Showing papers in "Gender, Work and Organization in 1999"
TL;DR: The authors argue that existing knowledge on women business owners could be enhanced through reflection on two issues: the essentialism in the very construction of the category of "the female entrepreneur" (which prioritizes sex over other dimensions of stratification) and the connections between gender, occupation and organizational structure differently affect female and male business owners.
Abstract: This paper discusses research on female entrepreneurs in conjunction with feminist theory on gendered work. I explore the ways in which much of the research on women's experiences of entrepreneurship focuses on identifying similarities and differences between female and male business owners, and on providing explanations for the differences identified. While such an approach is useful in compensating for the exclusion of women in earlier studies of business ownership, it does not illuminate how and why entrepreneurship came to be defined and understood vis-a-vis the behaviour of only men. I argue that existing knowledge on women business owners could be enhanced through reflection on two issues — first, on the essentialism in the very construction of the category of ‘the female entrepreneur’ (which prioritizes sex over other dimensions of stratification) and second, on the ways in which the connections between gender, occupation and organizational structure differently affect female and male business owners.
425 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the social construction of gender identities is not taking place only in the interaction of persons but also in the discourses within which those interactions occur.
Abstract: This paper explores how we as female researchers are constructing our professional identities in a male-dominated scientific world. In particular, we focus on the extent to which patriarchal articulations of professional identities influence female academics' self-concept and consciousness of their own abilities. We believe that the business school in which we work reproduces certain inequalities systematically, if unintentionally. We are especially interested in the way in which we, as part of the scientific community, are ourselves discursively producing and reproducing the gender division based on differences of sex. In other words, how we ‘do gender’ in a particular organizational setting and when assuming a particular organizational role.
The argument of this paper rests on the belief that the social construction of gender identities is not taking place only in the interaction of persons but also in the discourses within which those interactions occur. Identity and the meaning it implies are located here especially in language use. Discourses not only constitute meanings for terms and practices, but they also engender personal identities. Identity is not seen as fixed but rather as actively negotiated and transformed in discourse.
148 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the experiences of lesbians and gay men who are employed in a variety of public service occupations in the UK, drawing upon interview material gathered during a broader research project on lesbian and gay self-organization within the public sector trade union UNISON.
Abstract: This article examines the experiences of lesbians and gay men who are employed in a variety of public service occupations in the UK, drawing upon interview material gathered during a broader research project on lesbian and gay self-organization within the public sector trade union UNISON. It forges pathways through hitherto unexplored territories by concentrating upon career trajectories beyond the closet, arguing that those who dare to come out and proud in public sector workplaces will tread a precarious tightrope between being out and pursued for their specialist knowledges and out and persecuted for their presumed perversities. Although many public sector employers have endorsed equal opportunities policies which include lesbians and gay men, and although these have been vital in alleviating some forms of discrimination, it is argued that such measures have been incapable of resolving the more profound double-binds etched into our organizations, whereby sexualities are reproduced as inequalities, while sexuality itself is eclipsed from the organization's self-consciousness. It is claimed that in virtue of their unique positions and perspectives, lesbian and gay employees have become the carriers of the sexual consciousness of their organizations. However, it is also acknowledged that the political agenda on lesbian and gay rights will not remedy deeper ignorances and broader injustices, unless the heterosexual majority and other non-heterosexual minorities are also parties to these debates.
106 citations
TL;DR: A critique of Hakim's theory of the gendered character of work with its key idea of the "heterogeneity of women" centring on the distinction between those who are "family oriented" and those who were "career oriented" is presented in this article.
Abstract: This paper is a critique of Hakim's theory of the gendered character of work with its key idea of the ‘heterogeneity of women’ centring on the distinction between those who are ‘family oriented’ and those who are ‘career oriented’. Such patterns of work commitment are claimed to be developed by early adulthood and to steer women in one direction or the other.
Our critique is based on interviews with two groups of young adult women generating rich data on their attitudes to employment, families and the relationship between the two. The first group (‘single workers’) when first interviewed were single, childless and employed full-time. The second (‘early mothers’) were partnered mothers with at most part-time employment.
The substance of the critique is threefold:
1.The single workers could not be clearly separated by ‘career’ or ‘family’ orientation. They wanted both, which then left them in Hakim's residual category as ‘drifters’, a wholly inappropriate characterization.
