Faculty of Management Sciences
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Item Women in higher education institutions and the challenge of academic progression(2023-08-03) Anwana, Emem O.; Kayode, Aderinsola E.Female academics in Africa have historically faced several challenges that have hampered their advancement to positions of leadership in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The study's findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to women's inability to generate research outputs, which are required for advancement in HEIs. This problem was compounded by diverse degrees of infrastructural deficits and poor research funding. This study adopted a qualitative exploratory analysis approach whereby structured interviews were held with 20 female university academics in two African countries to examine the factors that inhibit need for HEIs to review the recognise the additional work that female academics perform in their homes and families. It provides recommendations that may be used by HEI managers to bridge the widening gender gap in leadership positions in HEIs in the selected African countries. The findings cannot be generalised as the sample was taken from female academics from public universities in only two African countries. The study could, however, assist HEI managers and policymakers find solutions to some of the issues affecting women's progression in HEIs.Item Gender-based violence among high school youth in the Umlazi District, Durban(2023) Dlungwane, Angel Duduzile; Hamlall, VijayViolence in schools is on the rise in South Africa, and its impact on students is becoming increasingly clear. Of particular, gender-based violence is a challenge in many South African schools. Whilst most studies frequently focus only on the victims' experiences, this study explored the effects of gender-based violence on victims as well as the perpetrators. The aim of this study was to explore gender-based violence amongst high school youth at Vuma High School and Phakama High School situated in the township of Umlazi, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. This study investigated the nature, causes and effects of gender- based violence at these chosen schools. The theoretical foundation of this study is based on a socio-constructivist approach, which underpins the study's methodological design and is informed by the perspectives of many researchers on gender violence among school-going learners. Twenty-four learners and twenty educators were purposively selected from two Durban-based high schools in the Umlazi district. The twenty-four learners interviewed were identified from educator’s observation of conflict situations at the school, in the classroom and the playground, particularly between male and female learners. The educators identified those learners who diffused the conflict peacefully and those that fostered violent reactions. The learners chosen were from the FET phase (15-18 years of age). The twenty most senior educators formed the sample of educators for this study. Seniority was determined according to the number of years teaching experience. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with both the learners and educators. Three focus groups interviews for learners as well as for educators were also conducted in each of the chosen schools. Participation in this study was voluntary with confidentiality maintained. The data was recorded and transcribed to ensure credibility. The results were interpreted and analysed against existing literature using thematic content analysis. The findings of this study revealed that gender-based violence was implicitly and explicitly enacted. The implicit violence took the form of having fun and joking at the expense of the girl learners. On the other hand, explicit violence took the form of interpersonal violence and sexual abuse. Significantly, it emerged that the main causes of gendered violent behaviour were associated with the boy learners’ construction of masculinity as well as the gendered practices within the school environment. This study recommends an integrated comprehensive approach of all stakeholders in the form of educational intervention programmes towards resolving school genderbased violence.Item Bridging the gender gap through local peace committees in Zimbabwe(2022) Tshuma, Darlington; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche; Harris, Geoffrey ThomasPeacebuilding research, specifically in post-conflict societies and those transitioning from authoritarian rule to democracy and from violence to peace, demonstrates a growing demand to enhance our understanding about the efficacy of peace infrastructures, particularly informal peace infrastructures as potential tools for sustained and inclusive peacebuilding. In the same vein, the growth and popularity in recent decades of peace infrastructures as peacebuilding tools suggests the need for further investigation especially in societies where transition(s) is reluctant - a case in point is Zimbabwe. Further, the use of peace infrastructures to facilitate inclusive peacebuilding has gained prominence in the light of growing evidence of the correlation between societal stability and socioeconomic development on the one hand, and inclusive peacebuilding on the other. This is a participatory and exploratory action study that investigated the possibilities of using a community peace infrastructure to facilitate inclusive peacebuilding in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to overcome gender disparities in local peacebuilding processes. The study’s objectives were twofold, namely: firstly, to identify and understand conditions that promote successful conflict intervention at grassroots level, and secondly, to find out the extent to which these interventions can help to positively transform conflicts. To this end, the principal researcher in this study collaborated with an action team to establish an informal peace infrastructure (local peace committee) where the envisioned change could potentially happen. This study draws together empirical qualitative data on an informal peace infrastructure created as part of this research intended