Doing gender well: Women’s perceptions on gender equality and career progression in the South African security industry

Abstract

Orientation: Although significant progress has been made globally in gender equality, women still occupy less political influence, fewer leadership positions and yield less control over their careers than most men. Gender inequality is evident in male-dominated work environments such as the security industry.Research purpose: This study reflects on women’s perceptions on gender equality and career progression in the South African security industry.Motivation for the study: In post-democracy South Africa, women are categorised as previously disadvantaged, therefore a priority group in terms of advancement. However, it is still unclear, from the narratives of the women themselves, how their career progression is encumbered in the milieu of the security industry.Research approach/design and method: Through qualitative one-on-one semi-structured interviews, 15 women, working in the security industry, shared their experiences concerning gender equality and career progression. Data were analysed thematically, guided by the context of the gendered security profession.Main findings: The findings reveal that women experience slower career progression than men in terms of rejection and work allocation. Moreover, negative perceptions of female leadership among colleagues was a factor hindering career progression.Practical/managerial implications: This study argues by doing gender well, equality in the security workplace can be obtained. Furthermore, the study encourages South African security managers to recognise how aspects such as rejection, work allocation and a negative perception of female leadership may encumber the career progression of female security professionals.Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to scientific knowledge and discourse regarding women’s perceptions on gender equality and career progression.

Women in African Leadership: Democracy and Gender Equality

“…Moreover, it is sometimes addressed from the binary perspective which regards women as the second fiddle, the other sex, and not as equals in terms of political participation. Thus, the ludicrous justification for men's monopoly of prominent political seats of power (Rensburg, 2021).…”

“…Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian woman who is currently the Director-General of the World Trade Organization is a noticeable example (BBC News, 2021). Nonetheless, gender inequalities and democratic deficits have remained incessant topical areas under investigation (Rensburg, 2021). This research is therefore focused on the issue of democracy and gender equality in African leadership.…”

Training needs assessment for tourism businesses in Tanzania

“…To achieve this, there is a need for proper coordination of the design and development of tourism training programs at all levels, particularly among MSMEs in Tanzania. Furthermore, it was observed that tourism operators seek a combination of attributes, skills, and experiences with interrelated elements, both informal and structured (Babalola, 2019;van Rensburg, 2021). They further noted that some operators in the industry would prefer conducting in-house and on-job training as opposed to sending their staff to training institutions.…”

“…The approach aimed to borrow lessons learnt from the previous initiatives to avoid failures in future attempts. The respondents comprised 2 senior tourism officers at MNRT; Executive Secretary for the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania; Chairman and Executive Secretary for the Tanzania Data collection included reviewing the existing tourism and hospitality, and MSMEs documentation, physical and social mapping of MSMEs, in-depth interviews with key informants,Thomann, Ege, & Paustyan, 2022;Van Burg, Cornelissen, Stam, & Jack, 2022). It enables understanding of the social realm or processes through interpretation of the reality of verbal or written recorded respondents' information.…”

The role of personal factors and skills development in women’s career advancement

“…Despite these societal challenges, women's participation in the workforce has increased rapidly, and it is estimated that 49.64% of the South African labour force are women (Galal 2022). Jansen van Rensburg (2021) states that in this country fewer women than men occupy influential positions, and that only 32% of women occupy a managerial position. In the past, research on barriers to women's promotion have focused on organisational factors that hinder career progression, such as organisational culture (Fitong Ketchiwou et al 2022;Moalusi & Jones 2019), gender and labour laws, sexual harassment (Pienaar et al 2018;Oosthuizen, Tonelli & Mayer 2019), gender and equality (Coetzee 2017;Naudé 2017), the evolution of the gender struggle (Barclay 2018;Gouws 2019;Lewis 2019), strategies to increase women's representation in certain fields (Mathur-Helm 2018;Matotoka & Odeku 2021), and women-specific experiences impacting their careers (Chetty & Naidoo 2017;Fitong Ketchiwou & Dzansi 2023).…”