A career framework for non-academic middle management women in higher education institution in South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, higher education senior and executive leadership remains a domain dominated by the male gender despite policy assurances to alter this status quo. This study aimed to comprehend the narratives about the lived experiences and career progression of non-academic women in middle-level positions in South African higher education institutions (HEIs) and develop a career framework from this. The study was guided by an interpretive research philosophy. It used a phenomenological research design and applied a qualitative research methodology. Its population of interest was middle-level non-academic managers in South African HEIs. From these, a purposive sample of 20 was drawn. Data was collected from this sample using semi-structured interviews, and the constructivist grounded theory (CGT) approach was used to analyse data. The resultant data was presented in themes and the form of a final model as envisaged. The study's main findings was a framework that showed that career progression from current middle-management to senior-level leadership is a function of factors across three broad spheres: personal, organisational, and societal. These spheres were derived and reflected in the themes extracted in the analysis. The study's framework could enable women's progression from middle-level management to senior management positions in HEIs. It supports recommendations across the personal, organisational and societal spheres that affect this progression. A significant recommendation to women professionals in HEIs is to normalise work-life balance. Women should not be forced to choose either one or the other. Instead, this balance should be recognised as a "normal" scenario whose policy accommodation must be lobbied for. Women should avoid making moral sacrifices to progress towards senior leadership. The focus should be on creating equal grounds for women to succeed as senior HE leaders. HEIs should develop career development policies addressing women's slow progression trajectories. HEIs should make more formalised mentorship programs available to women. HEIs require urgent cultural transformation to rid institutions of dominant patriarchal systems. Leadership quota systems that balance the leadership composition of HEIs by race and gender should be enforced.