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Digitalisation and Thriving Within the Contested Terrain of Intersections of Gender, Race, Education and Class Inequalities in the South African Context

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Thriving in Digital Workspaces

Abstract

A large body of research has examined antecedents, mechanisms and consequences of human thriving within the workplace and across the lifespan. This research has examined individual and demographic differences and contextual factors and their implications for fostering or inhibiting thriving. More recently, there has been an interest expressed in examining such antecedents and their mechanisms and consequences, specifically within the context of digitalised workspaces. At present, South Africa is on the cusp of forays into the digitalisation of the workplace and very little research exists on the topic. Of particular interest within the South African context would be an examination of factors that could serve to thwart thriving in digitalised workspaces. In particular, structural inequalities in South African society and the intersections of various demographic differences such as gender, race, education and class status may serve to thwart thriving in Industry 4.0 . This chapter aims to explore these factors and their relevance and implications for human thriving in Industry 4.0 . Further, possible interventions that could mitigate these factors and promote human thriving within South African workplaces in the era of digitalisation will be proposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Colleen Bernstein

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  1. Colleen Bernstein
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Correspondence to Colleen Bernstein .

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  1. Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Melinde Coetzee

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Bernstein, C. (2019). Digitalisation and Thriving Within the Contested Terrain of Intersections of Gender, Race, Education and Class Inequalities in the South African Context. In: Coetzee, M. (eds) Thriving in Digital Workspaces. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24463-7_15

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