2.The early mothers were certainly homemakers but our data doubted that this was by choice and suggested that many were becoming more career oriented.
3.Longitudinal data from the single workers show the importance of analysing ‘orientation’ or other aspects of agency in the context of social structure rather than as a prime mover in itself.
97 citations
86 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed investigation of changing career patterns and gender differences in occupational status over the period 1946-86 was carried out using retrospective data from the SCELI surveys to examine the relationships between changing employment trends and respondents' occupational status.
Abstract: This paper uses retrospective data from the SCELI surveys to make a detailed investigation of changing career patterns and gender differences in occupational status over the period 1946–86. A summary variable is developed and used to examine the relationships between changing employment trends and respondents' occupational status. Occupational status, as the Hope-Goldthorpe scale value, is measured throughout the life-course and changes over time are examined.
The main findings of the study are that despite the increase in women's qualifications and the proportion of women in the workforce, their human capital has not greatly increased although their careers have become increasingly variable. Men and childless women experience occupational status increasing over life-course and time but part-time employed women do not. Class of origin is more important to status for men than for women, while qualifications are important for both. Women's careers are increasingly affected by discontinuity and part-time employment.
73 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted a two-year longitudinal study of the experiences of 92 women expatriates in a variety of UK-based companies and found that while there are a growing number of women opting for international assignments, they are overwhelmingly concentrated in junior and middle management positions, have less options in terms of the countries to which they can be posted and are handicapped by cultural prejudices about gender roles in some countries.
Abstract: The last fifteen years have seen an exponential growth in research on women professionals and managers in organizations. However, much less attention has been paid to the small but growing number of women who are embracing international careers. This paper describes some of the main findings of a two-year longitudinal study of the experiences of 92 women expatriates in a variety of UK-based companies. The results show that while there are a growing number of women opting for international assignments (IAs), they are overwhelmingly concentrated in junior and middle management positions, have less options in terms of the countries to which they can be posted and are handicapped by cultural prejudices about ‘proper’ gender roles in some countries. The reasons for these problems are explored and some suggestions are made for improving international opportunities for women employees in the future.
71 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the commitment concept is a social construction with a multiplicity of meanings and that its usage is subjective, contradictory, temporal and frequently gendered, and demonstrate how commitments change over time and indicate that the commitments of returners are the outcome of the interplay between 'choices' and the different structural conditions they encounter during their life cycle which may lead to career curtailment or, in times of labour shortages, career opportunities.
Abstract: Recent interest in work commitment has been within a unitary paradigm in both the sociological literature on women's commitment to work and in the human resource management literature on the need to generate commitment to work. The paper argues that the ‘commitment concept’ is a social construction with a multiplicity of meanings and that its usage is subjective, contradictory, temporal and frequently gendered. Debates focusing on the ‘masculine’ job model of commitment tend to provide only partial insights by an emphasis on the continuous, linear career and thereby neglect, or negate, the work commitment of women who take a career break. Drawing on a large study of professional teachers, the paper enables a comparison of commitment indicators between stages within a life history and between ‘returners’ and other respondents. The findings demonstrate how commitments change over time and indicate that the commitments of returners are the outcome of the interplay between ‘choices’ and the different structural conditions they encounter during their life cycle which may lead to ‘career curtailment’ or, in times of labour shortages, career opportunities.
52 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the nature of women's union activism and found that women's experiences and perceptions of trade unions are highly gender specific and further that their union activities are underpinned by a feminist paradigm.
Abstract: Against the background of heavy membership decline, the increasing importance of women as a source of members for unions and union efforts to attract women into membership, this paper explores the nature of women's union activism. The focus is on why women stay active in unions. The paper employs Klandermans' model as a framework for examining senior union women's activism. This study suggests that the model is gendered in that women's experiences and perceptions of trade unions are highly gender specific and further that their union activities are underpinned by a feminist paradigm. The women in the study expressed a strong desire to ensure that the union works for women, indicative of the gendered nature of their commitment to the union. They revealed gendered bargaining priorities and thus gendered perceptions of union instrumentality. Their social integration within the union is shown to be highly or partially contingent upon, formal and informal women's support networks.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors specify the longitudinal relationship between organizational reform and feminization of a managerial position and elaborate on the nature of gender re-segregation, and identify paths for distinguishing the intertwining set of triggers and mechanisms that are mobilized at a given place and time.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to specify the longitudinal relationship between organizational reform and feminization of a managerial position, and thereby elaborate on the nature of gender (re)segregation. Four complementary explanations for increased female representation in middle management in large, established firms are derived from the existing literature. This is done to identify paths for distinguishing the intertwining set of triggers and mechanisms that are mobilized at a given place and time. An in-depth empirical analysis of a long-term reform process in two banking firms is presented: transformative leaps (Kansallis, Finland) and gradual prudence (S-E-Bank, Sweden). Despite differences in the form of the process, the gender outcomes are similar. The bureaucratic hierarchy is seemingly flexible, but gender segregation is inherently rigid, a self-fulfilling process.
