Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa

Although precarious work is not a new phenomenon, birthed out of the development of paid employment in the 19th century (Kalleberg, 2009), a steady rise in precarious working arrangements has become cause for concern, due to its many adverse consequences. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Strydom, Camille
Other Authors: Meyer, Ines
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Organisational Psychology 2024
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613836467503104
access_status_str Open Access
author Strydom, Camille
author2 Meyer, Ines
author_browse Meyer, Ines
Strydom, Camille
author_facet Meyer, Ines
Strydom, Camille
author_sort Strydom, Camille
collection Thesis
description Although precarious work is not a new phenomenon, birthed out of the development of paid employment in the 19th century (Kalleberg, 2009), a steady rise in precarious working arrangements has become cause for concern, due to its many adverse consequences. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate whether The Work Precarity Framework and the Psychology of Working Theory reflect the experiences of precarious workers in South Africa. This study used the SenseMaker tool to collect data and the SenseMaker methodology to guide the research process. Data was collected by 15 data capturers after they had been trained in how to use the data collection tool. A total of 204 working individuals residing in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain in Cape Town narrated a story related to the question: “Tell me a story about your work which made you feel really bad or really good.” and interpreted their narrative on dimensions presented to them. Results indicate that experiences associated with precarious work are closely related to poor working conditions which manifest in feelings of anger, resentment, poor well-being and reduced satisfaction and commitment to their jobs. Other consequences include feelings of marginalization, including discrimination and inequality. The results of this study therefore indicate the importance of limiting exposure to precarious working conditions to improve people's lives at work and outside of work because of the deeply interwoven relationship between life and work. Contextual factors, such as the ability to meet basic survival needs, such as taking care of their families, influence whether participants are able to cope with precarious working conditions. Although the results from this study show that the Work Precarity Framework and Psychology of Working Theory capture a significant number of experiences of precarity in South Africa, specific contextual factors including positive attitudes and behavioural outcomes despite precarity are not adequately captured by the theories. These theories can therefore be said to lack the cultural and contextual nuances which would enable them to adequately account for all experiences of precarious work in South Africa.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39859
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:42:28.804Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Organisational Psychology
publisherStr Organisational Psychology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39859 Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa Strydom, Camille Meyer, Ines Industrial and Organisational Psychology Although precarious work is not a new phenomenon, birthed out of the development of paid employment in the 19th century (Kalleberg, 2009), a steady rise in precarious working arrangements has become cause for concern, due to its many adverse consequences. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate whether The Work Precarity Framework and the Psychology of Working Theory reflect the experiences of precarious workers in South Africa. This study used the SenseMaker tool to collect data and the SenseMaker methodology to guide the research process. Data was collected by 15 data capturers after they had been trained in how to use the data collection tool. A total of 204 working individuals residing in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain in Cape Town narrated a story related to the question: “Tell me a story about your work which made you feel really bad or really good.” and interpreted their narrative on dimensions presented to them. Results indicate that experiences associated with precarious work are closely related to poor working conditions which manifest in feelings of anger, resentment, poor well-being and reduced satisfaction and commitment to their jobs. Other consequences include feelings of marginalization, including discrimination and inequality. The results of this study therefore indicate the importance of limiting exposure to precarious working conditions to improve people's lives at work and outside of work because of the deeply interwoven relationship between life and work. Contextual factors, such as the ability to meet basic survival needs, such as taking care of their families, influence whether participants are able to cope with precarious working conditions. Although the results from this study show that the Work Precarity Framework and Psychology of Working Theory capture a significant number of experiences of precarity in South Africa, specific contextual factors including positive attitudes and behavioural outcomes despite precarity are not adequately captured by the theories. These theories can therefore be said to lack the cultural and contextual nuances which would enable them to adequately account for all experiences of precarious work in South Africa. 2024-06-05T12:35:03Z 2024-06-05T12:35:03Z 2023 2024-06-05T12:17:57Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MCOM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39859 eng application/pdf Organisational Psychology Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Strydom, Camille
Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
title_full Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
title_fullStr Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
title_short Trialling The Sensemaker Methodology To Conceptualise Precarious Work Among Employed Individuals In South Africa
title_sort trialling the sensemaker methodology to conceptualise precarious work among employed individuals in south africa
topic Industrial and Organisational Psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39859
work_keys_str_mv AT strydomcamille triallingthesensemakermethodologytoconceptualiseprecariousworkamongemployedindividualsinsouthafrica