Managing gender diversity at cola mine: Perceptions and experiences of women employees.
Baker, Sabelo Merrander
Baker, Sabelo Merrander
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
This study investigated the perceptions and experiences of women employees at a coal mine in Mpumalanga, with a specific focus on the challenges they encounter and the management of gender diversity. The challenges highlighted in this study centers on the persistent barriers women face in the mining sector, specifically at a coal mine in Mpumalanga. Despite progress in gender diversity initiatives, the study uncovered significant challenges such as sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and limited advancement opportunities for women, particularly in leadership roles. It emphasises the critical need for effective human resource policies and a supportive organisational culture to address these issues and align diversity efforts with global standards. This backdrop reflects the ongoing struggle for women's inclusion and empowerment in a male-dominated industry. The mining organisation comprises of 410 female employees. This group of individuals encompasses different levels of management including entry-level staff and senior executives, as well as personnel from the operations, human resources, and finance department. As a result, purposive sampling was employed to select the participants. A total of 12 participants were selected from across all departments of the organisation. Specifically, employees who have been employed for two years or more. This criterion was established to ensure that participants had sufficient exposure to the work environment, making their responses more accurate and reliable. The research employed qualitative methods, including face-to-face semi-structured interviews with participants. The interviews were conducted at a time and day that was convenient for the participants and were held at their work premises, each interview took about 20-40 minutes. The researcher interviewed each participant individually to assess their level of involvement in their roles, understanding of the topic, and experiences. As a means of achieving the research questions, the researcher used thematic analysis to manually analyse the data. The findings revealed that while the coal mine has made some progress in implementing diversity initiatives, substantial barriers persist, particularly regarding sexual harassment and the limited representation of women in leadership roles. The findings revealed that human resource policies and organisational culture play a critical role in promoting gender diversity, stronger support mechanisms, and training to foster an inclusive environment. However, gaps were identified in the implementation of these policies, resulting in limited alignment with global standards.
Additionally, cultural barriers within the organisation hinder full realisation of gender diversity initiatives. In addition, the research highlights the potential benefits of gender diversity, such as improved team dynamics and innovation, but stresses the need for more effective implementation of diversity programs. This study contributes to the broader discourse on gender diversity management, particularly within the context of the mining sector, where the inclusion of women remains a pressing issue.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Management Sciences in Human Resources Management in the Department of People Management and Development, Faculty of Management Sciences at the Tshwane University of South Africa.
Date
2024-10-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tshwane University of Technology
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Gender diversity, Women employees, Coal mine, Mpumalanga, Sexual harassment, Gender discrimination, Leadership roles, Human resource policies, Organisational culture, Diversity initiatives, Support mechanisms, Thematic analysis, Inclusion, Mining sector