29 citations
TL;DR: The Next Steps restructuring program (1988) has had a fundamental impact on the management and organization of the Civil Service, and on the practice of equal opportunities as discussed by the authors, and this has resulted in greater managerial autonomy in relation to staffing issues.
Abstract: The ‘Next Steps’ restructuring programme (1988) has had a fundamental impact on the management and organization of the Civil Service, and on the practice of equal opportunities. The fragmentation of the service into semi-autonomous agencies has resulted in greater managerial autonomy in relation to staffing issues. Equality initiatives such as part-time and flexible working patterns, ‘family friendly’ policies, women-only training programmes and the provision of nurseries are coming under threat due to increased discretion over decision-making in these areas. Other aspects of restructuring — such as ‘downsizing’— have resulted in a reduction of the middle management layer, making it more difficult for women to breach the ‘glass ceiling’ and access senior posts. The persistence of a hostile managerial sub-culture to equal opportunities has been instrumental in pushing equality issues to the bottom of the agenda in the current climate of change because of ‘more important’ organizational pressures. Within this context, equality of opportunity for women in the Civil Service has reached a critical stage.
TL;DR: This paper used data from a survey of a recent cohort of family physicians in Ontario, Canada, to document the extent of gender differences and similarities in medical practice, and their interrelationships to family situation, political attitudes and patient care attitudes.
Abstract: Women's rapid entry into medicine raises important questions about change in this historically male-dominated profession In addition to shifting the gender balance, do increasing numbers of women signal a more fundamental change in the way in which medicine is organized and practised? A growing body of research suggests such change Yet there is continuing controversy about the meaning of observed gender differences in practice, whether they reflect an essentially pragmatic response to women's dual workload of family and career, or whether they are the result of underlying differences in attitudes, values and orientations This article uses data from a survey of a recent cohort of family physicians in Ontario, Canada, to document the extent of gender differences and similarities in medical practice, and their interrelationships to family situation, political attitudes and patient care attitudes The results show that seemingly related differences in practice are accounted for in different ways: while some are associated with differences in family situation, others are tied to attitudes, while others are a function of gender alone The results also reveal gender similarities which do not suggest that women are becoming more like men, but that men, and the profession as a whole are changing We would emphasize the importance of interpreting gender differences and similarities within a broader conceptual understanding of change in the profession
TL;DR: The relationship between teamwork and gender in particular how far the new technical division of labour associated with teamwork holds out the prospect of lessening gender segregation in the capitalist labour process is analyzed in this paper.
Abstract: The paper seeks to analyse the relationship between teamwork and gender, in particular how far the new technical division of labour associated with teamwork holds out the prospect of lessening gender segregation in the capitalist labour process. Taking Volvo — a company at the forefront of ‘good work’ experiments — as the focus of the research one could reasonably expect that if teamwork was leading to a lessening of gender segregation in blue collar areas it would be in companies such as Volvo. The evidence suggests that in certain areas and under certain conditions teamworking can lead to more women being employed in blue collar environments on the same terms and conditions as men. However, on adding a normative and governance dimension to teamworking, the evidence is more complex and is suggestive of a strategy drawing upon the utilization of stereotypical images of women as a ‘civilizing’ influence over male workers in a de-layered organizational environment lacking direct first line supervision. The paper is divided into three substantive sections. The first section will sketch out the development of work organization in the Volvo organization to be followed in the second by a review of the gender segregation literature. The third section of the paper will, through an analysis of Volvo's Commercial Vehicle Division, assess how far teamwork has challenged traditional forms of gender segregation in the capitalist labour process.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a research project in which some of the dynamics of informal gendered task segregation between male and female workers in American supermarkets with the same job description are explored.
