Jennifer Rindfleish and Alison Sheridan
The gendered nature of organizations has now been well established by feminist researchers. In particular, the most senior levels of management have been identified as sites of…
Abstract
The gendered nature of organizations has now been well established by feminist researchers. In particular, the most senior levels of management have been identified as sites of hegemonic masculinity; the causes of which are complex, socially reproduced inter‐relationships that are highly resistant to change. While it has been argued that these structures will become less problematic as more women enter the paid workforce and more move into senior management, in this paper this argument is challenged. Recent research by the authors concerning women in the most senior ranks of management in the private sector in Australia suggests that, while the majority of these women identify the need for change, they have not used their role in senior management as a means of challenging gendered structures. The implications of the findings are that it is invalid to assume that change will come about through increasing numbers of women in management. Other means of challenging gendered organizational structures must be implemented, if quantifiable change is to come about.
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Research undertaken in the USA in the 1970s discovered that many women who were successful in business denied the difficulties faced by women in management and were reluctant to…
Abstract
Research undertaken in the USA in the 1970s discovered that many women who were successful in business denied the difficulties faced by women in management and were reluctant to assist other women. Researchers labelled this phenomenon the “queen bee” syndrome. This paper investigates the views of senior management women in Australia on the barriers women face in management and their willingness to assist other women into senior management positions. Forty‐one senior management women were interviewed in Sydney. Content analysis was conducted on the responses and four broad categories were developed: “conservatives”, “moderates”, “reluctant feminists” and “definite feminists”. Two‐thirds of respondents fell into categories representing women who did not hold views resembling those of “queen bees”. The remaining one‐third of the women interviewed fell into the two categories that most closely resembled “queen bees”. The fact that a minority of senior management women resembled “queen bees” challenges the myth that senior management women are reluctant to assist other women in the workplace. On the other hand, the results show that not all senior management women will support other women in the workplace.
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Gender inequity is constructed and reproduced differently in response to varying organisational contexts. In order to challenge gender inequity, EEO policies must be monitored and…
Abstract
Gender inequity is constructed and reproduced differently in response to varying organisational contexts. In order to challenge gender inequity, EEO policies must be monitored and managers need to enact appropriate strategies that enable change. This article compares the views and strategies of 251 senior management women in public, and 338 in private, sector organisations towards issues of gender equity. The aim is to contrast and compare the views and reported behaviour of senior management women in each sector towards gender equity, and examine the strength and nature of any differences arising from the different organisational contexts. The results highlight the importance of an identification with feminism, personal experience with sexual discrimination, and the assistance of amentor as enabling forces that predispose senior women managers in both sectors to enact change strategies that address gender inequity. However, women in the public sector are significantly more predisposed, than private sector women, to enact strategies that challenge gender inequity. The results are discussed with regard to their implications for gender equity goals in each type of organisational context.
Jennifer Rindfleish, Alison Sheridan and Sue‐Ellen Kjeldal
The purpose of this paper is to present personal experiences of using storytelling as a “sensemaking” tool, to argue for the benefits of this method as a process of better…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present personal experiences of using storytelling as a “sensemaking” tool, to argue for the benefits of this method as a process of better understanding the gendered academy and the role storytelling can play in effecting change.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on personal experiences of storytelling within workplaces, the paper explores how stories between colleagues can lead to positive change through the co‐construction of new worlds of meaning which are spontaneously revised through interaction.
Findings
The paper demonstrates how storytelling between individuals experiencing inequality makes visible the gendered practices in academic workplaces and can lead to a change in those experiences of the workplace. Also, such stories can be a means for prompting change through negotiation. Theoretically, a triple‐loop learning environment within an organization could provide the agora required for stories about inequality to be heard continually and change to come about through negotiation.
Research limitations/implications
The paper uses a method that serves as a heuristic device and as such cannot be generalized for all organizational settings. The findings offer a new but partial solution for negotiating gender inequity in academia by suggesting that there must be more storytelling in openly public spaces between colleagues to challenge and negotiate the gendered organizational cultures of academia.
Practical implications
The application of the method of triple‐loop learning in academic organizational settings can assist in challenging and changing gender inequity through the consistent use of narratives.
Originality/value
The paper is unique in that it argues for the value of a self‐reflexive narrative form of method which favours stories being shared in public spaces – the agora – as a way of addressing gender inequity within complex, male dominated professions such as academia.
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Vasilikie Demos, Marcia Texler Segal and Kristy Kelly
Departing from an online interactive Gender Café on the topic of Knowledge Management (KM), jointly hosted by a UN agency and the Society of Gender Professionals, this chapter…
Abstract
Departing from an online interactive Gender Café on the topic of Knowledge Management (KM), jointly hosted by a UN agency and the Society of Gender Professionals, this chapter seeks to provide gender practitioners and others with practical examples of how to “gender” KM in international development. Through analyzing the travel of feminist ideas into the field of KM with inspiration from Barbara Czarniawska’s and Bernard Joerge’s (1996) theory of the travel of ideas, the chapter explores the spaces, limits, and future possibilities for the inclusion of feminist perspectives. The ideas and practical examples of how to do so provided in this chapter originated during the café, by the participants and panellists. The online Gender Café temporarily created a space for feminist perspectives. The data demonstrate how feminist perspectives were translated into issues of inclusion, the body, listening methodologies, practicing reflection, and the importance to one’s work of scrutinizing underlying values. However, for the feminist perspective to be given continuous space and material sustainability developing into an acknowledged part of KM, further actions are needed. The chapter also reflects on future assemblies of gender practitioners, gender scholars and activists, recognizing the struggles often faced by them. The chapter discusses strategies of how a collective organizing of “outside–inside” gender practitioners might push the internal work of implementing feminist perspectives forward.
