when race, locale (space and place), and social generations intersect. The seminal theory of generations defines locale in terms of space only. By expanding on the definition of locale to include both space (a physical setting) and place (the ambience created when space is socially engineered), this study explores the Black and White lived experiences of social generations, space, and place in the workspace. A dual case study design was used, and 60 face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with Black and White employees who were purposively selected from the three social generations (Generation X, Generation Y, and Baby Boomer) working at Bombela and the Gautrain Management Agency. The research findings were thematically analysed to explore how Black and White South Africans from each social generation experience spaces and places in present-day South Africa. The analysis revealed that, in the workspace, Black and White South Africans from different social generations have a shared experience of space but varied experiences of place. Black participants from the Generation Y social generation described their financial burden of caring for extended family members who have been historically disadvantaged by the Apartheid regime in South Africa, terming it a “Black tax” from which, they say, their White counterparts are exempt. White participants from this same social generation described their guilt and remorse for the historical system of Apartheid. They spoke of the emotional burden that they carry for it caused by their Whiteness. The study coins these different Black and White social experiences as the perceived ‘financial and socio- political costs of being Black in post-Apartheid South Africa’ and the perceived ‘socio-political cost of being White in post-Apartheid South Africa’. As a contribution to diversity management studies, the study introduces the term ‘placial planning’, which entails socially re-engineering the ambience in the workplace so that Black and White South Africans from different social generations have similar experiences of place in the workplace
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    An intersectionality of race and ethnicity: the glass ceiling in the banking sector in Kenya and South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021-12) Genga,Cheryl Akinyi Margaret
    Even though progress has been made in the Kenyan and South African banking sector, Black African women remain a minority in Top Executive leadership positions. Previous research on the “glass ceiling” focuses on Black African women as one homogenous group not acknowledging the diversity dimensions of Black African women from Africa. Invisible factors such as race and ethnicity have been stated to contribute to the glass ceiling in the banking sector, yet this has not been investigated making Black African women more invisible. This research primarily aims to provide an understanding of the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and career advancement of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. This research further aims: to describe the obstacles that Black African women still face, to analyse the diversity of Black African women in management, to identify the reasons as to why some Black African women have been able to crack the glass ceiling in the Kenyan and South African banking sector and to give recommendations to stakeholders as to how they can help crack the glass ceiling for Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. To address the research objectives, this research applied a qualitative Intercatergorical Intersectionality Approach to provide an understanding of the relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. This was facilitated by the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups that were carried out with the participants being Black African women managers in the Kenyan and South African banking sector in Nairobi and Johannesburg, respectively. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis in which themes and patterns were identified to address the research objectives. Firstly, findings from the research illustrated a relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender. The extent of the relationship between race, ethnicity, and gender was discussed by the role of race, the role of ethnicity, the intersectionality of race and gender, and the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender in the career advancement of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. Secondly, the findings identified the obstacles that Black African women still face in the banking sector, which were discussed and described into three groups: Black African women are their own worst enemies in the banking sector. Thirdly, the findings illustrated the diversity dimensions of Black African women managers from the Kenyan and South African banking sector in relation to their race, ethnicity, and the positions that they held in the banks they were working for. Fourthly, the findings highlighted reasons as to why some Black African women managers had cracked the glass ceiling (discussed with the use of the glass ceiling scale). Fifthly, the findings recommend that stakeholders have to be fully committed if they want to help Black African women crack the glass ceiling in the Kenyan and South African banking sector. In conclusion, through the findings, this research provides a conceptual framework to understand the glass ceiling in relation to the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender of Black African women in the Kenyan and South African banking sector.