Institutional transformation and employment equity in a South African university: perspectives of academic and professional staff

This study examines how institutional culture, power relationships, and the mutually formed associations among different social identities influence the experiences of staff about employment equity in a historically white university (HWU) in South Africa. The data were gathered using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 67 academic and non-academic staff. The narrative data gathered were subsequently evaluated by way of thematic analysis that involved a detailed process of identifying, analysing, organising, describing and reporting the themes that were generated from the data. Findings revealed that institutional adherence to regulatory policies on employment equity and leadership commitment to changes to the institutional culture, structure, and perceived forms of exclusion are important to creating a welcoming environment for the diverse staff of the university. Furthermore, the study revealed that employment equity consists of intersecting social identities, power relations, ethics, and the influence of institutional culture on adherence to policies regarding employee recruitment. The study concludes that the scholarship of employment equity in South Africa should move beyond unidimensional narratives such as gender and race to include an intersectional approach that examines how different social identities contribute to the construction and reconstruction of the knowledge of employees about employment equity.