Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology in Public Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the career progression of women in higher education in general and South Africa in particular, using the case study of the Durban University of Technology. Recent research has shown that even though women have made some progress as compared to where they were twenty years ago, the progress of women has proven to be resistant to change in terms of higher level and rewarding positions (Turner 2012; Hofmeyr and Mzobe 2012; Botool and Sajid 2013; Mouley, 2013). According to Boushey and Farrell (2013:6), this lack of progress results from a lack of flexibility and unpredictable scheduling at the workplace. Others argue that career interruption for childbirth and rearing; domestic responsibilities; gender parities at the work place; organizational structures; and policies that do not meet the needs of female employees affect career progress (Wallace and Smith 2011:3 and Tsoka 2010:6). The purpose of the study was, therefore, to examine the nature of the progress of women in higher education, and to identify factors influencing their progress. The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology with a sample of 250 women from academic and administrative units the stratified random sampling technique was used, in which the target population at the DUT was grouped into different strata, and then the sample elements were selected from each of the groups. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research designs (mixed method), whereby self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of open-ended and closed ended questions. The closed- ended questions were quantitative, while the open ended questions were qualitative. The closed-ended responses were then analysed using SPSS, while the open ended responses used the inductive approach to highlight the factors influencing the career progression of women in higher education, thereby leading to recommendations on policies which would enhance career progression of women in higher education. The findings of the research revealed that women are still underrepresented in higher. It was recommended that management should improve working conditions for women and ensure that the effective monitoring and evaluation of the various policies in place.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Njoki Wane.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Education (Management) at Technikon Natal / This study focused on the exercise of male power in middle management in technikons in KwaZulu-Natal, with particular reference to verbal communication. The glass ceiling, blocking promotions to senior positions, is a reality for women in technikons and the researcher explored the ways in which exploitation and marginalisation occur when sexism and power is wielded by males through verbal communication. / M

While existing literature shows a considerable increase in the numbers of women in academia research on the experiences of women in universities has noted their continued occupation of lower status academic positions in relation to their male counterparts. As the ladder gets higher, the number of women seems to drop. These studies indicate the marginalization of women in academic settings, highlighting the various forms of subtle and overt discrimination and exclusion women face in academic work environments. In this study I ask how academic women in South Africa narrate their experience of being ‘outside in’ the teaching machine. It has been argued that intertwined sexist, patriarchal and phallocentric knowledges and practices in academic institutions produce various forms of discrimination, inequality, oppression and marginalization. Academic women report feeling invisible and retreating to the margins so as to avoid victimization and discrimination. Others have pointed to the tension between the ‘tenure clock’ and the ‘biological clock’ as a source of anxiety among academic women. Where a masculinised presentation of the self is adopted as a solution to this dilemma, the devaluation of the feminine in the academic space is confirmed. However, experiences of academic women are not identical. In the context of studies showing the importance of existing personal and social resources, prior experience and having mentors and role models in the negotiation of inequality and discrimination, I document the narratives of women academics who are the first in their families to graduate with a university degree. These first-generation academic women are therefore least likely to have access to social and cultural resources and prior experiences that can render the academic space more hospitable for the marginalised. Employing Spivak’s deconstruction of the concept of marginalisation as my primary interpretive lens, I explore the way in which, in their narratives, first-generation academic women negotiate marginality. These narratives depict a marginality that might be described, following Spivak, as ‘outside/in’, that is, as complex and involving moments of accommodation and resistance, losses and gains, pain and pride.

Gendered organizational conditions create the context for persisting differences between men and women in the workplace. Within, higher education, this manifests as a salary gap between male and female faculty members. The academic capitalistic policy environment creates the conditions for increasing competition for external funding, especially in the areas of research and science and engineering. The change in the academic climate may sustain or intensify the gendering of universities as organizations. Universities with the highest level of research activity were chosen for this study and formed the 130 public institution sample. This study used fixed effects panel regression analysis to explore the relationship between the faculty gender salary gap and institutional emphasis on research as well as science and engineering. In addition, the relationship between institutional emphasis and the faculty gender salary gap was explored over time with the inclusion of a time trend and temporal interaction terms. Results showed that the higher the percentage of female faculty members, the greater the faculty gender salary gap for assistant professors. In addition, science and engineering emphasis over time had a significant impact on the professor salary gap with a decreasing effect both at the mean and one standard deviation above the mean, but with an increasing effect on the salary gap for institutions one standard deviation below the mean. When taking action to increase gender equity, it is important for universities to recognize that the faculty gender salary gap occurs in an organizational context impacted by institutional-level conditions.

