| Summary: | In the South Africa mining industry women have been subjected to unfair discrimination
due to their gender or sex, for thousands of years. The aim of this study is to establish
if women discrimination still exists in this sector by exploring the experiences of women
in this mining sector. More and more women are being employed in the mines, but it is
not clear if they are subjected to discrimination or not.
The research method for this study consists of a literature review and an empirical
study. The aim of the literature review was to discuss the research done by others on
the subject matter and their findings. Information gathered is used as a base for
compiling the questionnaire which is used in the interviews that are conducted during
the study. A qualitative phenomenological research method was used for the empirical
study because of its effectiveness in identifying intangible factors, such as social norms,
socioeconomic status, gender roles, and ethnicity, which are imperative for this study.
The results of the study confirm that discrimination still exists in the mining industry. The
evidence of this form of discrimination is in men's negative attitudes which are a
problem that women have to deal with on daily basis. Men's negative attitudes create a
hostile work environment for women that comprise of: disrespecting women,
undermining of their capabilities, unequal treatment of women versus men, physically
and verbally harass and I or abuse them, sex segregation and glass ceilings
Few discrimination cases are reported to management because of fear of victimisation,
fear of being seen as cry babies and because there is a perception that management is
not supportive to women, therefore it's no use reporting a case because nothing will be
done to discipline the perpetrator. The conclusion reached is that most mining organisations are faced with challenges of
effectively implementing and managing change. Transformation policies are
implemented but there is no internal and external (from government) monitoring,
evaluation and verification systems. There is also limited buy in from people (middle and
lower management) who are supposed to implement the policies. For effective
transformation to happens these are the key issues that must be addressed. === Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011
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