Developing an intersectionality framework for exploring gender dynamics at management level within a state-owned organization in South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: Gender oppression and inequality has gained momentum among academics as an emerging feminist concern. However, there are not many literary works about black South African women who work for state-owned enterprises (SOE) and encounter bias. Black women still experience subtle racial and gender discrimination, even though women are susceptible to bias more frequently than men. These discriminatory actions give rise to the idea of intersectionality, which highlight social stratification along racial, gender, and ethnic lines. Therefore, this study investigates marginalisation of women and develops an intersectionality framework for exploring gender dynamics at management level within a state-owned organization in South Africa. Although all concepts of citizenship and employment are gendered, women cannot rely on liberal social policy and programs to reduce inequities (Coulter et al., 2014). Black women in South Africa were seen as "full citizens" when the country embraced democracy, but inequality persists since these women's lived experiences are only hazily acknowledged. Even though a workplace is merely a small part of a society within of a network of mutually reinforcing social and political interactions, the ongoing underrepresentation of black women in society is brought into question. To explore how political and organizational engagement interact, we draw on ideas of intersectionality, systems thinking, and leadership theory. While black women are credited with creating the concept of intersectionality is ascribed to African women, early writing on European, Asian, and American women focused on family-related issues and to a lesser extent on the effects of prejudice and pervasive socio-economic inequalities and their manifestation in the workplace. Studies on intersectionality are no longer exclusively coming from the United States, Europe, or Asia, but they still have a lot to do with South Africa. So, the study points to a contextual gap regarding the African…
abstract: Gender oppression and inequality has gained momentum among academics as an emerging feminist concern. However, there are not many literary works about black South African women who work for state-owned enterprises (SOE) and encounter bias. Black women still experience subtle racial and gender discrimination, even though women are susceptible to bias more frequently than men. These discriminatory actions give rise to the idea of intersectionality, which highlight social stratification along racial, gender, and ethnic lines. Therefore, this study investigates marginalisation of women and develops an intersectionality framework for exploring gender dynamics at management level within a state-owned organization in South Africa. Although all concepts of citizenship and employment are gendered, women cannot rely on liberal social policy and programs to reduce inequities (Coulter et al., 2014). Black women in South Africa were seen as "full citizens" when the country embraced democracy, but inequality persists since these women's lived experiences are only hazily acknowledged. Even though a workplace is merely a small part of a society within of a network of mutually reinforcing social and political interactions, the ongoing underrepresentation of black women in society is brought into question. To explore how political and organizational engagement interact, we draw on ideas of intersectionality, systems thinking, and leadership theory. While black women are credited with creating the concept of intersectionality is ascribed to African women, early writing on European, Asian, and American women focused on family-related issues and to a lesser extent on the effects of prejudice and pervasive socio-economic inequalities and their manifestation in the workplace. Studies on intersectionality are no longer exclusively coming from the United States, Europe, or Asia, but they still have a lot to do with South Africa. So, the study points to a contextual gap regarding the African…
author: Bowers, Tania
keywords: Business
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:10Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Graduate School of Business (GSB)

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40354