'Juggling the glass balls ...': Workplace spirituality in women leaders

Abstract

This qualitative study explored workplace spirituality in women leadership in higher education institutions (HEIs). Interviews were conducted with women leaders of the Higher Education Research Service network across eight institutions. Observations were made in one organisation. Findings show that women leaders are highly aware of their spirituality and religious affiliation which influence their work and work spirituality. Workplace spirituality includes how women leaders approach life and work, how spirituality expands their concept of religion and how the interwoven concepts of spirituality and religion help them to manage their work optimally. The study was limited to a relatively small sample size of 23 women leaders and was further bound to the qualitative research methodology. This study provides valuable insights into workplace spirituality regarding women leaders in South African HEIs. The findings provide a base for future research on women leaders in organisations and for leadership training of women within HEIs.

Full text

South African Journal of Higher Education http://dx.doi.org/10.28535/31-5-1075
Volume 31 | Number 5 | 2017 | pages 189‒205 eISSN 1753-5913
189
‘JUGGLING THE GLASS BALLS ...’: WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY
IN WOMEN LEADERS
C-H. Mayer
Department of Management
Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Institut für Therapeutische Kommunikation
Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
e-mail: claudemayer@gmx.net
R. Viviers*
e-mail: rianviv@gmail.com
R. Oosthuizen*
e-mail: oosthrm@unisa.ac.za
S. Surtee
HERS-SA
Cape Town, South Africa
e-mail: director@hers-sa.org.za
*Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology
University of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study explored workplace spirituality in women leadership in higher education
institutions (HEIs). Interviews were conducted with women leaders of the Higher Education
Research Service network across eight institutions. Observations were made in one organisation.
Findings show that women leaders are highly aware of their spirituality and religious affiliation
which influence their work and work spirituality. Workplace spirituality includes how women
leaders approach life and work, how spirituality expands their concept of religion and how the
interwoven concepts of spirituality and religion help them to manage their work optimally. The
study was limited to a relatively small sample size of 23 women leaders and was further bound to
the qualitative research methodology. This study provides valuable insights into workplace
spirituality regarding women leaders in South African HEIs. The findings provide a base for future
research on women leaders in organisations and for leadership training of women within HEIs.
Keywords: spirituality, women leaders, higher education institutions, South Africa

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INTRODUCTION
Spirituality has established itself as a well-recognised and researched element of physical and
mental health and psychological wellbeing (Banks and Lee 2016; Delle Fave et al. 2013; Steffen
2012; Steger 2012; Wissing et al. 2014). Since the formal acknowledgement of positive
psychology as an emerging field within psychology in 2000 (Peterson and Seligman 2004;
Snyder and Lopez 2002), spirituality has more frequently been associated with health and
personal wellbeing. It is regarded as a character strength and virtue (Peterson and Seligman
2004) and is often referred to in its broader sense, including synonyms such as religiousness,
faith or purpose. In this article the term ‘spirituality’ will be used in its broader context.
Spirituality could be regarded as a holistic life concept (Mayer 2012) of an individual in
search of the sacred and as a person’s connection to God, or any god-like entity, or transcendent
being which is regarded as a higher power (Knoblauch 2006). Spirituality is often strongly
connected to religion, but is not necessarily tied to religion or the active practice of a religion
(Baker 2003; Lehtinen et al. 2005). For the purpose of this article, spirituality is viewed as a
‘deep, intuitive feeling of connectedness’ to the sacred in a dynamic and changing world
(Eckersley 2007, 220).
In general life, spirituality is often regarded as an enabling factor for an individual to
develop a positive mindset and inner peace (Koenig, McCullough and Larson 2001; Underwood
and Teresi 2002), but also wholeness (Rozario 1997) which could eventually lead to a healthy
mental state, happiness and flourishing (Wissing et al. 2014). The pursuit of the sacred is
therefore an individual’s inner striving to engage in positive attitudes and relationships
throughout life (Van Dierendonck and Mohan 2006).
WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality in the workplace has not been taken seriously in the past (Amin Mohamed et al.
2004; Butts 1999; Hall, Dixon and Mauzey 2004; Sheep 2004) and was neglected as an
important aspect that could impact employees (Pawar and Pawar 2016). This trend, however,
is rapidly changing and more scientific studies have emerged to explore workplace spirituality
(WSP) as an important factor in the work context (Houghton, Neck and Krishnakumar 2016;
Madden 2015; Sandhu 2016; Shahabinasab et al. 2016). WSP has been directly linked to a
variety of organisational factors, such as organisational citizenship (Shahabinasab et al. 2016),
employee wellbeing and job satisfaction (Bell 2016), employee satisfaction (Sandhu 2016),
emotional exhaustion and work-related family issues (Liang, Liang and Sun 2016),
organisational politics (Khatri and Gupta 2016), management (Tzouramani and Karakas 2016),

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191
responsible leadership (Kempster and Carroll 2016), career development (Bloch and Richmond
2016) and also work-life balance (Stoltz-Loike 2016).
Spiritual practice could entail extrinsic religiousness (Khumalo 2014; Van Dierendonck
and Mohan 2006) – the use of religion to provide security, comfort, status and/or social support.
In the work domain extrinsic religiousness could be used for utilitarian and/or external motives
(Khumalo 2014) as spirituality becomes a functional means in the workplace (Steger and
Frazier 2005). Bloch and Richmond (2016) firmly believe that meaning in the postmodern
workplace could be obtained through the exploration of the connectedness between spirit and
career. Lee, Lovelace and Manz (2014) specifically point out the positive impact of WSP on
employees' emotional states at work.
More liberal organisations have recently started facilitating and promoting the important
role of WSP (Porter and Norris 2013) as it enables more productive and positive work practices
(Paul, Dutta and Saha 2016; Petchsawang and Duchon 2012) and also more positive workplace
practices. According to these findings, Miller and Ewest (2013) are of the opinion that diverse
religious traditions should therefore be accommodated and explored so as to determine the
impact of individual or collective spirituality in the workplace.
WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY IN WOMEN LEADERS
Women leaders in the world of business are often discriminated against and could face social
and economic penalties for behaving counter-stereotypically (Rudman et al. 2012). They found
in a series of five studies that women are proscribed from dominant, high status positions
(traditionally reserved for men); that prejudice against agentic female leaders was mediated by
a dominance penalty; that participants' gender system-justifying beliefs moderated backlash
effects; that backlash was exacerbated when perceivers were primed with a system threat; and
finally, that only female leaders who threatened the status quo suffered sabotage.
This ‘traditional’ discrimination of women leaders’ experience might be alleviated by the
intervening effects of personal resources they apply to help them cope in the brutal leadership
context (Bakker and Xanthopoulou 2013). Women leaders not only need to excel in managerial
and leadership positions once they manage to reach that cadre, but also need to maintain family
life and often struggle with a work-life balance (Tomer et al. 2015). In order to ‘juggle the
balls’, they often rely on their religious beliefs to help them cope in daily life (Mayer and Surtee
2015; Mayer, Surtee and May 2015; Reid, Roumpi and O'Leary-Kelly 2015). Paul et al. (2016)
found that workplace spirituality helped to maintain a work-life balance among women
executives of IT sector companies in India. Reid et al. (2015) found that in Ghana female

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entrepreneurs tended to invoke spirituality in the context of personal and work-related
challenges. Ngunjiri (2016) indicates that spirituality enabled women leaders are stronger and
courageous when facing difficult circumstances, as it provides them with a sense of purpose
and strengthens their calling for their work, which further enables them to be more effective
servant leaders.
The previous examples all relate to being stronger and more effective in the work context.
Person, May and Mayer (2016) add to the above by introducing the concept of meaningfulness
of work experiences by women leaders through spirituality at work. They are of the opinion
that meaningfulness is based on the concepts of inner-connectedness and trans-personality,
which plays out as a coping resource in the work context (Mayer and Surtee 2015; Mayer et al.
2015). The purpose of this study was to explore, from a qualitative research perspective,
workplace spirituality in women leadership in higher education institutions (HEIs).
METHOD
To date, there appears to be no hermeneutic phenomenological research on workplace
spirituality in women leadership in South African HEIs. Utilising the theoretical principles and
practices of hermeneutic phenomenology, this study aimed to gain access to a phenomenon that
is often subconscious in order to understand the nature and meaning of the participants’ lived
experiences. The interpretation of the texts of life was expected to yield rich and detailed
descriptions of workplace spirituality in women leadership in South African HEIs (Chan,
Walker and Gleaves 2015; Creswell 2015; Fossey et al. 2002). The concept of Dilthey's modern
hermeneutics (2002) was used to create ‘Verstehen’ (understanding) of workplace spirituality
in women leadership in HEIs. To construct, analyse and interpret the data, researchers used a
self-reflective attitude as described by Ratner (2002).
Sample
In accordance with the interpretive research paradigm, and in line with the need to explore
participants experiencing the phenomenon under inquiry, snowball sampling strategies were
used to select the participants (Denzin and Lincoln 2000; Woodley and Lockard 2016). Women
leaders were invited to participate in the research project through their membership of HERS-
SA (Higher Education Resource Services South Africa). HERS-SA is a non-profit South
African organisation which offers professional and leadership development and training to
women leaders in HEIs. A total of 900 women were invited, but only 29 women from eight
HEIs participated. Qualitative interviews covered issues such as women’s leadership challenges

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and workplace spirituality in HEIs.
Data collection
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted either via
Skype or as face-to-face interactions (30‒60 minutes each) in English. The interview questions
were based on an extensive literature review on gender discrimination in leadership positions
in South African organisations (Mayer and Barnard 2015; Mayer and Van Zyl 2013; Mayer,
Surtee and May 2015). The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Observations
in HEIs were captured in field notes and used for the interpretation of interview data (Graham
and Bell 2016; Walsh, Fleming and Enz 2016).
Data analysis and interpretation
As this was an interpretive hermeneutic phenomenological study, the analysis and interpretation
of the interviews were guided by Van Manen’s methodical procedures (2007). Interview data
was analysed through the five-step process of content analysis: step 1 ‒ familiarisation and
immersion; step 2 ‒ inducing themes; step 3 ‒ coding; step 4 ‒ elaboration; and step 5 ‒
interpretation and checking (Terre Blanche, Durrheim and Kelly 2006, 322‒326; Vaismoradi
et al. 2016). Data gathered through observation at one selected HEI contributed to a deeper
understanding, analysis and interpretation of data (Yin 2009) of workplace spirituality in
women leadership in HEIs.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH CRITERIA
Qualitative research criteria included the definition of the ‘worthy topic’, rich rigor, sincerity,
credibility, resonance, the significant contribution, ethics and the meaningful coherence (Tracy
2010). Data quality was further ensured through informed consent, anonymity, rigorous
analysis and constant comparison of the data and of the research topic throughout the analysis
(Charmaz 2011). Participants voluntarily participated in the study. Inter-subjective validation
processes were conducted amongst the researchers throughout the research study through
discussions and common reflections (Yin 2009).
Ethical considerations
Research ethics were applied throughout the research process, including assuring informed
consent, anonymity, confidentiality and the freedom to withdraw from the interview process at
any time. Ethical approval was given by the Ethics Research Committee at Rhodes University,
Grahamstown, SA and HERS-SA.

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FINDINGS
All of the 29 participants responded to the questions on what spirituality meant to them and
how it impacted on them and their work. Although the questions were related to spirituality
only, several interviewees commented on spirituality and religion; some responses were
intertwined without a clear distinction between the differences and/or with explicit explanations
of how these two concepts are related in the opinion of the interviewees. With regard to religious
affiliation, interviewees referred to their religious affiliation and their spirituality, as shown in
Table 1.
Table 1: Religious affiliation and general approach to spirituality
Self-
defined
race
Interview number
Religious affiliation
Comment on spirituality
Indian
I9, I17, I18, I22
Hindu
Spirituality is very important and
plays a major role in life and
work.
Black
B12, B21, B29
Christian
Spirituality is very important and
plays a major role in life and
work.
White
• W3, W16, W27
• W15
• W10, B29
• W2, W25
• W6, W10, W15
• W25
• W26, W2
• Atheist
• Protestant
• Roman Catholic
• Interfaith
• Christian
• Spiritual
• Buddhist
• Not spiritual
• Spiritual
• Spiritual
• Spiritual
• Spiritual
• Spiritual
• Spiritual
Coloured
C8, C13, C19, C23, C28
Christian
Spirituality is very important and
plays a major role in life and
work.
Table 1 shows that for Indian, black and coloured women, their religious affiliation were clearly
connected to spirituality. For them, spirituality was often interwoven with religion, supporting
each other mutually: spirituality contributes to religion and religion contributes to spirituality.
One black Christian woman leader highlighted, for example, (B21):
For me it (spirituality/religion) is basically my relationship with God ‒ the way I see God and
spirituality in the workplace is how I live out my spiritual aspect.
An Indian Hindu interviewee contributed the following (I9):
All depends on what religion ... In the Eastern philosophies if you believe in a form of God, you
look at male and female. It's also the feminine aspects, and for us the feminine aspect is more
important than the male aspect.
A coloured Christian woman leader pointed out (C8) that her belief in being a Christian was
strongly connected to her spirituality, her values and her integrity as a woman leader. She felt

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that her work was part of her calling and a core to fulfil it:
Well I suppose my feet are firmly grounded in the fact that I’m a Christian. For me that directs a
lot of my life calling, I suppose. So from that perspective, for instance it’s quite important for me
to act with integrity, because if I didn’t, it would be compromising my entire value system, my
spiritual belief. I hold to Christian values and I believe I’m called for the work that I do; so for me
that is a very important aspect of my work.
For white interviewees, the connection and interrelationship of religion and spirituality emerged
in various ways. Two of the white interviewees were Buddhists and their spirituality was
interwoven with their religious affiliation and their views supported each other. The other white
interviewees commented on their religion ‒ without even being asked to do so ‒ in different
ways: three of them highlighted that they were born Christian, but turned to atheism for either
unmentioned or other reasons (W27) regarding struggles with Christianity (W16, W27).
One Christian woman commented on Protestant work ethics; two mentioned their
background as being Christian (W10, B21) and another (W10) converting from Anglican to
Catholicism within a two-year period. Two women believed in interfaith dialogue, and one said
that being Christian was ‘being spiritual’ (W25). One woman pointed out that Christianity was
important to her as an overall religious affiliation (W6), whilst two said that Christianity and
their particular denomination were both important (W10, W15).
Concepts of spirituality
The concept of spirituality is connected to four themes. The overviews of several categories are
provided in Tables 2 to 5. The following themes are explored: Approach to life and work,
values, expanding religion, and spirituality as a resource.
Approach to life and work
For most of the interviewees, spirituality was an approach to life and to work: it was about core
beliefs, the understanding of the world and life centeredness around God (12 statements each).
Spirituality was also believed to be an identity-building concept (8 statements) and it was about
how a person lived their life and how they worked; it was about inner balance (6 statements
each) and about seeing life and development as a journey (3 statements).
A coloured female leader referred to the interconnectedness of spirituality as a core belief.
For her, spirituality was her faith and lifestyle by believing in a higher force (C28):
For me, spirituality is the way in which I practise my faith, but it is also beyond that. It’s again the
relational aspect. It’s relationship with who one regards as your higher being, and how that higher
being, whether you call it God, or Allah or Buddha or whatever, how that relationship impacts on

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your life. And it’s not just a relationship with a higher force, but also a relationship with the earth
and the world, with all living beings. For me that’s the essential aspect of spirituality. And in the
workplace, it is how one relates to each other because you regard others as being the incarnation
of a higher being.
Table 2: Concepts of spirituality: Approach to life and work
Theme
concept of
spirituality
Category
Interview numbers
Total
Approach to life
Core belief
I18, I22, W2, W3, W27, W16; W15, W7;
C28, C8, B21, B29
12
Understanding the world
B12, B29, C8, I22, I18, I9, W26, W16,
W15, W7, C28, C23
12
Identity
C19, W6, W14, W3, W25, B12, B21, B29
8
How you live your life and
work
B12, C19, C23, W15, W16, W7
6
Inner balance
C8, W10, W25, I18, I9, I22
6
A journey
B21, W6, W15
3
Total
59
For eight individuals, spirituality was a core identity aspect as it provided women leaders with
ideas on how to live their lives and how to conduct their work in terms of ethics and religion (6
statements). Women leaders felt that spirituality provided them with inner balance (6
statements). Three women saw life as a journey and spirituality as one of the dynamic aspects
in life that accompanied and guided them, whilst spirituality was a journey in itself and therefore
developmental. W6 emphasised:
Spirituality is huge to me. I’m a Christian and I’m certainly on a very long journey, I have a heck
of a long way to go, but I can’t manage without being spiritual. To me spirituality believes in a
higher Being. And for me it’s believing there is a God and I’m being guided on my journey. And
I have to trust and believe that the journey I’m being taken on is right for me. That to me is my
spirituality.
For this woman leader, spirituality formed the core of her journey and was part of her daily
leadership practices. It was a complex concept which was connected to a higher being and being
guided by her actions. As seen in her statement, spirituality and the practice of her Christian
religion were strongly interlinked.
Values
The women leaders emphasised that values were very important in terms of spirituality. For
them, spirituality spoke of ‘respect for humanity’ (7 statements) and included compassion and
kindness, ethical attitudes and behaviour (5 statements each) and the freedom of belief (4
statements), and was connected to core values, such as honesty (3 statements) and sharing (2
statements).
Several interviewees talked about the importance of respect for humanity and this core

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value of life and work as a basis of spirituality. One white woman (W5) felt that spirituality
connected her with others, particularly in times of crisis, and gave her respect for others. W26
supported this: ‘Spirituality relates to the respect for humanity. It provides you with
understanding, a broader view on things and respect.’
For five individuals, spirituality was connected to compassion, kindness and ethics. I18,
an Indian SA woman leader, regarded the connection of spirituality as a container for core
values and a kind, compassionate attitude:
To me spirituality means values. There are good values and bad values ... so spirituality in the
workplace means good values, but that’s something that has to be talked about and negotiated.
Spirituality was a leadership attribute based on (spiritual) values to support compassionate,
respectful and kind behaviour in leaders and in organisations. This leader argued that spirituality
needed to be talked about and negotiated as it provided individuals with core values and
attitudes. W20 highlighted that spirituality guided ethical behaviour directly:
... I talk about the ethical aspects of what I do and want to live as an ethical person, and to work
well with other people and to sort of have understanding and awareness of the needs of other
people around me, and I think that may be articulated in a sort of spiritual way.
For her, spirituality was directly connected to ethics and ethical leadership, which was again
related to working well with others, understanding, awareness and addressing the needs of
others. Spirituality was therefore a core concept of ethics.
Four white women leaders indicated the importance of freedom of belief. In their opinion,
spirituality provided the right to anyone of freedom of thought and religion, as they felt that
spirituality did not have an institutional base. This was important to these white women leaders,
based on their experiences as Christians, highlighting that religions should not be exclusive and
should be interpreted as being inclusive of diversity in the workplace.
Table 3: Concepts of spirituality: Values
Values
Respect for humanity
B21, B12, W5, W16, C23, I17, I18,
W26
7
Compassion/kindness
I9, I18, C13, W26, W6
5
Ethical attitude & behaviour (ethics)
W2, W20, W3, W15, W25,
5
Freedom of belief
W2, W5, W16, W15
4
Honesty
W3, I18, W26
3
Sharing
C23, W26
2
Total
26
Expanding religion
The theme of expanding religion is based mainly on the categories ‘consciousness/

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mindfulness/awareness’ (8 statements), ‘more than religion’ and ‘commonness of religions’ (6
statements each), and ‘interfaith dialogue’ (3 statements). WSP was seen as an aid that helped
individuals to be conscious, mindful and aware in the workplace. A white Buddhist woman
provided her views on spiritual leadership (W25):
To me it is very much related to awareness and consciousness, and living in the moment in what
I’m doing. If I’m working, it means that I’m completely in that particular vein, not with my mind
being all over the place. I’m completely focused on being in that zone.
Spirituality provided her with awareness, consciousness and a certain kind of flow and focus
which made her live in the moment, working completely focused, applying herself as a whole
person, with contained and focused energy. Spirituality seemed to be strongly connected to
flow, presence and focus as an inner attitude.
Data show that spirituality was a concept that expanded religious affiliation for six of the
women interviewed. Spirituality provided them with the freedom to create a belief that was
rather independent of an institutional affiliation and the strict boundaries of, for example, the
church. For them, religion was bound to institutional boundaries, whilst spirituality was more
open and could be used as a practical application of religion on a daily basis and in leadership
practices.
Several women (6 statements) highlighted that spirituality created togetherness,
commonness and a feeling of connectedness. I9, for example, emphasised how spirituality
helped to bridge differences at individual and racial levels:
Irrespective of whatever religion you are, I believe there’s one Creator who is one God and I
believe we are all part and parcel of that, we just, well, whatever colour, or hairstyles we use, we
are all part of his creation. So I try to be as fair as possible to all concerned, but we do have an
abnormal society that translates into the workplace, and I try to keep a balance with the spiritual
part of it.
For her, spirituality provided a possibility to contain the societal abnormalities which spill over
in the workplace. It provided her with an alternative perspective, a resource for strength and
inner balance in a racially divided world. Spirituality helped her to focus on the inside, on the
internal. It was therefore a space that moved the focus from difference, racial divide and
marginalisation to an inner, safe space where she tried to balance herself and her experiences
in society and the workplace. WPS also seemed to support and create space for ‘interfaith
dialogue’, an important aspect in a workplace based on diversity. W2 pointed out:
Spirituality means letting people believe what they want in terms of their own spirituality. I’m a
great fan of interfaith dialogue.

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This statement shows the interlinked nature of freedom of belief and how employees use
spirituality to reach out, ‘cross the boundaries’ and connect through WPS. This participant
revealed how people use spirituality to connect to others in bridging differences, by creating
commonalities and similarities. For her, spirituality was important not only at a micro-level, but
also at an organisational and a global level.
Table 4: Concepts of spirituality: Expanding religion
Expanding
religion
Consciousness/
mindfulness/awareness
W15, W16, W20, W11, I18, C23,
C28, C8
8
More than religion
B29, I22, W5, W11, W6, W14
6
Spirituality is what religions
have in common
I18, B29, C19, W5, W14, C28
6
Interfaith dialogue
W2, W7, W25
3
Total
16
Spirituality as a resource
Fourteen statements reflect spirituality as being a resource in life and at work for women
leaders. The women surveyed found spirituality to be a way to cope with challenges (6
statements), a kind of ‘opener’, providing them with information or an ‘open heart’ to look
beyond their situation, themselves or the context (5 statements). All the black women
commented that spirituality was a support and help, for themselves and to support others ‒
through support groups at a collective level or an individual level (3 statements). This aspect is
interesting, as most other women leaders defined spirituality in terms of an ‘individual belief’
(see W27) and not as a collective ‘get together’ to support the self and/or others.
Table 5: Concepts of spirituality: Resource
Resource
Way to cope
I22, B29, C13, W6, W10, W27
6
Eye opener (seeing bigger
picture)
B12, W11, W27, W15, I22
5
Support for self and others
B12, B21, B29
3
Total
14
Several women directly or indirectly emphasised that spirituality was a powerful resource in
terms of life and work. It provided a way to cope with challenges (6 statements), to open their
eyes, thereby expanding their personal worldview (5 statements), the situation or the context,
and so enabled them to see the ‘bigger picture’ behind the situation.
W10 emphasised:
It’s a coping mechanism ... In the office, I have a rosary next to me, and so I am spiritual, because
it helps me cope.
For W10, spirituality was connected to her religious practice of praying, as well as to her

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spiritual belief in the power of rosaries. Spirituality became a combined spiritual/religious
concept which helped her cope at work. She defined spirituality functionally as a ‘coping
mechanism’. Spirituality became a combined individual and collective concept of support of
self and others ‒ in the sense of caring ‒ and a strong connection with other human beings in
life and in the workplace.
DISCUSSION
As discussed in the literature (Banks and Lee 2016; Delle Fave et al. 2013; Steffen 2012; Steger
2012; Wissing et al. 2014), spirituality can contribute to physical and mental health. The
findings support this assumption by showing that spirituality is an important resource in the life
and work of women leaders, providing a specific approach to life and work, values, expanding
religious views and acting as a resource. Women leaders see spirituality as identity building,
which can be compared to Peterson and Seligman’s view of spirituality (2004) as a character
strength and virtue. Women leaders often refer to these character strengths and virtues as values,
such as respect for humanity, freedom of belief and core values, which include honesty and
sharing.
Mayer (2012) and Knoblauch (2006) point out that spirituality is viewed by women
leaders as a holistic life concept which includes life and work, drawing upon concepts of
religiousness, faith or purpose (Peterson and Seligman 2004). Women leaders view spirituality
as a concept that expands religion and can be referred to as interfaith dialogue. The findings of
this study support the perspective of Koenig, McCullough and Larson (2001) and Underwood
and Teresi (2002) that spirituality can develop a positive mindset and add to the feeling of
connectedness and wholeness (as referred to by Eckersley 2007).
WSP is a positive resource for women leaders during their life and particularly at work.
This article contributes to the studies on WSP which emphasise WSP’s importance regarding
employees (Amin Mohamed et al. 2004; Butts 1999; Hall, Dixon and Mauzey 2004; Pawar and
Pawar 2016; Sheep 2004) and particularly women leaders. As the concept of spirituality is
described in its complexity by women leaders, it can be assumed that it impacts on leadership
(Kempster and Carroll 2016), career development (Bloch and Richmond 2016) and also work-
life balance (Stoltz-Loike 2016), as emphasised in the literature. Due to the complexity and
importance of the concept for women leaders, this study might even support the idea of Bloch
and Richmond (2016) that meaning is obtained through the exploration of the connectedness
between spirit and career, as well as value-based leadership.
Based on this study, spirituality can be viewed as a coping mechanism for women leaders

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in the workplace having to cope with leadership challenges, thereby supporting previous studies
in this realm (Bakker and Xanthopoulou 2013; Mayer and Surtee 2015; Mayer, Surtee and May
2015; Reid, Roumpi and O'Leary-Kelly 2015).
CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of this study was to explore workplace spirituality in women leaders in HEIs.
Findings show that spirituality is a highly important concept that relates to women leaders’ life
and work, not the least by connecting the two, but also by providing a value base for their work
in HEIs and expanding their religious concept, thereby contributing to being open to individuals
of different religions, and by defining and using spirituality as a resource.
Recommendations for theory and practice
Future studies should explore the concepts of spirituality by focusing more strongly on spiritual
practices. Spirituality should also be considered in the context of success, meaningfulness and
work relationships. Concepts of spirituality and their correspondence in male and in female
leaders should furthermore be studied and compared.
On a practical note, in a racially split society such as South Africa, society needs new
(and at the same time familiar) concepts of togetherness which can bridge the gap between
experienced differences and support the positive forces of reconciliation of individuals across
divides. Spirituality can become a new concept of ‘togetherness’ that connects individuals and
groups across spiritual, social, religious and cultural divides.
HEIs should become aware of the extraordinary potential of spiritual and religious
concepts within the workplace and the conscious and even unconscious dynamics which occur
in the context of workplace spirituality in terms of team building, commitment, working
together and work attitude/meaningfulness.
Finally, women leaders should (be trained to) consciously realise the potential of their
spirituality. Networking across women leaders from all group memberships could be supported
by open communication and an attitude of connecting on a different (human) level through
spirituality.
Limitations
Methodologically, this study was limited to a qualitative hermeneutical research paradigm and
to a relatively small set of participants, who were all members of the HERS-SA network.
Theoretically, this article is limited to the analysis of the data set. The aim of the article was to

Mayer, Viviers, Oosthuizen and Surtee Workplace spirituality in women leaders
202
gain an in-depth understanding of women leaders' perspectives in HEIs with regard to
workplace spirituality. This article does not proclaim generalisations, but provides an
orientation for future research and practice in the field of women leadership, not only in HEIs
but also organisations worldwide.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank HERS-SA for commissioning this research project and all the women who
participated.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have
inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
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