Prof Anita Bosch from Stellenbosch Business School in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences recently delivered her professorial inaugural lecture, titled “Balancing just outcomes: Viewing work through the lens of women". She spoke to the Division of Corporate Communication and Marketing about how her research promotes the inclusion of women in the workplace.
Tell us more about your research and why you became interested in this specific field.
My research focuses on women at work. It provides, among others, different theoretical lenses with which to understand the patterns of slow progress towards just outcomes for women in the workplace. This research is also part of my life-world. I believe that gender — a master identity of every person — provides a relatable gateway to grasping the complexities of workplace diversity, inclusion and, ultimately, belonging. Before I entered academia, I worked and held leadership positions in accountancy, human resource development, and pay systems in the private sector. I experienced a change in my identity when I became a mother. It was a watershed moment for me.
How would you describe the relevance of your work?
To be financially independent and able to take care of those who depend on you, forms part of every adult's life. My work is about the advancement of women towards financial independence through workplace inclusion. Also, towards shaping workplace practices and cultures to adopt and embrace the talents that women bring. Financial independence provides one with a voice and the ability to choose. This is essential in recalibrating power relations between women and men when considering gender in the binary.
Which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy the interaction with students and senior leaders on their assumptions about women at work. I also enjoy watching other people experience light bulb moments and informing myself of the ways in which people construe of their gendered life experiences. It gives me great pleasure to educate the public about our collective responsibility to reshape future generations towards greater inclusion of women in the workplace.
The pandemic has changed the way we work and live. What has kept you motivated during these times?
Knowing that eventually all things come to pass, even pandemics.
How do you spend your free time away from lectures and research?
It is a well-known fact that most women's free time often doubles up as time spent on the development of the family or care of the household. I, therefore, do not have free time, 'away from it all' and specifically to myself. It is a blessing.
