A study exploring the career advancement of women librarians in South African institutions of higher education

Bibliography: leaves 198-211.The lowly status of female librarians has been noted in libraries in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Contrary to the position overseas, little has been written on it in South Africa and even less on how women librarians themselves perceive their position. This aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of women librarians in certain tertiary institutions regarding the following questions: 1) To what extent has gender/sex impacted on the career positioning of female librarians? 2) Have any other obstacles impeded the career advancement of female librarians and if so, what were they? 3) When female librarians apply for promotion, what are their actual experiences? 4) To what extent has race impacted on the career positioning of female librarians? A feminist constructionist methodology was used to explore perceptions of female librarians at four Western Cape tertiary institutions