An investigation of men’s representation and perceptions in secretarial administrative support roles

Abstract

Years past the dawn of democracy, South Africa has still not yet adjusted to diversifying careers so that diverse groups are free to choose their career paths and are represented in the various career sectors. The trend in various countries such as the United States of America, England, Australia and South Africa is that women continue to be the preferred gender in feminised occupations. This is perceived as odd because when one gender is dominant, dominance should be something that triggers scrutiny. The concern is that with the predominance of one gender, gender issues may be rendered invisible. Systematic work segregation along gender lines is observed in instances where men are assigned policy related work and start off and end their careers in higher status roles with far greater career progression while women occupy lower status jobs with lesser influence and job advancement such as gendered support type roles of typists. The study therefore carefully reflected gendered concepts of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ in the perception of males employed in secretarial administrative jobs and interrogated the meaning in the use of gendered occupational titles. The research was conducted as a case study at a selected university in KwaZulu-Natal in which mixed methods were employed. The study consisted of a target population of 269 employees forming two main sub-populations, namely: a) University administrative secretaries, and b) University management. Mixed methods surveys were administered within a stratified simple random sample of 108 administrative secretaries as a probability strategy to guarantee equitable chances of each unit being included in the population sample. A total of 10 purposive individual interviews with five male administrators and five management staff members were used as a further method of enquiry. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0 software was used to analyse the quantitative responses, and qualitative responses were analysed thematically. Key study results revealed that at the university under study, there existed disparities in the representation of men in the secretarial administrative support jobs, and particularly in jobs of ‘secretary’ which were predominantly held by women. Findings linked the disparities to the negative personal experiences of men in support roles relating to bias and stereotypes rather than their lack of interest in the jobs. Critical barriers identified included: a) companies’ preference for women secretaries, b) perceived role incongruency, c) other men not taking up the job roles, d) degradation on the job, and e) lack of job autonomy. The study therefore sought to underscore the need for addressing and challenging gender stereotypes in the workplace and to promote a more inclusive work environment. It also tabled recommendations and proposed a gender equity plan to address the gender imbalance, including the promotion of gender diversity and inclusion as strategies to mitigate the impact of biases and stereotypes and achieve gender neutrality in the secretarial role.