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Challenges of female executives' work activities: the hyper-efficiency operating mode

Emilie Giguere (Laval University Faculty of Education Science, Quebec, Canada)
Karine Bilodeau (Laval University Faculty of Education Science, Quebec, Canada)
Louise St-Arnaud (Laval University Faculty of Education Science, Quebec, Canada)

Gender in Management

ISSN: 1754-2413

Article publication date: 5 May 2022

Issue publication date: 22 August 2022

287

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the work experiences of female executives and the challenges of their visible and invisible work activities, considering the operating modes they develop to carry out their work activities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study relies on a materialist feminist perspective and a critical experientialist work theory, which considers both the visible and invisible dimensions of the work performed by female executives. The methodology is based on a qualitative research design involving individual and group interviews with 51 Canadian female executives.

Findings

The results reveal the hyper-efficiency operating mode mobilized by female executives, which combines strategies to take over and delegate work activities from the domestic sphere to reconcile the managerial work with their different life spheres.

Originality/value

A key finding emerging from these results relates to the invisible but omnipresent part of the work activities from the domestic sphere throughout the lives of female executives.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: This research project was funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et culture (FRQSC).

Citation

Giguere, E., Bilodeau, K. and St-Arnaud, L. (2022), "Challenges of female executives' work activities: the hyper-efficiency operating mode", Gender in Management, Vol. 37 No. 7, pp. 801-815. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-10-2021-0303

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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