Factors influencing the advancement of women into executive management in Gauteng’s infrastructure sector

Abstract

This study critically investigates the persistent underrepresentation of women in executive management within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID), a pivotal institution in South Africa’s male-dominated public infrastructure sector. Despite progressive policy frameworks, including the Employment Equity Act (1998) and national mandates for 50% female representation at all senior levels, systemic gender disparities remain deeply entrenched. Guided by African feminist epistemology and employing narrative inquiry, this qualitative study centres the lived experiences of five women senior managers; Mariah, Margaret, Mapholba, Kia and Nancy [pseudonyms] to interrogate the complex organisational, personal and intersectional factors influencing women’s advancement into executive roles at the DID. Findings reveal that organisational barriers, including political gatekeeping, pervasive surveillance and entrenched Boys’ Club networks, systematically obstruct participants progression. Participants describe confronting the dual burdens of the glass ceiling, which limits promotion and the glass cliff, where women are assigned high-risk, under- resourced portfolios intended to absorb institutional failure. This hostile environment denies women authority, recognition and support, resulting in widespread burnout and emotional exhaustion. On a personal level, caregiving responsibilities, lack of mentorship and absence of formal development pathways exacerbate these challenges, disproportionately impacting ethnic minority women and compounding systemic exclusion. The experiences of harassment, marginalisation and intellectual erasure further underscore gendered institutional violence as a deliberate mechanism to enforce women’s marginality. Importantly, the study refutes narratives that blame women for their stalled progression. Instead, it reveals how institutional complicity sustains inequality by rewarding conformity to masculinised leadership norms and punishing dissent. Participants exhibit agency through organisational resistance, subversion and redefining leadership beyond traditional frameworks. This research calls for bold systemic reforms, including transparent leadership pipelines, intersectional HR policies and trauma-informed trusted wellness initiatives. Genuine gender equity demands dismantling entrenched power structures and reconstructing institutions on the principles of care, accountability and justice.