'Did I say that?' A follow-up study of the shifts in black and women staff experiences of institutional culture in the health science faculty of the University of Cape Town

Abstract

This paper is a follow-up study of how women and black staff experience the institutional culture in the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The original study was undertaken in 2001 and a follow-up of the same participants was conducted five years later in 2006. The study explores, through qualitative research methods, how change strategies have influenced the institutional culture and whether they have contributed to positive or negative experiences for black and women staff. The theoretical framework draws on the literature which focuses on institutional barriers to change in particular for black and women staff, as well as the impact of transformation policies, globalisation, and change strategies on institutional change and the work experience. The study demonstrates the complexity of the institutional culture in a Health Sciences Faculty and makes links between change strategies and cultural change. In so doing it demonstrates that there has been a positive shift in black and women's experiences of institutional culture.