- Title
- The barriers experienced by South African businesswomen in corporate executive leadership
- Creator
- Magxwalisa, Sithisa
- Subject
- Women executives -- South Africa
- Subject
- Executives -- South Africa Leadership -- Women -- South Africa Leadership -- Psychological aspects
- Date Issued
- 2019
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40779
- Identifier
- vital:36236
- Description
- This study explored the barriers experienced by women holding executive positions in the corporate environment. Over the years there has been a rise in women entering executive leadership positions of corporate organisations. However, the existence of research in this area is minimal, particularly with regard to the barriers that exist for women in executive positions. Past research has focused mainly on the barriers that thwart the career advancement of women in the corporate sector. This study is presented as a multiple case study that incorporates a combination of investigative and descriptive approaches used to describe the experiences of South African women executives in the corporate sector. These case participants were selected and analytically filtered using non-probability, purposive sampling. Data in the form of primary and secondary data was collected and analysed using document study and thematic document analysis of relevant sources that have been published. The findings of this study are not generalizable as they are limited to the subjective experiences of the selected case participants. For the purpose of this study, these case participants experiences were categorised into psychosocial- and organisational-related barriers to women executives in corporate. Being the first of its nature, this study is specifically based on the experiences of South African women executives in the corporate sector as opposed to barriers to the career advancement of women and the “glass ceiling” hypothesis. The barriers identified in this study are based on the experiences of the selected case participants and include work-life balance and work-life role conflict, the underrepresentation and isolation of women in executive leadership, gender prejudice and discrimination, and institutional bias against women executives in the workplace. The concluding remarks in this study suggests that the experience of barriers for women in the workplace continue to exist beyond the glass ceiling. According to the case participants consulted in this study, gender barriers are not limited to women seeking opportunities for career advancement. However, recommendations that respond to these barriers have been provided and include advocating against gender discrimination in the workplace, educating people on gender-related issues as well as implementing government-provided policies in organisations.
- Format
- xii, 116 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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NMU School of Industrial Psychology and Human Resources
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Sithisa Magxwalisa.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |