Challenging the Status Quo: Navigating Women’s Leadership Barriers in the Mining Sector of Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa

The mining industry is historically male-dominated, and women face significant obstacles in accessing leadership roles, particularly within its core operational and technical functions. This study explored strategies to overcome barriers to women’s leadership in the mining sector of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Grounded in the Gendered Organization Theory. The study adopted an interpretivist research philosophy, a qualitative approach, and a phenomenological research design. The study relied on the lived experiences of 13 women purposively selected in middle to executive-level roles within the mining sector in KwaZulu-Natal. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed using NVivo. The results revealed three major strategies women leaders use to navigate the male-dominated environment: adopting a situational leadership style to adapt to changing team and operational dynamics, actively engaging in empowerment initiatives such as leadership development and mentorship programmes, and leveraging anonymous reporting platforms to promote workplace safety and voice concerns without fear of reprisal. The study concludes that fostering women’s leadership in mining requires multi-level interventions that incorporate leadership flexibility, structural support through training and development, and psychologically safe work environments. It recommends sustained institutional commitment to gender-transformative practices, including leadership pathways tailored for women, stronger enforcement of anti-harassment protocols, and amplifying women’s voices in organisational decision-making. This study contributes to scholarship by offering context-specific insights into the lived leadership experiences of women in South Africa’s mining sector, thereby enriching the discourse on gendered organizational dynamics in a traditionally male-dominated industry.