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Masters Degrees (Social Policy)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/9028

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Social Policy) by SDG "SDG3"

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    An assessment of the experiences of women in leadership positions: a case-study of the Department of Employment and Labour in Port Shepstone.
    (2024) Lushaba, Busisiwe Qunneth.; Narsiah, Inbersagran.
    This study investigated the experiences of women in leadership positions in the national government department of Employment and Labour in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The aim of this study was to establish what were the challenges that impacted women’s experiences in leadership? The objectives of this study were: first, to determine the challenges that impacted women’s participation in leadership; second, to assess the institutional mechanisms and strategies that were put in place to encourage and support women’s access to decision making and leadership; and third, to provide policy recommendations for the increased participation of women in leadership. The theoretical approach that underpinned this study was Marxist feminist theory to understand of how various variables were used to exercise unequal gendered power relations between men and women within the Department. On April 27, 1994, South Africa became a constitutional democracy with progressive principles such as freedom, human dignity, equality, non-racialism, and non-sexism. However, this study revealed that gender stereotypes in decision-making processes are still deeply embedded in the government's Department of Employment and Labour at the Port Shepstone office. This research further revealed that women are proportionally represented in national government in KwaZulu-Natal. A consideration of the qualitative evidence collected in this research showed no differences in how female and male perceived their leadership roles. However, the study indicated that there was gap between the policy and implementation levels in local government in the Department of Employment and Labour, Port Shepstone, in KwaZulu-Natal. Therefore, the study suggested that the Department should restructure its gender policies and gender programmes to be in line with current legislation and policies.
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    Indigenous knowledge and participatory rural development in Mabheleni, Umzumbe Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
    (2023) Mseleku, Zethembe.; Narsiah, Inbersagran.
    This study aimed to explore the contribution of indigenous knowledge to participatory rural development in Mabheleni, a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Drawing from the lenses of deliberative democracy, the study explored the role of indigenous knowledge in participatory rural development in Mabheleni; identified the challenges impeding the use of indigenous knowledge to stimulate rural development in Mabheleni; identified the opportunities for effective use of indigenous knowledge to promote rural development in Mabheleni and, explored the strategies used by people living in Mabheleni to preserve their indigenous knowledge. Semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion were conducted with 20 participants in Mabheleni. All participants were selected through a purposive sampling technique and data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The results indicate that although indigenous knowledge is deemed crucial for the development in Mabheleni, it is not effectively used in rural development initiatives. While local people in Mabheleni use their indigenous knowledge to sustain their livelihoods at a household level, their indigenous knowledge is overlooked in rural development initiatives. This problem is attributed to two main reasons: first, Western scientific knowledge is given priority in informing rural development in Mabheleni. Second, government officials often use a top-down approach in decision making about rural development initiatives in Mabheleni, a practice which excludes indigenous people in their development. Thus, the role of indigenous knowledge in rural development in Mabheleni remains unclear and minimal.