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Deirdre Shaw and Jennifer Thomson
Although consumption of spirituality and growth of the market in this area have been well documented, it has been largely neglected in marketing. Existing literature exploring…
Abstract
Purpose
Although consumption of spirituality and growth of the market in this area have been well documented, it has been largely neglected in marketing. Existing literature exploring spirituality has suggested consumers in this area can experience uncertainty, but lacks clarity as to whether this uncertainty results in negative or positive affective states. The aim of this paper is to explore the theoretical concept of consumer uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a qualitative exploratory approach through the use of interviews. It explores the theoretical concept of consumer uncertainty and its impact on affect.
Findings
The research reveals that consumers of spirituality did indeed embrace many of the products and services offered by the market in this area and they also experienced uncertainty, however, rather than negative as much of the literature surrounding uncertainty suggests, the uncertainty they experienced resulted in positive affective states.
Research limitations/implications
It is acknowledged that the current research is limited by its exploratory nature, however, it highlights that consumer uncertainty should not always be viewed as negative and provides important insights into the consumption of spirituality.
Originality/value
The current research makes a number of contributions. First, consumption of spirituality in marketing is under researched. The current research found that individuals did embrace the market in this area and enjoyed the uncertainty inherent in many of the products/services on offer. Second, uncertainty as pleasure is under researched generally in the literature. The current research has contributed to this literature through findings which reveal that uncertainty can result in positive effect and this is stable even when individuals do not know that the outcome of uncertainty will be positive or that their uncertainty will be reduced.
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Anastasia Thyroff, Jennifer Siemens and Brandon McAlexander
Drawing from a life course theory, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between material reliance and quality of life for consumers going through a life transition…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from a life course theory, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between material reliance and quality of life for consumers going through a life transition, with attention given to individual differences and transition-specific characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 uses qualitative interviews with transitioning consumers, while Study 2 tests a survey-based conditional mediation model.
Findings
For liminal consumers, perceived personal control mediates the effect of material reliance on quality of life, but having negative expectations of the transition can override this effect.
Originality/value
Although previous research has given attention to material reliance, personal control and quality of life in various combinations, the impact of their combined effect has not been examined. Furthermore, these constructs have not been examined within the context of life transitions.
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Amy Klemm Verbos and De Vee E. Dykstra
The purpose of this paper is to explore female business faculty perceptions about attrition from a business school to uncover factors that might assist in female faculty retention…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore female business faculty perceptions about attrition from a business school to uncover factors that might assist in female faculty retention in business schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative study approach and guided by past literature, the paper systematically analyses open-ended responses to interview questions and notes emergent themes.
Findings
The major themes that emerged as factors leading to attrition: first, an exclusionary and managerialist culture which marginalized and demoralized women; second, curtailed career opportunities, including a lack of gender equity in promotion and tenure; third, poor leadership; and fourth, break up of a critical mass of women. The factors then that might assist in female faculty retention are a critical mass of women, gender equity, inclusive, collaborative cultures, psychological safety, and ethical leadership. The career patterns of the women indicated that a labyrinth is an apt metaphor for their career paths.
Research limitations/implications
This research examines just one school from the perspective of women who left. It holds promise as the basis for future studies across business schools and to faculty within business schools to determine whether the emergent themes hold across schools.
Originality/value
This study examines women in business academe through the attraction-selection-attrition framework and by extending the labyrinth career metaphor to an academic setting. The paper also provides a conceptual model of female faculty retention.
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The aims of this paper are twofold: first, to explore if and how management ideals are gendered within the context of Swedish higher education management and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aims of this paper are twofold: first, to explore if and how management ideals are gendered within the context of Swedish higher education management and second, to investigate if and how the gendered character of these ideals has been challenged by new managerialism.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 22 women in senior academic management positions (Vice Chancellors, Pro Vice Chancellors, Deans and Pro deans) in ten Swedish higher education institutions. Discourse analysis is used to explore the constructions of the management ideal in the interviews.
Findings
The paper identifies how the interviewed women managers constructed two different management ideals: one old-fashioned and traditional masculine ideal that was superseded by a feminine ideal that they identified themselves with. The masculine ideal was presented as being replaced by the feminine ideal due to the restructuring of higher education and the reforms in line with new managerialism. However, the feminine ideal was also associated with a number of professional challenges.
Originality/value
The research study is limited to management in the higher education sector, but the results have general implications as it adds richness to our understanding of the gendered effects of new managerialism. However, the paper builds on a small qualitative study with women only interviews. The paper is therefore to be considered as explorative. More research is needed, especially including men.