Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the aims, objectives and structure of a two-day Think Tank, “Gender in Organisations in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region”, held at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on 18–19 March 2019.

The paper will explain the design decisions made to achieve the objectives of the event, which will be of interest to equality, diversity and inclusion readers who may wish to hold such events themselves. It will then explain each of the Think Tank sessions and provide an overview of the keynote speakers’ presentations and the ensuing plenary discussions.

The Think Tank was an extremely useful vehicle for facilitating discussion on the development of a research agenda to advance knowledge in respect of gender in organisations in the MENA region. The design of the Think Tank enabled collaborative discussion amongst academics drawn from across the globe, who shared their knowledge and experience to develop a coordinated research agenda, to guide action and attention on key issues identified by the group.

The Think Tank is believed to be the first of its type in the MENA region. The authors believe this collaborative and time-efficient approach advances research agendas in respect of key issues of interest to equality, diversity and inclusion scholars. The Think Tank format is a valuable addition to the processes currently utilised to achieve such outcomes, e.g. conferences and symposia.

This paper aims to draw on Ashcraft’s (2013) metaphor of the “glass slipper” (which highlights the need for alignment between occupational identity and embodied social identities of workers) to show how merit may not adhere to individuals when social identity in the form of gender, race or class fails to fit the definition and perceived characteristics of the job.

This is a conceptual paper.

This study develops the notion of the Teflon effect to describe the way merit may go unrecognised and may therefore not “stick” to the bodies of women in management and leadership roles.

This study provides an explanation for the persistence of the glass ceiling and the barriers women face as they undertake or aspire to management and/or leadership positions in organisations.

This study introduces a more embodied notion of merit which relies on both performance and recognition to “take effect”. Professionals must see beyond “objective” measures of merit in performance reviews and/or in recruitment and promotion decisions to include reflection on the significance of merit’s subjective, “performed” dimensions.

This study adds to understandings of women’s positioning in organisations.

This study develops the notion of the Teflon effect. This highlights the significance of the recognition, performance and embodiment of merit and how merit may fail to adhere to the bodies of women in management and leadership roles.

This paper aims to examine how the work of Ruth Simpson and the subsequent collaborations have contributed to understanding of the gendered constructions of meritocracy, as they apply in organizations.

This paper is a personal analysis of the work of Ruth Simpson and her colleagues and the way in which her work has resonated with me and influenced our joint collaborations. The key questions our work has addressed, both when we work together and with others, include how merit is constructed. Is it gendered? How does it influence organizational outcomes? How is merit recognized? Is merit “performed”? Key theoretical constructs and frameworks are used to address these issues; including, gendered organizational structures and regimes (Acker, 1990; Ely and Meyerson, 2000; Gherardi and Poggio, 2001), the gendered nature of meritocracy (Thornton, 2007; Sommerlad, 2012, Brink van den and Benschop, 2012) and the performance and “stickiness” of meritocracy (Ashcraft, 2013, Bergman and Chalkley, 2007).

The paper reveals alternative ways of interrogating the discourse of meritocracy. Usually taken for granted, as an objective and fair mechanism for the allocation of scarce resources, the concept is examined and found to be much more contingent, unstable and subjective than had previously been considered. The gender-based implications of these findings are assessed.

The implications of the work are to broaden the field and develop frameworks within which we can understand more clearly the way in which merit is understood. Through the work we have done, we have highlighted that merit far from being an objective measure of ability is deeply rooted in contextual and we argue, gendered understandings of contribution, worth and desert.

The practical implications are that firms can no longer rely on discourses of meritocracy to evidence their commitment to equality and fairness. They will need to go further to show a direct link between fairness in the design of processes as well as fairness in the outcomes of these processes. Until these objectives are more clearly articulated, we should continue to shine a light on embedded inequalities.

