First, there is limited recognition of the impact of contextual factors on individuals' career development. This study identifies and examines the influence of multiple 'aspects of social conditions' on the career development of black South African women.
A critical overview of two mainstream career theories
Super's notion of stages of development is also problematic when applied to the South African context. This study takes a closer look at the way in which black South African women deal with frequent changes in their career development.
A call for an indigenous career theory
Applied to career research and theory, the preceding discussion highlights the need for career researchers to be aware that the career behavior of people within different cultural and ethnic groups can vary considerably. Stead and Watson (1999) urge career researchers to be aware of the transitions taking place in South African cultures as they adapt to a rapidly changing post-apartheid context, and to recognize that these transitions "mitigate against cultures that become homogeneous" (p. 218).
The positivist research paradigm
Career research must explore "the dialectic between individuals and their context in this constructive process, and this can only be achieved through interpretation" (p. 2). - The current study shows how an. It has already been noted that South Africa is experiencing rapid social and political change, which is likely to affect the career development of black South Africans. In career research, it is important to consider how these contradictory gender identities may influence individuals' career development.
First, this suggests that from a traditional perspective, considerations of one's immediate and extended family are likely to have a significant impact on the career development of black South Africans. In the process of career development, an individual must not only deal with his/her own developmental changes, but Naicker (1994) illustrates the impact of political policies such as apartheid on career development in his discussion of the status of career guidance in South African schools.
This study highlights how a lack of careers advice and suspicion of existing services is likely to have complicated the career development of many black South Africans. The above discussion illustrates the need to investigate the impact of such factors on the career development of black South Africans.
Summary
The methodology of this study has already been described in detail in the previous literature review. All three of these purposes are central to this study, and it is partly for these reasons that a qualitative methodology was chosen for this research. Itis argued that a qualitative study was more appropriate to explore the importance that the women who participated in this study placed on their career development.
The fundamental aim of this study is to investigate the influence of a number of contextual factors on career development. Black South African women were therefore selected as the sample for this study as it was felt that their narratives would enable an exploration of the way in which contextual factors such as socio-political, economic and cultural factors influence career development. This position allowed easy access to individuals who would be suitable for this study.
The women in this study come from a variety of backgrounds and their experiences cannot easily be homogenized, yet their stories have much in common. The remaining women were contacted by friends of the interviewer who arranged the times and places for the interviews.
Ethical considerations
For the purposes of this study, 'professional' refers to women who have completed an education and/or degree and are currently employed. All the participants are over thirty years old and therefore all survived the apartheid era. One of the women is a nurse, the other a consultant for a non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with young people.
Where possible, the interviewer contacted each of the women individually and arranged a time to conduct the interview. This was the case with women working at the university where the interviewer is currently employed and enrolled; it was also the case with women with whom she had frequent personal contact through her off-campus work. Based on the ideas of Collin and Young (1992), this study chose to use narrative structure as a means of capturing the meaningful life stories of the ten participants.
Guide design was guided by the voice-centered relational method developed by Brown and Gilligan (1991) and adapted by Mautner and Doucet (1998). This initial question was followed by a series of inquiries to gain a deeper understanding of the social, historical, cultural and other factors that may have influenced their career development.
Interpretation of the narratives
The interpreter in this study engaged in four readings of the interviews (Mkhize & Frizelle, 2000). Thus, the discussion of the results will not fall into neat categories that reflect the individual measurements, but will reflect the interdependent/cyclical nature of the reading/interpretation process. Issues of power, oppression, gender, the role of family and community were all explored in the career stories.
This chapter presents an interpretation and discussion of the stories of the ten black South African women who participated in this study. Chapter five goes into more detail discussing the interpretations in the form of recommendations for. However, it is important to reiterate that the findings will show that all four measurements are interdependent.
The discussion of the interpretations will therefore not fall under clearly distinguishable categories reflecting the separate readings, but will reflect the interdependent/cyclical nature of the reading/interpretation process. The social embedding of the career narratives: the importance of the 'other' in the construction of the career narratives of Black South African women.
Contextualised career narratives
The main purpose of this study was to explore the way in which contextual factors (social, political, economic, cultural) can influence/influence the career development of black South African women. Narratives of career context: career development as situated, conditioned and dependent on contextual factors. The following interpretations illustrate how financial constraints and the policy of apartheid significantly influenced the career development of the women in this study.
All of the women in this study faced enormous financial constraints when they began their professional development. She tells how these and other political factors had serious consequences for her career development. It was necessary to return to the topic several times (hermeneutic technique) before she could establish a more direct connection between her career development and the social and political conditions of existence.
As the interviewer began to 'teas' out Nonhlanhla's narrative, she began to make more direct connections between her career development and apartheid. The excerpts point to the importance of examining the situation of career development in relation to historical, socio-political and economic factors.
Positive non-directional career narratives
Research Questions: What roles do significant others and the wider community play in the career development process of Black South African women? How a changing social, political and economic context affects the career development of black South African women. The following extracts in this section illustrate the importance of the 'other' in the construction of the career narratives of the black South African women of this study. The following extracts illustrate the importance of Jami/y in the career development of black South African women.
Her mother's personal sacrifices suggest that the family relationship plays a significant and enabling role in the development of black South Africans' careers. In summary, the above excerpts suggest that the career narratives of the women in this study are not the result of a black South African culture, nor are they solely the result of contextual factors. Although the narratives of the women in this study show the importance of the other, especially family and society, in the construction of black South African women's career narratives, the narratives also show that there can be, and often is, a tension as black. South Africans negotiate themselves between collectivist and individualist perspectives on life.
Kerry: You know the outcome of what you're doing, but they just see it in immediate terms. The tensions described in the above extracts should be considered in career theory and practice as they certainly have an impact on a person's career development.
Gendered career development
Makhosi's narrative further supports the idea that black South African women have to negotiate a wide range of gender constructions in the process of their career development. The above extract confirms that gender still has a significant influence on the career development of black South African women. The above excerpts suggest that group and cultural values around gender play an important role in the career development of black South African women, more importantly the excerpts.
One of the expected results of this study was that the narratives of the black South African women would contribute to the construction of more appropriate theories of career development (see section 1.4). This study highlighted how cultural definitions of personhood (the concept of self in relation to others) and traditional gender values impact the career development of black South African women. This negotiation between two sets of values has a clear impact on the career development of black South African women, and possibly men as well.
This research has shown that many black South African women have had to deal with many difficulties and changes in their career development. This study also emphasizes the way in which financial limitations have a direct impact on career development. Narrative and hermeneutic research treatments must be applied to investigate the influence of contextual factors (culture, gender, politics, economy) on the career development of black South Africans.
Hopefully, in the long term this will contribute to the development of an appropriate and relevant theory of career development in South Africa.
