A mixed methods study of women's advancement into top management positions in municipalities in Mpumalanga Province
Loading...
Authors
Mona, Themba Montgomery
Issue Date
2022-03
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Gender transformation , Gender , Women’s advancement , Gender equity , Gender equality , Employment equity , Local government , Municipalities , Top management , Women’s empowerment , Organisational change , Feminist, Womanist, Bosadi Theorizations , SGD 5 Gender Equality
Alternative Title
Abstract
Despite the legislative imperative and commitment by government to ensure that all
previously discriminatory laws and practices are eradicated, women still face significant
challenges in as far as their advancement into top management positions is concerned.
The Employment Equity Act of 1998 (Act 55 of 1998) seeks to create equal employment
opportunities for the designated groups, which include Black people; women; and people
with disabilities. The advancement of women into key positions in government,
particularly at national and provincial levels, has been quite significant. However, the
same could not be said about the advancement of women into key positions in local
government, which incorporates the municipalities. The pace of gender transformation in
senior management positions in the municipalities has been slow, which warrants a
sociological investigation.
The broad aim of the research reported in this thesis was to develop a theory to describe
and explain the conditions surrounding the pace of gender transformation that affects
women’s advancement into top management positions in the municipalities. The aim was
also to provide a perspective of measures that could be ensured to accelerate the pace of
gender transformation to enable women to access top management positions. The
research was a mixed methods study with an emphasis on qualitative research, which
incorporated grounded theory that was used to conduct the investigation targeting
municipalities in the Mpumalanga province. The substantive grounded theory that
emerged for this study is that the pace of gender transformation that affects women’s
advancement into top management positions in the municipalities relates to conditions
existing both internal and external to the municipalities. These are discussed as micro level conditions, which relate to women as a designated group, seeking advancement
opportunities; and macro-level conditions, which relate to the municipalities, political
influences, and society, as institutions to ensure the advancement of women. To accelerate
the pace of gender transformation to enable women to access top management positions,
different measures need to be ensured both inside the municipalities and outside the
municipalities, in society and other social institutions.