The social implications are that a call for wider societal understanding of meritocracy should be made. Rather than simply accepting discourses of merit, key constituent groups who have not benefitted from the prevailing orthodoxy should seek to examine the concept and draw their own conclusions. In this manner, the author develops societal mechanisms that do not just purport to ensure equality of outcome for all; they achieve it.

This paper offers an examination of the development of ideas, how we can learn from the work of influential scholars within the field and, in turn, through collaboration, advance understanding.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge Hakim's work‐centred category and empirically tests its applicability in a professional service firm.

The information was gathered through 19 in‐depth interviews with women in an international consulting firm. The analysis was conducted using Nvivo software.

The paper shows that contrary to the contentions of preference theory, work‐centred women do not face unfettered choice in their career advancement. Findings reveal a number of structural constraints within the firm – namely the prevailing model of success, the need for high‐level sponsorship and the need to network, which impact their choices. The findings also problematise the nature and formulation of the work‐centred category itself.

The paper surfaces a number of contradictions in the work‐centred category and calls for further work in this area. The paper also surfaces the presence of structural constraints which impact on women's career choices. Further research to develop these themes and provide broader contextual analysis is called for.

Hakim's preference theory has taken responsibility for women's career advancement away from society and organisations and placed it on individual women. The paper challenges this positioning and calls for organisations to audit their policies and processes to ensure they are not “gender oppressive”.

The paper adds to the debate on the applicability of preference theory through empirical evaluation of the one of the three categories at its heart – that of work‐centred women. The theory is found to be wanting on a number of issues and problematises not just the category but key tenets of the theory itself.

To investigate women's corporate networks, and the reported benefits for the women and their employers. To gain insight into the motivation for these voluntary activities, by drawing on organisational citizenship theory.

The paper explores the issue using in‐depth interviews with chairs and organisers of 12 women's networks, and triangulated the data with an email survey resulting in 164 responses from network members in five companies.

The paper identifies how networks were set up and managed, as well as the benefits that accrue to the organisation, the leaders and the members. Key findings were the wealth of voluntarily contributed extra‐role behaviours, and totally business‐oriented view of the activities presented by network leaders. More senior women were more likely to report prosocial behaviours such as driving change and supporting others. Organisational citizenship theory provided a lens through which to draw insight into actors' motivations for supporting corporate networking.

This is a study of only 12 corporate networks within large UK companies, but findings should be useful for any employers or senior women thinking about starting or refreshing a corporate women's network.

Women and their employers appear to benefit strongly from being involved in corporate networking. Evidence suggests that employers should support internal women's networks, given the organisational citizenship behaviours voluntarily contributed for their benefit.

This paper is the first to investigate how women's corporate networks are organised, and how their activities benefit not just the women but also the employer. Organisational citizenship theory provides insight into motivation for such initiatives. The findings should be of interest not just for those involved in women‐in‐management studies, but also to organisational citizenship and networking researchers.

Examines the issues involved in providing relevant cross‐cultural training to MBA students, the epitome of the “new” international manager. In particular, it addresses the pedagogical challenges of moving students away from a reliance on “hard” skills to a facility with “soft” skills.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue.

A brief description of the Gender in Management track at the 2007 British Academy of Management (BAM) Annual Conference held at Warwick Business School and an outline of the papers in the issue.

The track examined various issues and the papers chosen from the track for the special issue are closest to the central concerns of the journal.

Provides a summary of the perspectives considered.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a seminar sponsored by the Academy of Management's Gender in Management Special Interest Group, which comprised discussions on aspects of diversity policy, initiatives, and programme development within Bank of Scotland, National Australia Group UK, and BBC Scotland, and also academic and industry presentations.

The report is based upon observations, notes and discussions on a range of issues relating to diversity in organisations.

The seminar highlighted practitioner perspectives of diversity management – both for staff development and for the development of a customer base in the case of banks, by actively encouraging business from female entrepreneurs and by aiming to make mainstream financial products appropriate for both female and male customers.

This report brings together a number of interesting and important themes linked to improvements in female recruitment and development.