Abstract
Orientation: Regardless of the implementation of the Employment Equity Act (EEA), No. 55 of 1998 and the abolishment of apartheid in 1994, African and mixed-race females are under-represented in managerial positions in the public sector of the Western Cape (WC) in South Africa and nationally in the private health sector.Research purpose: The purpose was to explore the views of nurses about promotion to managerial positions in view of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) and the possible influence of race, class and gender.Motivation for the study: South Africa has a history of racial hierarchies and gender inequities. It was therefore important to explore the influence of the EEA and race, class and gender on the promotion of nurses in the post-apartheid context.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was completed. Six hundred and eighty-eight (n = 688) nurses consented to participate and 573 (83%) questionnaires were returned.Main findings: Race as a social construct surfaced in the superior viewing of white and the inferior viewing of African nurses. Mixed-race and white nurses seemed disgruntled with the EEA because of the benefits it holds for African nurses. African nurses seemed angered by their under-representation in managerial positions in the private and public sectors in the WC. White nurses seemed convinced that African, mixed-race and Indian nurses experience upward mobility. Mixed-race nurses (public sector WC) showed concerns about the career successes of males in a female-dominated profession.Practical/managerial implications: Managerial structures should be required to invest in diversity training, create awareness of the noble intentions of the EEA and communicate the relevance of employment equity plans.Contribution/value-add: The findings provided evidence that reflected a need for diversity training and the creation of awareness about the longstanding influence of racial and gender hierarchies.
Highlights
This article forms part of a larger PhD study that focused on the promotion of female nurses in public and private sector hospitals in South Africa, and reports on a subsection of the larger study, that is, the views of nurses on the influence of the Employment Equity Act (EEA), No 55 of 1998 of South Africa on the promotion to managerial positions and the embedded realities of race, class and gender
The results showed a cautious stance towards conceding that the implementation of the EEA benefited female nurses of colour
African nurses seemed to be marginalised in the Western Cape (WC) public and private sector, mixed-race nurses experience marginalisation in the private sector
Summary
This article forms part of a larger PhD study that focused on the promotion of female nurses in public and private sector hospitals in South Africa, and reports on a subsection of the larger study, that is, the views of nurses on the influence of the Employment Equity Act (EEA), No 55 of 1998 of South Africa on the promotion to managerial positions and the embedded realities of race, class and gender. Employers have to develop employment equity plans to attain an equitable account of all designated groups in the workplace These plans should promote employment opportunities for designated groups that were previously disadvantaged, that is, females, African people (this included African people, mixed-race people and Indian people) and people with disabilities (Steyn, 2010; Burger & Jephta, 2006). The 2015 http://www.sajip.co.za equity reports reflect that despite the implementation of the EEA in 1998, progress has only been achieved with the promotion of Indian and white females to managerial positions, and not African and mixed-race females (Republic of South Africa, 2015). For the purpose of this study, African and mixed-race female nurses are referred to as ‘female nurses of colour’
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