Michelle May

The meaning of work for a diverse group of women in higher education institutions

The construction of meaning at work impacts on individual, psychological and work related outcomes. The meaning of work, however, in the context of women leaders working in higher education institutions (HEIs) has not yet been comprehensively researched and understood in South Africa and internationally. This article explores the perspectives on meaning of work for women leaders working in HEIs in South Africa and internationally. With regard to meaning at work, limited research exists on HEIs in South Africa and internationally. This needs to be explored in-depth from emic female perspectives to contribute to both to the benefit of women in HEIs and to the transformation goals of organisations. Data from a qualitative research study within the phenomenological paradigm are presented. The research methods include the collection and analysis of 29 in-depth interviews with South African and international women leaders working in academic and administrative positions in HEIs. The findings show that women leaders in HEIs connect meaningfulness to five main categories namely, career, life values, spirituality, race and gender identity. HEIs need to focus more on the construction of meaningfulness at work for women leaders to cater for empowering working conditions.This article contributes to the dearth in literature on meaningfulness at work for women leaders within HEIs. It also provides conclusions and recommendations.

The meaning of work for South African women: A phenomenological study

This study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the meaning that women attribute to their work in the South African context. The six women informants were 27–32 years old, all with tertiary education, in senior positions, without children. Data on the meaning of work for South African women were collected using semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate that the meaning of work for South African women changes when they experience work autonomy. Working women also report having a sense of identity and self-worth, meeting instrumental needs, achieving social relatedness, and being of service to others. The meaning of work also comes from intrinsic satisfaction, a sense of power and authority.

Implementing an Operational Risk Management Framework: Psycho-Social Factors in Tanzania

This qualitative study explored the psychosocial factors that affect the implementation of an operational risk management framework in a financial institution in Tanzania. A purposive sample of 39 participants from three financial institutions was interviewed using semistructured interviews. The data were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis and the open coding procedure of grounded theory was used to identify the highlighted themes. Findings suggest that there is a movement in Tanzania towards acknowledging the value of regulatory operational risk management practices, policies and procedures. Organisations that acquire cross-border interests should take cognisance of the psychosocial factors that affect the implementation of an operational risk management framework in order to address similar challenges.

Shame! A System Psychodynamic Perspective

The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to existing knowledge about shame, through using the systems psychodynamic perspective. Firstly I explore the definition of shame, by building on ideas that illustrate the unconscious dynamics of shame in the context of culture. Then follows an overview of systems psychodynamics, which has its theoretical underpinnings in psycho-analytic thinking based on the work of Freud, Klein’s object relations theory, Bion’s work on groups, Jaques’s and Menzies Lyth’s work on organisations as social defences and envious attacks, and open systems theory. A case study is presented to illustrate how systems psychodynamics can contribute to our understanding of shame dynamics operating at the intersection of culture and race (In this chapter race is used in accordance with the South African construction of groups based on their skin colour using apartheid and post-apartheid values.), and how this enhanced understanding can impact the work of practitioners.