Full Text Available

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

Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Williams, Lorryn Glynis
Other Authors: Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2017
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613800289533952
access_status_str Open Access
author Williams, Lorryn Glynis
author2 Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
author_browse Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
Williams, Lorryn Glynis
author_facet Prozesky, Heidi Eileen
Williams, Lorryn Glynis
author_sort Williams, Lorryn Glynis
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/101200
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:41:53.663Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/101200 Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University Williams, Lorryn Glynis Prozesky, Heidi Eileen Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology. Gender equality Academics -- Women Higher education Career development UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2017. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In 2014, Stellenbosch University’s (SU’s) Transformation office released an infographic displaying the percentage of women and men at the various academic ranks throughout the university. This display emphasised a clear-cut gender divide: as rank increased from junior lecturer to full professor, the percentage of women in these positions steadily decreases and the percentage of men steadily increases. In an attempt to understand this phenomenon, this thesis aims to investigate gender-related influences on career progression among women academic staff. More specifically, it sets out to determine whether women academic staff at SU experience a lack of career progression and if so, what factors they attribute this to, and how these factors differ in terms of faculty, marital and motherhood status, and highest qualification. This thesis pursues these objectives by following a mixed methods approach which entails both a qualitative study of women working in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Western Cape, as well as a cross-sectional survey conducted among women academic staff at SU. A theoretical framework is used which attributes differences in career progression between women and men to psychosocial factors, structural features or “deficits” of HEIs, and/or family-related factors. The results show that women academics often refer to structural deficits of HEIs as contributing to their slow career progression. These deficits do not, generally, indicate overt discrimination, but rather that certain assumptions about gender roles, particularly in relation to family responsibilities, are ingrained in the institutional culture of HEIs and that this limits considerably the ability of women to climb the ranks in their institutions. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In 2014, het Unversiteit Stellenbosch (US) se Transformasie Kantoor ‘n inligtingsgrafiek uitgereik, wat die persentasie mans en vroue in die verskeie akademiese range oor die universiteit heen uitbeeld. Hierdie uitbeelding het ’n duidelike genderverdeling uitgelig: soos wat rang toeneem vanaf junior lektor to volle professor, neem die persentasie vroue gestadig af, en die persentasie mans gestadig toe. In ʼn poging om hierdie verskynsel te ondersoek, het hierdie tesis ten doel om genderverwante invloede op loopbaanvordering by vroue akademiese personeel te ondersoek. Meer spesifiek, dit is daarop gemik om vas te stel of vroue akademiese personeel by die US ʼn gebrek aan loopbaanvordering ervaar en, indien wel, aan watter fatore hulle dit toeskryf, en hoe hierdie faktire verskil in terme van fakulteit, huweliks- en moederskapstatus, en hoogste kwalifikasie. Hierdie tesis streef hierdie doelwitte na deur ‘n gemengde metodes benadering te volg, wat beide ʼn kwalitatiewe ondersoek behels van vroue werksaam by hoër-onderwys instellings (HOI’s) in die Wes-Kaap, sowel as ʼn kruisseksionele opname uitgevoer onder vroue akademiese personeel by die US. ‘n Teoretiese raamwerk word gebruik, wat verskille in loopbaanvordering tussen vroue en mans toeskryf aan psigososiale faktore, strukturele eienskappe of “gebreke” van HOI’s, en/of gesinsverwante faktore. Die resultate toon dat vroue akademici dikwels na strukturele gebreke van HOI’s verwys as bydraend tot hul stadige loopbaanvordering. Hierdie gebreke dui nie, oor die algemeen, op openlike diskrimasie nie, maar eerder daarop dat sekere aannames oor gender-rolle, in besonder in verband met gesinsverantwoordelikhede, ingewortel is in die institusionele kultuur van HOI’s, en dat dit die vermoë van vroue om die range in hul instellings te bestyg, aansienlik beperk. Masters 2017-02-22T08:16:11Z 2017-03-29T12:19:46Z 2017-02-22T08:16:11Z 2017-03-29T12:19:46Z 2017-03-15 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/101200 en_ZA Stellenbosch University xi, 134 pages ; illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Gender equality
Academics -- Women
Higher education
Career development
UCTD
Williams, Lorryn Glynis
Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title_full Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title_fullStr Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title_full_unstemmed Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title_short Decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at Stellenbosch University
title_sort decelerating factors that impact on the career progression of women academics at stellenbosch university
topic Gender equality
Academics -- Women
Higher education
Career development
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/101200
work_keys_str_mv AT williamslorrynglynis deceleratingfactorsthatimpactonthecareerprogressionofwomenacademicsatstellenboschuniversity