Lived experiences of gay men in their achievement of leadership in South African organisations
Wolson, Shane
There is a noticeable absence of the voices of gay men in leadership in South African
government and corporate organisations. This absence of visible gay male leadership in
organisations in South Africa, coupled with the limited research in a South African context, gave
rise to the research topic. This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of gay men in
their achievement of leadership with a focus on the possible barriers or obstacles they may
have encountered and overcome to realise their leadership positions. The study was conducted
through interviews with South Africa citizens working in mainstream South African
organisations; some participants also had personal experiences working in multinational
organisations allowing for a comparison between the multinational workspace and the South
African workspace. By utilising snowball sampling methods, eleven participants were
purposefully selected from a sample of self-identified cisgender gay men. The selected
participants had all openly revealed their same-sex sexual orientation to the organisations
where they worked and were all working in senior leader roles. Semi-structured individual
interviews were conducted with the participants and later transcribed, and rigorously analysed
using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis methods. The findings of the study identified that
gay cisgender males in mainstream South African organisations do indeed encounter barriers
relating to prejudice based on their same-sex sexual orientation. These barriers may impede
their professional development and growth into senior leadership positions. It was found that
some gay men possess internal resources or enablers that allow them to overcome existing
barriers and advance into successful leaders in their careers. Similarly, progress has been
made in some South African organisations, allowing them to provide a culture and environment
of safety and support for gay men, enabling these men to realise their aspirations of senior
leadership. By combining senior leadership who are supportive and involved in LGBTI+
affirmative practices and implementing workplace processes like LGBTI+ forums and inclusivity,
and awareness training programmes, organisations may create cultures where LGBTI+ people
may flourish and advance to senior leadership roles in South African organisations.
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