Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to establish the antecedents of career success for black Africans in corporate South Africa. Black Africans are underrepresented in top management positions but make up the majority of the economically active population. The purpose was, therefore, to study other black South Africans who have managed to achieve a certain level of success in order to understand the factors that contributed to that success.
There are four theories that are used to underpin the study namely i) the human capital theory ii) the social capital theory iii) the social cognitive career theory and iv) the equity theory.
This was an exploratory and qualitative study that used semi-structured interviews to glean valuable insights from the data. It was an inductive process that followed the interpretivist philosophy. Sixteen black Africans applying their trade in corporate South Africa at different occupational levels were interviewed.
The key findings that came out of the study were both endogenous and exogenous. The endogenous findings included having cognitive ability, having the right type of personality and possessing ambition. The exogenous findings included the importance of having a mentor, a sponsor and developing and nurturing the social and professional networks at one’s disposal.
This research will make contributions to the vast body of knowledge that the Basic Education Department has, to assist in focusing on the development of crucial learner traits and qualities at an early age. Organisations in corporate South Africa can also tailor their graduate programs to incorporate some of the findings of the study. Lastly, the study will benefit black Africans already employed in corporate South Africa, to revise their career growth strategies to include some of the findings that will benefit them.
The limitations of the study are that the researcher is not trained and is a black African employed in corporate South Africa and therefore their unconscious biases might have been projected during the process.