to facilitate inclusive peacebuilding in four communities that fall under wards 7, 8, 16 and 28 in Bulawayo (refer to Table 7.1). Zimbabwe’s protracted social and political conflicts and its long history of human rights violations remain as sources of polarisation and political violence. Consequently, a significant component of the country’s contemporary history is about violence, its memory, and impunity. What has been variously described as a culture of violence can in fact be traced to incomplete transitions and complex historical processes starting with the precolonial episode where political cultures and practices were influenced and permeated by primordial ideologies of heredity, patriarchy and kinship. Similarly, colonial subjugation and occupation in the 19th century imposed an undemocratic system based on white supremacy, patriarchy and violent authoritarianism such that equal and even higher levels of violence had to be employed to resist colonial occupation and subjugation in the middle of the 20th century. Emerging from these multiple episodes of violent conflicts and authoritarianism; it is unsurprising that command politics and violent suppression of dissent became preferred “governance tools” for a triumphant ZANU-PF that won the country’s first democratic election in February 1980. The study uses Lederach’s Conflict Transformation theory as a lens for analysis. As a theoretical tool, Conflict Transformation is rooted in a transformative paradigm that places emphasis on constructive relationship building and the need to transform oppressive and undemocratic systems into democratic and inclusive systems as a basis for sustained peacebuilding. By emphasising local agency through transformative bottom-up peacebuilding processes, Conflict Transformation aims to facilitate constructive change by anchoring peacebuilding within a society’s unique socio-political environment. Findings from this study show that while informal peace infrastructures face numerous challenges such as resource constraints and sometimes barriers to accessing key policy and decision makers and political players, they fill a vital peacebuilding void left by the state which is not only incapacitated to lead peacebuilding initiatives but also lacks the legitimacy to fulfil its peacebuilding roles. Research findings in this study indicate that informal peace infrastructures can be useful platforms to facilitate inclusive peacebuilding, for example by increasing minority groups’ representation and women’s involvement in peace processes at the community level. The study aimed to increase understanding of the gendered nature of peacebuilding in the country and the ways in which women, but also men exercise agency through a focus on their own voices and lived experiences. Similarly, this study also revealed that socioeconomic challenges, politics and entrenched patriarchal interests present stumbling blocks to women’s effective participation in peacebuilding processes. At the same time, while dominant discourse depicts and projects peacebuilding as a ‘masculine’ and ‘manly terrain’, this study found that men who are involved in informal peace processes at the community are sometimes perceived as weak and feminine, a label that the men in this study continue to resist and push back against. Finally, this inquiry hopes to make small but important contributions to the peacebuilding discourse by illuminating how informal peace infrastructures may serve as a basis for improving peacebuilding practice in the country.Item A discourse on the plight of South African women in the face of abuse and neglect(University of the Western Cape, 2021-10-25) Fagbadebo, OmololuAn upsurge in the rate of violence against women has an adverse effect on women in South Africa. Sadly, many South African women who are the victims of violent sexual conduct, such as rape and other forms of violent sexual abuse, have in part contributed to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection among women. Of the 7,7 million South African living with HIV/AIDS in 2018, 4,7 million were women, while another 69 000 were among the new infections. They are more vulnerable to HIV infections with 21,17 percent of women living with the disease. Using personal conversations, literature searches and documents for primary and secondary data, this article argues that value orientation that ascribes superiority to men has damaging consequences on the status of women. South African women are exposed to violent habitual actions of men that denigrate their womanhood. The article, therefore, submits that there is a need to reinforce civil society and strengthen the justice system for the protection and promotion of the rights and freedom of women. Aside from this, the government should increase its commitment to the enforcement of requisite legislative frameworks that safeguard the rights and freedom of women, and review punishments for any acts of violence against women.Item An interdisciplinary approach to address environmental issues: effects of knowledge, attitudes, perception and gender differences(Review of International Geographical Education Online, 2021-11-15) Khan, Samira; Lourens, Melanie; Antriyandarti, Ernoiz; Patra, Bikash; Purohit, Tanushri; Sharma, SapnaIn the research, it has been evaluated that the interdisciplinary approach has led to a rise in the system of education as well as providing holistic training towards the development of society. The rise of AI services has played a significant role in the development of an interdisciplinary approach in Asian countries. However, compared with the European countries, the knowledge, perception, as well as gender differences, have heightened in the Asian countries. The paper has significantly shown the challenges faced in an interdisciplinary approach too where team conflicts and lack of resources have been the main causes respectively. A survey has been conducted with 31 participants. According to survey only 3.2 % of the research participants have agreed that gaining knowledge regarding the environment creates a positive impact on environmental issues. Hence it is able to state that environmental issues in different areas of