Nkosana Tshisa

Nominee's Province:
Free State

Age:

Project Name/Description:
Human resource management graduate

More info:

What is it like to be black, queer and a manager in the cooperate world? This is the question that inspired Master’s graduate Nkosana Tshisa’s thesis. The human resource management graduate is on a mission to shine the spotlight on sexual orientation discrimination by contributing to academic knowledge in the field of human resources. “I was bullied for being queer … So, I knew that whatever topic I choose for my studies it must speak to issues that affect people like me,” says Tshisa. “My interest is queer research and in particular black queer research. Though you don’t say it, straight people are treated better than queer people,” says Tshisa, adding that the study shows that the higher education sector is more open to queer people than all other sectors. “They write about us when it comes to gender-based violence, HIV-Aids but I also want to know ‘how are we as managers, as employers, as employees’,” says Tshisa. “The higher education sector is more embracing of people like me. It is all about imparting knowledge and being a change catalyst without being a certain way. You are taken seriously through your work, not how you present yourself.” Tshisa says the study also found that closeted people tended to have more unfavourable workplace experiences. “Because they are in the closet they cannot stand up for their rights and cannot defend practices that are discriminatory against queer people,” says Tshisa Tshisa, who works as a junior lecture at the Central University of Technology’s Welkom campus, graduated last year at the same institution. The 27-year-old from Mafikeng in North West also facilitates and moderates seminars and conferences. “I also want to write a lot of articles and attend more conferences so that my work gets out there.”