Doing the ‘gender dance’: Black women professionals negotiating gender, race, work and family in post-apartheid South Africa

Transformation imperatives in contemporary South Africa require greater workforce participation by Black South African women but we know very little about their lived experiences. To address this gap, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with black mothers employed in professional occupations. We use an intersectionality lens to show how the interplay of race, gender and organisational culture hinders the advancement of Black women professionals. In doing so, we lay the groundwork for the development of new theory and the implementation of strategies that incorporate contemporary insights on race, gender, work and family.