Deliberate Ceiling for Career Progress of Female Public Service Employees: A Contemporary Transformation Trend in South Africa

Abstract

Female employees are rarely found in senior level decision-making roles in the public service sector. Rather they are concentrated in larger number at the lower management levels in the workplace. This study evaluates barriers to female employees’ career progress within the South African public service sector. Prior studies relating to progress of female employees into the senior and top managerial levels within the South African public service sector have revealed an exclusion and inability to climb the decision-making ladder. Employing a questionnaire that included evaluative tools from previous scholarly studies (e.g., the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), Women as Managers Scale (WAMS) and the Career Barrier Inventory (CBI) scale), a sample of 286 employees working in selected South African public service organisations within the Gauteng province formed the foundation for the current assessment. The raw data was evaluated with standard statistical software (e.g. Microsoft Excel) and the results pointed to an insignificant positive correlation between gender role perceptions and women’s career progress; a slightly insignificant positive relationship between women managerial capability and women’s career progress; and a slightly insignificant negative relationship between gender stereotype and women’s career progress. The overall outcome of the study reveals that the pace of women’s career progress within Gauteng province is affected by workplace barriers.

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