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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 17 December 2021

Samina M. Saifuddin, Lorraine Dyke and Md. Sajjad Hossain

This study aims to identify women professionals' strategies to persist in the male-dominated technology industry situated in the Bangladeshi socio-cultural context.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify women professionals' strategies to persist in the male-dominated technology industry situated in the Bangladeshi socio-cultural context.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth interviews with women tech professionals were conducted to identify and explore the strategies. Thematic coding was used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that the complex interplay of macro-, meso- and micro-factors pushes women to defy societal and gender norms in their choice and persistence, yet they simultaneously conform to these norms. By simultaneous expressions of doing and undoing gender, these women dealt with hierarchies and inequalities, navigated masculinized industry and empowered themselves within a patriarchal culture. The strategies effectively allowed them to demonstrate agency and persist in tech occupations.

Research limitations/implications

The study participants were women and recruited using snowball sampling. Future research could benefit from recruiting a larger, more varied sample using random sampling.

Practical implications

The study can inform teaching and policy initiatives to increase women's representation in tech sectors through awareness campaigns, policy interventions and counseling.

Originality/value

The research extends the doing and undoing framework by integrating the relational perspective to explain women's agency and resilience situated in a patriarchal context. The paper focuses on women's micro-individual strategies to navigate macro- and meso-level forces. Moreover, Bangladesh is an under-researched context, and findings from the study can help design potential intervention strategies to increase women's participation.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2017

M. Emilia Bianco, Margaret Lombe and Mara Bolis

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of women’s entrepreneurship to bring about greater gender equality. Understanding women’s entrepreneurship as a gendered

2021

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of women’s entrepreneurship to bring about greater gender equality. Understanding women’s entrepreneurship as a gendered process (Bird and Brush, 2002), the study presents the challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs as a result of gender ideologies. It documents structural barriers, discriminatory interactions and oppressive gender scripts and their effects on the women and their businesses. Acknowledging women’s possibilities for agency and resistance, the study analyzes how women entrepreneurs conform, contest or negotiate gender scripts and constraints, and looks at the consequences of these actions.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from elements of social interactionism and the doing and undoing gender theories, the authors use a feminist theoretic framework to guide analysis of qualitative data from two focus groups conducted with 19 women entrepreneurs in Colombia.

Findings

Gender ideologies were manifested in the forms of interrelated structural barriers that restricted women entrepreneurs’ access to resources. Social interactions represented spaces in which gender ideologies were reinforced, but also spaces women used to produce changes through resistance and accommodation strategies. Entrepreneurship was associated with positive changes toward greater gender equality, although negative consequences were reported.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the limited sample, more studies across countries may be needed for the consolidation of a generalizable theoretical framework.

Originality/value

This study presents a feminist theoretic framework in dialogue with the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs. It observes the processes of change toward gender equality embedded in business development.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2012

Sharon Mavin and Gina Grandy

The purpose of this paper is to revisit theoretical positions on gender and the implications for gender in management by building upon current research on doing gender well (or…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to revisit theoretical positions on gender and the implications for gender in management by building upon current research on doing gender well (or appropriately in congruence with sex category) and re‐doing or undoing gender and argue that gender can be done well and differently through simultaneous, multiple enactments of femininity and masculinity.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper.

Findings

The authors argue that individuals can perform exaggerated expressions of femininity (or masculinity) while simultaneously performing alternative expressions of femininity or masculinity. The authors question claims that gender can be undone and incorporate sex category into their understanding of doing gender – it cannot be ignored in experiences of doing gender. The authors contend that the binary divide constrains and restricts how men and women do gender but it can be disrupted or unsettled.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses upon the implications of doing gender well and differently, for gender and management research and practice, drawing upon examples of leadership, entrepreneurship, female misogyny and Queen Bee.

Originality/value

This paper offers a conceptualization of doing gender that acknowledges the gender binary, while also suggesting possibilities of unsettling it.

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2020

Katherine Dashper and Rebecca Finkel

To introduce critical gender theory to events studies and set an agenda for research in this area. This paper focuses on various contexts, approaches and applications for “doing…

Abstract

Purpose

To introduce critical gender theory to events studies and set an agenda for research in this area. This paper focuses on various contexts, approaches and applications for “doing gender” in critical event studies. It draws upon interdisciplinary frameworks to develop robust theoretical ways of interrogating issues related to power and structural inequalities in events contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual discussion of “doing gender” and critical gender theory and review of relevant research in this area within event studies. Adopting feminist and intersectional perspectives and applying them to events environments has potential to inform current theoretical developments and wider sector practices, and, ultimately, change the dominant heteronormative patriarchal paradigm of the experiential landscape.

