The research explored how women from the University of KwaZulu-Natal balanced both their personal and professional roles in order to advance into senior management positions. The study used a qualitative research methodology in which semistructured interviews were conducted on nine participants. The data were then analysed using Qualitative Thematic Analysis. The findings of this study revealed that although the participants faced various challenges, which were related to their gender they did manage to advance into senior management positions. What facilitated their advancement was that these women learned how to balance their dual roles through observing and imitating positive role models, which is supported by Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. The findings of the study were both confirmed and disconfirmed by the literature. However what this study does show is that women are managing to advance into positions of senior management despite challenges that they may face and thus indicting that the glass ceiling is cracking. Management should therefore be prepared to manage this new breed of managers in their echelons. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This research explores how formal employment outside the household affects the gendered identity of married women. A comparison of ten married white women who are not gainfully employed and ten married white women who are gainfully employed has been used to determine whether or not formal employment has an impact on gender identity. Tajfel's social identity construction theory argues that member of devalued social groups will strive to construct positive self-concepts by either reinterpreting the prevailing beliefs surrounding social categories or by challenging these beliefs. I focus on the division of women and men into the private and public spheres according to 'innate' abilities. Patriarchal ideology has devalued the social category 'women' and the domestic sphere. This research aimed to determine whether or not these gainfully employed married women were challenging patriarchal ideology and therefore renegotiating their gendered identities. This study focuses on three aspects: the role of work in the formation of a positive self concept; the experience of motherhood; and the double-shift. It was found that gainful employment although not altering a woman's gendered identity did result in a more positive self-concept because of public recognition and financial rewards. However, the experience of motherhood for employed married women remains integral to their gendered identity as women and they experience guilt and anxiety because they do not remain at home. Lastly, the household chores remain primarily a woman's responsibility, even when she is employed outside the household, resulting in a double-shift. The interviews for this study demonstrate that married women who are employed ful-time outside the household do not challenge the patriarchal ideology which shapes their gendered identity. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

The study focuses on job creation for the empowerment and development of women and assessed the role of State projects in the Umlaas Catchment area of the Working for Water Project in Kwazulu-Natal. The concepts of gender, households and rural development are defined from the socio-economic and geographical perspectives. A brief review of the aims of the Working for Water Project, which sets out to increase water yield through the clearing of invasive alien plants with the main objective of employing and training people from the disadvantaged communities in order to enhance their social upliftment and empowerment is presented. The data are collected from five stakeholders viz: the women employees, the contractors, the Project manager and the household members of the women employees of the working for Water Project as well as the community members from the six settlements in which the women employees are resident. In-depth interviews with the samples, which were tape-recorded, yielded a- rich database. The data are subjected to qualitative and quantitative analyses- to assess the extent to which job- creation enhances the empowerment and development of the women employees of the Project. The analyses entail the level of involvement of women in the management of the Project, capacity building and acquisition of skills through training, the effects of income in power relation at home and community and the socio-economic impacts of the project on the empowerment of the rural women in the study area. The analyses show that: (a) many of the women resort to work because of the pressing financial needs in their homes in order to alleviate the level of poverty. Also, the Working for Water Project has significantly helped the women employees to meet their financial obligations toward themselves, their children and members of their households. (b) more women than men are employed by the Working for Water Project in keeping to its objective. However, few women occupy management positions. The Project draws on a range of age groups with almost all the women employees less than 50 years of age. (c) some of the women employees of the Project have acquired skills from the organized training and as such are more confident to manage resources not only in their primary assignment but in their life situations. However, while the Project has helped some of the women employees to organize themselves in budgeting and making choices regarding their lives, some are still constrained by traditions. (d) the men seem to be happy that their women are working since there is no evidence to support that the men did not want the women to work neither did any of the women indicate that their men raised an opposition. Thereafter suggestions are offered to guide the policy makers and the Working for Water Project in achieving their set objectives of empowering and developing the rural women in order to stimulate a rapid transformation of the rural areas in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Urbanisation is an inevitable process that creates opportunities for economic growth and development, however, it can come at the cost of urban poverty and environmental degradation - two of the greatest challenges facing policy-makers. The global failure to develop in a sustainable manner has led to the adoption of green economy in the context of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Given South Africa’s high rates of urbanisation, the nation’s government, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, is taking steps to green its economy, with the transition ranging from large-scale solar installation projects to small-scale grassroots level projects where the green jobs are created for the poor, predominantly women, by paying them for environmental services. This research investigates how urban poor women in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, under the management of a local environmental non-governmental organisation (ENGO), Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT), are using the green economy concept to generate income and contribute to environmental sustainability. Using a case study approach, three areas were selected in which semi-structured questionnaires were administered to women who are involved in a ‘green-preneurship’ initiative, consisting of three project nodes, namely, waste-, tree-, and food-preneurship. The women registered under the project collect and segregate waste for sale to the ENGO (waste-preneurs), while others grow indigenous trees for sale to the ENGO (tree-preneurs), and some grow food crops for subsistence and sale of any excess to community members (food-preneurs). The project is reducing poverty levels and empowering the women both economically and socially. Furthermore, while the primary incentive for participating in the green economy initiative was found to be financial, the project has helped to raise environmental awareness and is a mechanism through which women can contribute to environmental sustainability. Their voluntary participation in the project indicates the importance of urban poor women to green economy. This role stems from understanding the importance of the environment to their livelihood, and in this regard, green economy can be said to be addressing the social and environmental externalities of urbanisation, with women at the forefront. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This study was interested in female bank employees’ perceptions of work life balance at a banking institution in the Durban region. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model was used as a theoretical framework to consider the demands that these women encounter as well as the support systems that they utilise to help facilitate work-life balance (WLB). Importantly, as a theoretical framework, the JD-R was used to bring to light employee experiences of their WLB in relation to their work demands and the resources that are available to them. A qualitative research design was used. Semi-structured interviews on a purposive sample of eight research participants were conducted within the sales and credit division at a large banking institution in the Durban region. Theory-led thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts. The findings of the study indicated that these women relied heavily upon domestic helpers in terms of household duties, extended family and their spouses in terms of childcare duties and needs. These employees felt that work dominates their lives more due to the core demands of meeting targets within the sales and credit divisions. These employees perceived that the bank as a whole was not supportive of WLB as they claimed to be and wanted to be involved with the HR Department in the formation of work-life balance policies. This research study offers insight into the needs of female bank employees and suggests the way forward for organisations to appropriately prioritise WLB as a quality strategy in an attempt to retain talented women in their sales and credit divisions. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Since its emergence as the ruling party in 1994, when South Africa became a democratic country, the African National Congress has legislated and implemented a number of policies that are aimed at redressing the historical imbalances of the past caused by the Apartheid system. The Constitution of South Africa provides for the equality of men and women as a basic human right. The South African Employment Equity Act (1998) was introduced as a way of assisting the process of achieving equality and fairness in the employment practices of government, business and other sectors in South Africa. Scholars such as Merilee Grindle have argued that for a policy to succeed many things need to be considered such as the internal and external environment in which the implementation is to occur. There has also got to be a buy-in from the relevant stakeholders as policy implementation can be influenced by the implementer’s own belief system. Factors such as one’s upbringing, religion, race, class and culture can all impact on workplace practices. Through face to face interviews with the people who are the intended beneficiaries of this policy, this study moves away from looking at the statistics that have previously been the sole analysis of the implementation of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) to look at historical, political and cultural influences on the application of the EEA. In particular this study attempts to interrogate whether cultural factors play a role or impact on the way the EEA is being implemented within a government department using the KwaZulu Natal Department of Economic Development as a case study. The obvious reason for focusing on culture is that one’s cultural background inevitably shapes how an individual views the world and engages with other people. Cultural beliefs and prejudices can also affect a person’s conduct in the workplace. KwaZulu Natal is a province that has a very long history of cultural traditions rooted in a largely patriarchal system, therefore interrogating this topic within this province is highly appropriate. The responses of the participants will reflect the views of mostly women in management positions. From these perspectives the study will reflect on the degree to which culture does play a role in the implementation of the EEA in this particular case study. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

There has been considerable debate in the gender and development literature on income earning opportunities and their empowerment potential for women, particularly rural women, in developing countries. In this, a critical question for the empowerment of women is, does access to resources, for example, enterprise income, translate into power and its various manifestations for women within their households? This study argues that access to resources alone is not a sufficient prerequisite for empowerment. Improved access to resources will only transform into empowerment outcomes if women are able to exercise their agency to achieve desired outcomes. The study, therefore, highlights the centrality of agency in the empowerment process. Agency acts as a link between resources on the one hand and empowerment outcomes on the other. Furthermore, the relationship between agency and empowerment is dialectical as the two concepts under investigation are constitutive of each other. Put differently, enhanced agency results in empowerment, which in turn feeds back to increased agency, leading to further empowerment. Hence, empowerment is presented as both an outcome of the exercise of agency and a driver of agency. The study frames the question of agency and empowerment within feminist theory of agency - Western, African and South African. Using a case study of the Ikhowe Craft Group in rural Eshowe, the study examines the role of agency in the empowerment process for rural women crafters in two ways. Firstly, through the feminist political ecology approach, it evaluates their ability to access the natural resource, Cyperus spp. for use in craft making. Secondly, it examines their individual agency within their households and their collective agency in the Craft Group. Within the overarching feminist research paradigm, a mixed methods research methodology was used, which entailed embedding quantitative data collection and presentation within qualitative research techniques. The empirical evidence suggests that the women crafters’ agency was enacted and empowerment achieved within a context of enablement and constraints, with gender culture and traditional leadership emerging as significant variables that mediate the rural women’s agency within their households and in accessing the raw material for their craft. Gender and culture intersect to influence how the women construct their identities, roles and responsibilities within their households. Despite the constraints of social structure, the women emerge as important agents of social change in their households. In addition, the study has revealed the private sphere to be a significant site of both the women crafters’ agency and subordination. Hence, any conceptualization of women’s agency and empowerment, particularly that of rural women, needs to be context-specific to be able to adequately capture the realities of the women that impinge on their ability to act. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.