The study is a gender critical investigation of the implementation of gender policy programs in student admission in Zimbabwe state universities. The study locates itself in the student admissions section of these institutions, acknowledging the potential contributions of the practices and procedures in this section towards achievement of gender equality. The study focused on the nature of the implemented programs, the gender equality model pursued and how the programs are made part of the mainstream. The study employed a multi-pronged theoretical frameworks approach as its theoretical framework to determine feasible strategies in analyzing the research problem, choosing the research approach, deciding on the research methods, formulating the research questions and in drawing the conclusion to the study. A mixed method inquiry used the multiple case study survey, documentary analysis and interviews to gather data in two state universities. The study found that in spite of the state universities implementing gender policy programs as required by the Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2004), gender inequalities persisted, and in the process the study revealed more barriers than successes encountered on the road to gender equality. This concurred with some of what was predicated from literature on the use of the adopted approaches to gender mainstreaming and models of gender equality pursued. The chief factor responsible for the inequalities was found to be the pervasive, deeply entrenched patriarchal conservatism, cultural stereotypes, biases and discriminations held by some actors in student admissions which marginalized gender equality and consequently, rendered the gender equality agenda elusive. The study identified the need for adoption of a wider conception of gender and gender equality and of a radical transformative approach in order to resuscitate the paralyzed gender equality mandate in student admissions. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory, the study is also of value at an applied level: serving to support programs and sustainable plans for gender equality implementation in student admissions in universities. The main recommendation of the study is the need for a new shift in policy program implementation, and the study outlined the main cardinal points of this new paradigm. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The purpose of this study was to determine how graduates of master's degree programs perceived the ethnic and cultural climate at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) during their enrollment there. The population (N=2,223) consisted of graduates of master's degree programs who attended Dallas Seminary from 1996-2005. The study utilized a non-experimental design methodology using a mailed survey questionnaire. A 37.2 % response rate was achieved. Most results were statistically significant at the .05 alpha level utilizing chi-square goodness-of-fit tests.

The study is a gender critical investigation of the implementation of gender policy programs in student admission in Zimbabwe state universities. The study locates itself in the student admissions section of these institutions, acknowledging the potential contributions of the practices and procedures in this section towards achievement of gender equality. The study focused on the nature of the implemented programs, the gender equality model pursued and how the programs are made part of the mainstream. The study employed a multi-pronged theoretical frameworks approach as its theoretical framework to determine feasible strategies in analyzing the research problem, choosing the research approach, deciding on the research methods, formulating the research questions and in drawing the conclusion to the study. A mixed method inquiry used the multiple case study survey, documentary analysis and interviews to gather data in two state universities. The study found that in spite of the state universities implementing gender policy programs as required by the Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2004), gender inequalities persisted, and in the process the study revealed more barriers than successes encountered on the road to gender equality. This concurred with some of what was predicated from literature on the use of the adopted approaches to gender mainstreaming and models of gender equality pursued. The chief factor responsible for the inequalities was found to be the pervasive, deeply entrenched patriarchal conservatism, cultural stereotypes, biases and discriminations held by some actors in student admissions which marginalized gender equality and consequently, rendered the gender equality agenda elusive. The study identified the need for adoption of a wider conception of gender and gender equality and of a radical transformative approach in order to resuscitate the paralyzed gender equality mandate in student admissions. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory, the study is also of value at an applied level: serving to support programs and sustainable plans for gender equality implementation in student admissions in universities. The main recommendation of the study is the need for a new shift in policy program implementation, and the study outlined the main cardinal points of this new paradigm. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

This study, The lived experiences of black women academic researchers at the University of South Africa, investigated the factors that impacted on the lives of the black women academics at Unisa in the College of Education. It was a phenomenological study wherein the participants shared their lived experiences through in-depth interviews. This was a qualitative study that employed an interpretive paradigm. This permitted the view that reality is multiple layered. It took into account the various viewpoints of the participants as different realities that were narrated in this report by using the verbatim quotations of the participants. The findings revealed that Black women academic lecturers at Unisa faced challenges in the teaching and learning area. They had no ownership of modules that they taught because they were not primary lectures. They experienced racism and alienation from both Black and White academics that have long been at Unisa. White staff questioned their qualifications and, they received no orientation in the teaching of ODL modules. In the research area, challenges concerned the supervision of postgraduate students and article writing for publication. It also arose that they received less support from senior colleagues and from their supervisors in their personal studies. There was general complaint about the 2010 Unisa mentoirship programme but there was commendation of the recent CEDU mentorship programme. The participants felt that Unisa should introduce academic support programmes that would cater for staff over the age of 50 because the current programmes only cater for those below 50 years of age. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

MGS / Institute for Gender and Youth Studies / Gender mainstreaming has been adopted as a strategy for promoting gender equality in institutions of higher learning worldwide, and not least in Africa. There are perceptions that most strategic higher positions in institutions of Higher learning are dominated by men while women are marginalized. This study therefore explored Gender Mainstreaming in institutions of higher learning. In particular, the study was based at a rural university in Limpopo, South Africa. The study was based on a Feminist Theoretical Framework, where a mixed method approach was embarked upon. The study involved a population of 840 participants who were sampled to 84. Purposive sampling was used to select 9 participants who were interviewed and stratified sampling was used to select a sample of 75 participants who were given questionnaires. The findings of the study are as follows: Males at the University of Venda continue to occupy higher echelons of power. Women continue to be under-represented in the positions of Deans, HODs, School Administrators and Directors. The university has strategies in place for female staff to acquire equal representation in senior management positions. Factors hindering the implementation of the 50/50 parity on gender stem from the lack of commitment from top management, and the stereotyping of women’s roles. Some respondents indicated that they do not know of the gender policy at the University of Venda. The university uses the Employment Equity Act of 1998, but, it is not clear whether line managers are aware how it should be implemented. Gender mainstreaming policy is feasible. The study recommends that there should be more gender awareness activities such as workshops, conferences, and symposia for workers and staff members in order to sensitize them about gender mainstreaming.