Findings

Event studies has been slow to engage with gender theory and gender-aware research, to the detriment of theoretical and practical development within the field.

Research limitations/implications

A call for more gender-aware research within event studies. The goal of this paper is to galvanise gender-aware events research to centralise the marginalised and amplify feminist voices in critical event studies. Feminist and gender-aware frameworks encourage researchers to be critical and to question the underlying power structures and discourses that shape practices, behaviours and interactions. This creates new pathways to find ways to overcome inequalities, which can improve overall events praxis.

Originality/value

The paper introduces critical gender theory as a fruitful framework for future events research. It is an under-researched area of study, representing a significant gap in ways of theorising and representing different aspects of events. We argue it is imperative that researchers take up the challenge of incorporating feminist and/or gender-aware frameworks within their research as a matter of routine.

Details

International Journal of Event and Festival Management, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1758-2954

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2015

Angela Workman-Stark

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cultural aspect of policing, particularly as it relates to the role of gender, and proposes an alternative approach to addressing the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cultural aspect of policing, particularly as it relates to the role of gender, and proposes an alternative approach to addressing the culture of masculinity within policing.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the author provides a brief overview of the nature of policing. This is followed by a review of the relevant literature on policing and gender and the implications for men, women, and police organizations of adhering to a militarized or hegemonic form of masculinity. Finally, the author discusses Ely and Myerson’s proposed theory for “undoing gender” and its relevance for policing.

Findings

The findings of this paper suggest that the police culture continues to reinforce the masculine image of policing, thereby representing a significant barrier to the advancement of women. The findings also suggest that this barrier may be overcome through shared goals that advance collective well-being, definitions of competence linked to task requirements, and a learning orientation toward work.

Originality/value

This paper makes an important contribution to the existing literature on gender and policing, as it specifically focusses on the cultural influences of masculinity and considers the structural, behavioral, and cultural changes required to create margins of safety for police officers to experiment with new behaviors.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Lilith Green and Carol Rambo

Gender-diverse people experience unique cultural and interpersonal stigma in mainstream society and sometimes within their own communities; they face allegations of inauthenticity…

Abstract

Gender-diverse people experience unique cultural and interpersonal stigma in mainstream society and sometimes within their own communities; they face allegations of inauthenticity based on their nonconformity to either cisnormative or transnormative gender regimes. Based on 21 in-depth life history interviews, we unveil the intricate interactional process of negotiating identity and authenticity in the biographical work of gender-diverse individuals. In this study, gender-diverse people engaged in a “gender audit” with their gender-diverse interviewer. Gender audits yield verbal performances of gender with oneself and others. Ambiguity was “accounted for” or “embraced and created” in their biographical work to organize their life stories and undermine binary essentialism – a discourse that was “discursively constraining.” Gender audits took place in participants' day-to-day lives, either through self-audits, questioning from others, or both. In the final analysis, we assert that we all engage in gender auditing. Gender audits are intersubjective sites of domination, subordination, resistance, and social change. Gender diversity, then, can be viewed as a product of gender in flux.

Details

Symbolic Interaction and Inequality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-689-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 November 2018

Sarah B. Donley

Due to their pervasiveness in American society, cultural gender beliefs often organize workplaces and justify what jobs are suitable for men and for women (Ridgeway, 2009, 2011)…

Abstract

Due to their pervasiveness in American society, cultural gender beliefs often organize workplaces and justify what jobs are suitable for men and for women (Ridgeway, 2009, 2011). When an occupation experiences feminization, jobs and occupations once considered “men’s work” must be “retyped” to justify and accommodate the movement of women into the occupation (Lincoln, 2010; Reskin & Roos, 1990). Using the case of funeral directing, this chapter explores the “retyping” of funeral directing, a formerly male-dominated, currently feminizing occupation by examining shifting gender narratives about funeral work in trade journals published between 1995 and 2013. Findings indicate multiple gender narratives involved in explaining the movement of women into funeral directing and the implications for gender inequality in feminizing occupations. Some narratives (old boy and gender essential) explain women’s entry and justify sex segregation by drawing on stereotypical gender differences in physical strength and emotional labor between men and women. While other narratives (gender blind and gender progressive) reject and challenge essentialism by impugning the notion that gender stereotypes are a reliable indicator of skill.