India, South Africa, and Asia are related to lack of knowledge, attitude, and misperceptions of the people living in these areas. However, it is not associated with gender differences.Item The nature and causes of violence among learners within one primary school in Umlazi Township, Durban(2017) Dlungwane, Angel Duduzile; Hamlall, VijayThe overall aim of this study was to examine the circumstances under which violence occured among learners at Phatheka Primary School, situated in the township of Umlazi, and in doing so explore the causes of violence among learners at this school. The study further aimed to explore the complicit role of the school as an agent in shaping the manner in which learners relate to violence and vis à vis shaping learner behaviour. The research was driven by three objectives: Firstly, to investigate the gendered, class and ethnic nature of perpetrators and victims of school violence. Secondly, to examine the intra-group interactions among peers and their positioning of each other in terms of violent behaviour. Lastly, to explore how the discipline regime of the school shaped the constructions of violent and peaceful behaviour among learners. The qualitative research approach was utilised to obtain detailed and rich data. Ten educators and ten learners were purposively chosen from one urban primary school in the Umlazi Township. The ten learners that were interviewed, were identified from teachers’ observations of conflict situations at the school, in the classroom and on the playground. The ten most senior educators formed the sample of educators for this study. Seniority was determined according to the number of years the educator had been teaching at this school. Four of the most senior male educators and six of the most senior female educators were selected. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews and focus group interviews. The composition of the group consisted of learners with different interests and cultures in order to stimulate debate. The questions asked in the focus group interviews were similar to the questions used in individual interviews to broaden the data by comparing the responses of respondents when they were on their own, to their responses in a group situation.. The data analysis process was organised according to the research questions and based on themes that emerged from the contents of the interviews. A list of themes was formed of each transcript. These themes were then grouped and organised according to similarities. The list of themes was compared to the data and codes were allocated. The data was then divided and organised into categories, relevant themes and sub-themes. The findings of this study revealed that violence at this school was mainly interpersonal. Physical violence at this school took the form of hitting, kicking, punching, slapping and other acts that caused physical pain or injury. This study found that many learners believed that certain types of muthi provided advantage to the user in conflicts and fights. Many boys at this school used vernacular expressions of stick fighting to reinforce their dominance over other boys, as metaphors of manhood that bolstered their position among peers. Physical confrontation often involved the use of sticks. Labelling also served as a trigger to ignite violence among learners. Learners labelled each other in terms of their physical appearance, their citizenship as well as their academic performance. There was strong evidence from learners’ interviews that they competed and labelled each other around issues of classroom practices and academic performance. This created tension among the learners which also led to physical confrontation and violence. Many boys subscribed to certain hegemonic notions of masculinity which created a mentality where the boys demanded respect and exercised power over girls. Boys often used violence or the threat of violence to claim and exercise this power. Romantic relationships with girls often caused boys at Phatheka to get into conflict situations in their attempts to avoid humiliation, to prove heterosexuality and to enjoy a particular status at the school. This study found that a large proportion of learners who reacted with violence when provoked, had learnt this behaviour through role models provided by parents, siblings, relatives and community members, either directly or indirectly, and that this was often reinforced at school by peers, bullies and figures of authority. Role models actively encouraged learners to defend themselves, or to solve problems, by means of force and aggression, which contributed significantly to shaping violent behaviour among learners. This notion among the learners at Phatheka Primary School that violence is the best way to resolve conflict, with or without weapons, meant that fighting became the norm at this school. Although school fights are common and every fight is different, this study found that some common causes do exist. It was also found that the school complicitly contributed to the violence among learners through school policies and the disciplinary practices of educators.Item The effectiveness of gender equity policies in higher education : the case of the Durban University of Technology(Kamla-Raj, 2016) Awung, Mabel; Dorasamy, NirmalaRecent research has shown that despite the progress women have made in the workplace, they still lag behind in terms of higher level and rewarding positions. This situation is attributable to the policies that do not meet the needs of female employees. This paper therefore seeks to examine the effectiveness of gender equity policies in advancing the careers of women in higher education, using the Durban University of Technology as a case study. A mixed method design was adopted in which a sample of 250 women was drawn from academic and administrative units using stratified random sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analyzed in order to highlight the factors influencing the career progression of women in higher education. The findings revealed that more policies need to be designed and effectively monitored in order to improve the working conditions of women in higher education.