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Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university
Includes bibliographical references.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Sociology
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613230149402624 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon |
| author2 | De Wet, Jacques |
| author_browse | De Wet, Jacques Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon |
| author_facet | De Wet, Jacques Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon |
| author_sort | Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11339 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:50.328Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Sociology |
| publisherStr | Department of Sociology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11339 Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon De Wet, Jacques Industry, Labour and Organisational Studies Includes bibliographical references. This is a study about the subjective experiences of black African managers working in an English-speaking university in post-apartheid South Africa We investigated the adaptation strategies they employ as they navigate borders and boundaries between their home and work worlds, and how they negotiate identity in an environment dominated by Eurocentrism in one of the oldest English-speaking universities in South Africa. The theoretical framework was informed Berger & Luckmann's (1966) "Social Construction of Reality", in particular, their concepts of subjectivity and intersubjectivity; and Phelan, Davidson and Yu's (1993 & 1998) "Multiple Worlds Typology". The theories proposed by these writers acknowledge that individuals move between multiple worlds as they go about their daily lives. We adopted a typology from Phelan et al. (1993 & 1996) based on whether or not the "worlds" are congruent and what adaptation strategies individuals use in their transitions across borders and boundaries. We used a qualitative approach which involved face to face in-depth interviews with six black African managers using a semi-structured interview schedule. This, importantly, meant we allowed the respondents' subjective voices to emerge. The six respondents fell across four out of six types of transitions and we were able to construct their profiles which represent identity clusters showing how different individuals deal with common experiences and the variety of strategies they employ. The four types were Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions, Different Worlds/Border-crossings Managed, Different Worlds/Border-crossings Difficult, and Different Worlds/Borders Resisted. The strategies for negotiating identity in the workplace included conforming to the institutional culture, integrating or "plugging in" selected values of the African home culture into that of the company, resisting the dominant culture of the company and leaving the company altogether. 2015-01-05T06:44:04Z 2015-01-05T06:44:04Z 2006 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11339 eng application/pdf Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Industry, Labour and Organisational Studies Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| title_full | Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| title_fullStr | Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| title_full_unstemmed | Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| title_short | Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university |
| title_sort | negotiating identities in post apartheid south africa black african managers experiences in an english speaking university |
| topic | Industry, Labour and Organisational Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11339 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ngazimbixolanisharon negotiatingidentitiesinpostapartheidsouthafricablackafricanmanagersexperiencesinanenglishspeakinguniversity |