Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / There are relatively few women in senior leadership or management positions in South African
industry. The oil industry is no exception to this and could in fact be considered to exemplify the
ways in which women are marginalised. This small-scale qualitative project aims to explore
challenges and experiences women face when entering senior management positions in the
Petroleum Industry in Cape Town. The main objective of the study is to explore how gender (and
other relevant subject positions) impacts on women's career development and opportunities. I
used a qualitative feminist methodological framework and conducted a total of 12 semi-structured
interviews with women employed in upper management positions in the 8 oil companies in the
greater Western Cape area including the South African Petroleum Industry Association and
Department of Energy (SAPIA). A thematic data analysis was then utilised to interpret the data.
My findings show that many women perceive the route to success as difficult yet possible
suggesting that the popular ''glass ceiling'' conceptual scheme should be replaced by the ''labyrinth
of leadership'' model discussed in Early and Carli 2007 with relation to the oil industry. Further
findings suggest that although the oil industry provides unique challenges to women as a gendered
organization, it also incorporates various progressive initiatives for their advancement.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/5687 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Nefdt, Anthea Carol |
| Contributors | Clowes, Lindsay |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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