Career cognitions of black engineers in South Africa

Abstract

Black engineers are a scarce and critical resource in South African industries. The objective of this research was to explore the career cognitions of black engineering in South Africa with a view to understand their decision making patterns in terms of their careers. Understanding these patterns could enhance the success of organizations in recruiting, training and retaining these engineers. Six propositions were developed. Thirty five black engineers were interviewed either face-to-face at various places such as restaurants, their offices, homes, etc or due to distance constraints some were done by telephone. A semi-structured interview guideline was used. Each engineer provided data on all the questions. The data was then mapped to specific propositions. Various descriptive statistical techniques were used to collate and analyze the data. A model, based on the findings, was designed for the purpose of summarizing the findings. The model (Figure 4) illustrates the key findings relating to what factors the organizations should concentrate on when formulating their recruitment and retention strategies. These are factors relating to the questions used to address the 6 propositions. Although the model only highlights the key findings, this research identified additional findings that have improved the understanding of the career cognitions of black engineers in SA. The details are discussed in the research report.