Details

Gender and the Media: Women’s Places
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-329-4

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 September 2019

Hope Witmer

The purpose of this paper is to present a degendered organizational resilience model challenging current and dominant conceptualizations of organizational resilience by exploring…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a degendered organizational resilience model challenging current and dominant conceptualizations of organizational resilience by exploring how gendered organizational power structures, language and practices of everyday organizational life interplay and limit inclusive constructions of organizational resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

The degendered organizational resilience model was developed using Acker’s (1990) model of gendered organizations, Martin’s (2003) gendering practices, Lorber’s (2000) degendering and other feminist research on gendered organizations. The purpose of the model is to explore power structures, practices and language within the organizational context during conditions requiring organizational resilience.

Findings

A conceptual model for analyzing the theoretical development of organizational resilience is presented. The model analyzes the following three different aspects of organizations: power structure, to identify which resilient practices receive status based on established gendered organizational hierarchies and roles; actions, to identify how resilience is enacted through practices and practicing of gender; and language, to identify how and what people speak reinforces collective practices of gendering that become embedded in the organization’s story and culture.

Practical implications

The degendered organizational resilience model offers a process for researchers, managers and organizational leaders to analyze and reveal power imbalances that hinder inclusive theoretical development and practices of organizational resilience.

Social implications

The degendered organizational resilience model can be used to reveal power structures, gendered practices and language favoring normative masculine organizational practices, which restrict the systemic implementation of inclusive democratic practices that incorporate and benefit women, men and other groups subject to organizational subordination.

Originality/value

This paper offers an original perspective on the theoretical development of organizational resilience by proposing a degendering model for analysis. A feminist perspective is used to reveal the gendered power structures, practices and language suppressing the full range of resilient qualities by restricting what is valued and who gives voice to resilient processes that lead to resilient organizations.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal , vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2018

Corina Sheerin and Margaret Linehan

Through an examination of the everyday organisational and social practices, this paper aims to consider gender performativity and hegemonic masculinity within front office…

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Abstract

Purpose

Through an examination of the everyday organisational and social practices, this paper aims to consider gender performativity and hegemonic masculinity within front office investment management. At the core of this research is the need to understand the interactions between gender, power and patriarchy.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretivist philosophical stance underpins the study. A theory-building approach using 19 semi-structured interviews with investment management employees based in Ireland was undertaken.

Findings

The findings highlight a sector in which gender is performed in line with sectoral expectations, which place men in positions of dominance with hegemonic masculinity inherent. The organisational structures and daily interactions are imbued with male norms, which dictate how gender is to be performed, and which places women firmly as “different” and “outsiders”. These mechanisms of inequality are further supported by men’s “blocked reflexivity”.

Practical implications

The findings of this study indicate clear evidence of a “patriarchal dividend”, which is underpinned by the maintenance of closure regimes and gender blindness particularly, among senior male gatekeepers. Such results call for policymakers to go beyond goals of numerical parity and ensure transparency and equality across all aspects of work. A holistic and multifaceted approach to addressing issues of gendered culture and the normalisation of men’s privileged relationship with power positions is needed.

Originality/value

This paper is situated within a relatively under-researched labour market space, that of investment management. The findings conceptualise gender as a social process, thus facilitating traditional assumptions about gender at work as a single entity to be challenged. The results also advance theoretical insights of misogynistic work cultures and hegemonic masculinity through the analysis of gendered behaviours within this traditionally male environment.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Jennifer L. Roberts and Mary M. Chittooran

There has been an increase in the number of non-government organization (NGO) schools in India’s disadvantaged communities. Since these schools often serve the most marginalized…

Abstract

Purpose

There has been an increase in the number of non-government organization (NGO) schools in India’s disadvantaged communities. Since these schools often serve the most marginalized populations, it is important to understand their role in addressing educational inequities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of an NGO school in Uttar Pradesh, India in improving girls’ education.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study methodology was utilized to identify barriers to girls’ education and ways in which the NGO school is working to minimize educational inequities.

Findings

The barriers to girls’ education in this study are traditional values, lack of economic opportunities, and safety concerns. The school works to minimize these inequities by providing a rigorous curriculum, teaching the students how to be good citizens, improving school facilities, and providing free school supplies. Implications – it is through better understanding the role of the NGO sector that a more complete understanding of the status of girls’ education will develop.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on girls’ education, but expands the conversation to include NGO schools.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

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