IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rbs/ijbrss/v12y2023i5p114-129.html

COVID-19: Experiences of women in the South African banking sector

Author

Listed:
  • Olebogeng Pitsoe

    (University of Johannesburg)

  • Chris Schachtebeck

    (University of Johannesburg)

  • Nelesh Dhanpat

    (University of Johannesburg)

Abstract

Women shoulder the dual responsibilities of managing their households and professional commitments. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new working model that has blurred these roles. Even before the pandemic, women encountered numerous barriers in the workplace, and the pandemic may have exacerbated these challenges. Therefore, it is essential to explore this topic further. This study aims to investigate women's experiences in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilising a qualitative approach within an exploratory and interpretivist paradigm. The research adopts a case study methodology focusing on one of South Africa's leading banks, with women from different levels of seniority selected for sampling. From September 2021 to February 2022, interviews were conducted with fifteen women from the case study bank using Microsoft Teams. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the collected data, resulting in four themes and thirteen sub-themes. The first theme explores changes in the working model, while the second theme delves into organisational support. The third theme focuses on continued career growth, and the final theme addresses work-life conflict. The findings indicate that women in the case organisation perceive the remote working model as advantageous, increasing productivity and facilitating the integration of their professional and personal roles. However, a drawback of this new arrangement is the emergence of work-life conflict as work responsibilities intrude upon their personal lives. Although the case organisation provided some support, there is room for improvement. This study offers valuable insights for the financial services sector regarding women's experiences and areas that require enhancement within the industry. By shedding light on women's workplace experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this research contributes to the existing knowledge and presents a conceptual model for organisations to support female employees working remotely. Key Words: COVID-19, work from home, women, Work-life balance, Work-family conflict

Suggested Citation

  • Olebogeng Pitsoe & Chris Schachtebeck & Nelesh Dhanpat, 2023. "COVID-19: Experiences of women in the South African banking sector," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 12(5), pages 114-129, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:114-129
    DOI: 10.20525/ijrbs.v12i5.2646
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/2646/1890
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i5.2646
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i5.2646?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sakshi Sharma & Rajvir Kaur, 2019. "Glass Ceiling for Women and Work Engagement: The Moderating Effect of Marital Status," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 8(2), pages 132-146, June.
    2. Nelesh Dhanpat & Kamogelo Makgamatha & Reabetswe Monageng & Khanyisa Sigawuki, 2022. "COVID-19: Employee Experience and Adjustment at a State Owned Company in South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    3. Toyin Ajibade Adisa & Chima Mordi & Ruth Simpson & Vanessa Iwowo, 2021. "Social dominance, hypermasculinity, and career barriers in Nigeria," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 175-194, January.
    4. Andrea Gragnano & Silvia Simbula & Massimo Miglioretti, 2020. "Work–Life Balance: Weighing the Importance of Work–Family and Work–Health Balance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Sakshi Sharma & Rajvir Kaur, 2019. "Glass ceiling for women and its impact on women's career progression in the Indian service sector: the moderating role of family structure," International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 18(2), pages 235-250.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jikky P. Shaji & Jojo K. Joseph & Thomas K. V., 2025. "Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Glass Ceiling Among Women Employees in the Banking Sector," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 26(4), pages 1059-1081, August.
    2. Hani Al-Dmour & Rima Al Hasan & Motasem Thneibat & Ra’ed Masa’deh & Wafa Alkhadra & Rand Al-Dmour & Ali Alalwan, 2023. "Integrated Model for the Factors Determining the Academic’s Remote Working Productivity and Engagement: Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    3. Yasser Tawfik Halim & Zeinab Abbas Zaazou & Mohamed Samy El-Deeb, 2023. "Factors affecting gender equality in public organizations in Egypt," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Seema Ghosh & Mousumi Singha Mahapatra & Neelam Tandon & Deepak Tandon, 2024. "Achieving Sustainable Development Goal of Women Empowerment: A Study among Self-help Groups in India," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 13(4), pages 477-491, August.
    5. Niveen Mazen Alsayyed & Julian Randall, 2023. "Feminist Emergence in a Traditionally Male Industry: Case from Jordan—The Jordanian Banking Industry," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Isaac Nyarko Adu & Evelyn Twumasi & Kwame Owusu Boakye & Michael Kyei-Frimpong, 2023. "Does Organizational Support Moderate the Influence of Family–Work Conflict on Career Progression?," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 208-220, June.
    7. Kellyann Berube Kowalski & Alex Aruldoss & Bhuvaneswari Gurumurthy & Satyanarayana Parayitam, 2022. "Work-From-Home Productivity and Job Satisfaction: A Double-Layered Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-29, September.
    8. Amani Al-Serhan & Raeda Saada & Niveen Alsayyed, 2023. "Women and Leadership in the Jordanian Armed Forces," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, February.
    9. Amina Amari & Mohamed Mousa & Walid Chaouali & Zohra Ghali-Zinoubi & Narjess Aloui, 2023. "Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Unpacking the Effects of Flexitime and Flexiplace: a Study on MENA Region," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1333-1352, December.
    10. Drago, Carlo & Errichiello, Luisa, 2024. "Remote Work admist the Covid-19 outbreak: Insights from an Ensemble Community-Based Keyword Network Analysis," FEEM Working Papers 341640, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    11. Inmaculada Mateo-Rodríguez & Emily Caitlin Lily Knox & Coral Oliver-Hernández & Antonio Daponte-Codina & on behalf of the esTAR Group, 2021. "Mediational Occupational Risk Factors Pertaining to Work Ability According to Age, Gender and Professional Job Type," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-10, January.
    12. Rhea Monica Denopol-Pacaña & Rosenie S. Coronado, 2025. "Perceptions on Flexible Working Hours and Work-Life Balance Among Hospital Employees in A Department of Health -Retained Hospital," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 12(15), pages 321-351, March.
    13. Mansi Taparia & Usha Lenka, 2025. "A bibliometric overview of research on the glass ceiling for women," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 3219-3261, December.
    14. Kizza Francis Ssali, 2023. "Work Life Balance as a Determinants of Academic Staff Retention in Makerere and Kyambogo Universities in Uganda," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 1834-1845, October.
    15. Emmanuel Erastus YAMOAH, 2025. "Work-Life Balance, Organisational Commitment, and Healthcare Worker Productivity," Management and Economics Review, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(1), pages 133-146, February.
    16. David Cobos-Sanchiz & María-José Del-Pino-Espejo & Ligia Sánchez-Tovar & M. Pilar Matud, 2020. "The Importance of Work-Related Events and Changes in Psychological Distress and Life Satisfaction amongst Young Workers in Spain: A Gender Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-14, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:114-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssbffea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.