Exploring how female leaders lead a culturally diverse workforce in the South African mining industry

Abstract

In the past, leadership in nearly all industries was dominated by males, based upon the belief that women should be caregivers, wives and mothers. While perceptions and laws have changed, striving for gender equality, many men uphold the discriminatory and socially-influenced beliefs in the workplace. This results in stereotyping of and challenges for women in the male-dominated mining industry. Cultural diversity of different values, beliefs and attitudes tends to lead to prejudices and incorrect perceptions. The present explorative qualitative study, conducted to identify the traits female leaders used to lead diverse teams, was based on the Social Identity Theory, according to which these leaders are the out-group. The results showed that in a male-dominated environment, female leaders were not always taken seriously, respected or accepted, but they fared best if they adopted their own authentic leadership style, relying on their excellent communication skills and caring attitude, and did not try to copy the more aggressive, autocratic style used by the male leaders. This qualitative research cannot be generalised. It is content-specific and limited by its small sample size.