Abstract: This paper describes a research project in which some of the dynamics of informal gendered task segregation between male and female workers in American supermarkets with the same job description are explored. It also provides a discussion of the implications of this form of gender inequality for equal opportunities policies.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated appointment cases brought to the Gender Equality Ombud over a ten-year period (1985-94) and explored gender discrimination in recruitment and why it is so hard to document.
Abstract: This article investigates appointment cases brought to the Gender Equality Ombud over a ten-year period (1985–94). The study presented here aims to explore gender discrimination in recruitment and why it is so hard to document. An advantage of studying appointment cases brought to the Ombud is that the three parties — the plaintiff, the hiring authority and the Ombud — are all engaged in presenting arguments directly concerning gender discrimination. The two key questions are: how do hiring authorities argue to counter assertions of discrimination? And on what grounds are arguments accepted/not accepted by the Ombud? The cases investigated are divided into three categories: cases from male-dominated organizations, woman-dominated organizations and gender-balanced organizations. How the gender of the candidates has influenced the hiring process can only be read indirectly from most cases; hiring authorities usually argue that it is the concern for personal suitability that has been the decisive factor. In the analysis of the cases three main types of justifications of hiring preferences are identified: ‘continuity’, ‘renewal’ and ‘the woman is unfit’.
The decision situation of the Ombud is uncertain in most cases. In many cases the juridical expertise of hiring authorities seems to be decisive. The demarcation line is unclear concerning which arguments should be accepted as impartial and which should be rejected because of vagueness or subjectivity.
TL;DR: The authors examined the gender implications of several different types of restructuring initiatives in three types of manual work at two hospitals in an NHS Trust and found that restructuring created more continuity than change in gendered patterns of work and advantage in the two sites.
Abstract: While managerial initiatives to cut costs through increased labour flexibility are widespread, we have limited knowledge of the micro-politics of gender and contemporary restructuring at the local level: of the processes and dynamics through which flexibility and other initiatives reconstitute or transform gendered patterns of work and advantage in specific workplaces. This case study, based upon extensive interviewing, observation, and examination of documentary materials, examines the gender implications of several different types of restructuring initiatives in three types of manual work at two hospitals in an NHS Trust. On the whole, it finds that restructuring created more continuity than change in gendered patterns of work and advantage in the two sites. The case study suggests, first, that employment restructuring incorporates elements of structural, institutional and interactive gendering; managers use women's subordination in the workplace and labour markets to achieve their objectives, and male workers actively resist loss of their advantages. Second, it suggests that competitive tendering exercises have a disproportionately negative impact upon women workers, while functional flexibility initiatives are somewhat more positive. Third, the case study suggests union resistance to restructuring is limited and particularly circumscribed in relation to restructuring of women's jobs.
TL;DR: This article analyzed the forecasts made at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s regarding male dominance in the field of electronic data processing (EDP), the computer illiteracy of female workers, the exclusion of women from decision-making processes, and polarization among female workers.
Abstract: This article analyses the forecasts made at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s regarding male dominance in the field of electronic data processing (EDP), the computer illiteracy of female workers, the exclusion of women from decision-making processes, and polarization among female workers. Based on statistical sources, analyses of computer weeklies, case studies in eight manufacturing firms and a survey among female office workers in manufacturing, arguments are put forward to support the view (a) that the EDP field is not as male-dominated as it was, (b) that women have not remained computer-illiterate, (c) that some progress can be seen as far as inclusion in decision-making processes is concerned, and (d) that polarization does still exist, but in the opposite form to two decades ago. Two factors explain why these forecasts have not become reality. At the end of the 1970s it was impossible for researchers to predict the complexity of computerization and the new uses to which computers would be put. Furthermore, the forecasts were dominated by a static view of gender relations, which in fact were to undergo substantial changes.
TL;DR: In this article, Bortalaia Silva reviewed books reviewed in this article:==================¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯�€£££€£€€€˜£€ €£€˜€€ €€€ '€€£ €€˜ £€€ £€˜ €€ € €˜€ €˜ € € €€£ £€ €
Abstract: Books reviewed in this article:
Elizabeth Bortalaia Silva (eds), Good Enough Mothering? Feminist Perspectives on Lone Motherhood
Simon Duncan and Rosalind Edwards (eds), Single Mothers in an International Context: Mothers or Workers?
Kim England, Who Will Mind the Baby? Geographies of Child Care and Working Mothers