Gender as scientific perspective

1. Gender as scientificperspective Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist

2. Content • Conceptcontent • Scientificapproaches • Example: Men working with gender equality in top positions • Example: Butler • Summary

3. Gender • Multifaceted/multidimensional • Encompassing symbols, cultures, practices, identities and structures • Biased • Commonsensicalunderstandings

4. The Study: Theoreticalpremise 1”Doing gender” Gender permeateseverydayrealities It concernseverybody Rather than as a property of individuals, we conceive of gender as an emergent feature of social situations: both as an outcome of and a rationale for various social arrangements and as means of legitimating one of the most fundamental divisions of society (West & Zimmerman, 1987:126).

5. Scientificperspectives - gender • Structuralist • Men and women • Numbers/variables • Standpoint feminism • Women (men) areessentially different • Social constructionism • Doing gender, doingethniciy • 1. quantitative • 2. Qualitative/quantitative

6. Structuralistperspective

7. Women and men in management within the EU: Women managers Sweden: 31% Ireland and France: 35% UK 34% 1,3 percent of all men in employment have a top management position, while 0,4 percent of women in employment have a similar position. Sweden: Since 1990s, more women then men have a university degree In the 20-64 age group, 79% of women and 84% of men are gainfully employed Private industry: women constitute 37% of its employees and 19% of its managers. Public administration (central and local level): women constitute about 80% of employees and 56% of its managers Somestatisticsregarding men and women in management:

8. 47 per cent women in parliament… Manliga ledamöter Male MP’s Female MP’s Kvinnliga ledamöter (Statistics Sweden 2006)

9. Private sector, women Public sector, women Public sector, men Private sector, men …but three managers in four are men (Statistics Sweden 2006)

10. Women 1,7 % Men 98,3 % CEO:s in listed companies …and men control business Women 18 % Men 82 % Board members in listed companies (Statistics Sweden 2006)

11. Part 1: the Relay Assembly Room • Were the employees really exhausted? • Were the rest breaks worthwhile, or was the productivity higher with a shorter workday? • How did the employees feel about their work and the company? • What effect did the change in the work tools have? • Why did productivity decline in the afternoon?

12. In order to obtain reactions from the women that would be as normal as possible • requirement: work experience and were interested in participating in the experiment. • The six women, five assemblers and an assembly supplier, shared the work and had certain supervisory responsibilities. • Observer: recorded that the women felt more comfortable talking in this room compared to how they felt in their usual workplace.

13. Part 3: The Bank Wiring Observation Room • a spontaneous, social arrangement that functioned in parallel with the formal organization of the company? • The employees also seemed to form social groups that had very strong controls over how their members worked. The foremen could not interfere with these groups because of the risk of being disliked. Furthermore, there were informal leaders who made each group’s external contacts with the foremen, the engineers and the inspectors. These leaders even taught new hires the acceptable norms at the factory. • it became important to study these small groups

14. Special rules • You should not turn out too much work. If you do, you are a “ratebuster”. • You should not turn out too little work. If you do, you are a “chieseler”. • You should not tell a supervisor anything that will react to the detriment of an associate. If you do, you are a “squealer”. • You should not attempt to maintain social distance or act officious. If you are an inspector, for example, you should not act like one. (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939: 522).

15. Results • two organizations that functioned in parallel, the formal and the informal (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939). • Question of the assumption that the employees were primarily motivated by economic interests, where their work behaviour was logical and rational

16. Results • The Hawthorne Effect means that when employees are selected and treated as special, productivity increases. A contributing factor is benevolent management and humane treatment of employees. • Informal groups influence the norms that relate to productivity. • Methodological research contributions were in many respects regenerated. Researchers posed new questions and sought new methods of researching and interpreting what they had not understood. • The perception of the study’s methodology was that it was certainly unorthodox, a perception that later was both praised and criticised.

17. Kanter • Work makes the person • If womenreallywere different, thentheywouldhumanizesocietywhentheybecameleaders in companies • But, the problem is: as entitiesareorganized in the same way it does not matterifwomenassumemen’sleadershiprolesbecause, in such an exhange, one dominant group has simplybeen substituted for another.

18. Kanter: threestructures • The opportunitystructure • Goodopportunities for promotion: attitudesconducivetoadvancement, highcareergoals, workactivelytoachievethese • Little potential: loseinterest, personal relationships, freetimeactivities • The powerstructure • The possibilityto do things, tomobilizeresources and toacquire and usewhatevermeansarenecessarytoreachgoals • The frequencystructure • Token: the representative of a groupofpeople, seen as symbol ratherthan as an individual person • Visibility, contrast, assimiliation

19. Kanter: homosocial reproduction • Homosexualreproduction: practicesthatexcludewomen from mangerial posts • Homosocial reproduction: processes by whichcertain managers and men areselected and differentiatedaccordingtotheirabilityto display appropriationsocial credentials • Perceivedto be morereliable, committed, predictable, free from conflictingloyaltiesbetweenhome and work • A reflectionof the ineherent and pervasiveuncertainty in the natureof management

20. From standpoint feminism to social construction • ”Men” /”women” as unifiedgroupsand undifferentiatedcategories • Connell: categoricaltheoriesaboutpatriarchyneglectsdifferences and relations that canshift over time and place • i.e. structuralanalysesof gender relations caricaturemen’spower and women’s subordination • Ignore the analyticalsignificanceof the organizationalpracticesthroughwhichthesecategoriesareconstituted • Post-structuralist feminism: recognizedmen’s and women’s diverse, fragmented, contradictoryorganizationallives

21. Masculinity and leadership • Most managers are men, in mostorganizations, in mostcountries • Whythis association of men and management • In boththeory and practice? • In autobiographies: • Entrepreneurialmale managers/owners(Ford, Iacooca, Maxwell) • Reveal an evangelical, personal and lifelongpreoccupationwithmilitary-like efficiency, ruthlesspractices, autocraticcontrol • Howmanagerialsearch for efficiencybecome an all-engulfingobsession

22. Masculinity in management theory • Focusing men but no masculinity • Prescriptive ideal (scientific management, Barnard, Simon, 1945) • Descriptiveaccounts (Mintzberg, 1973) • Criticalaccounts (managerialpower in broader social, economic and politicalconditions) (Willmot, 1987) • Why, whenwethink manager, do we still tendtothinkmale? (Schein, 1976)

23. In organizations • Organizational/occupationalstrucutres, processes, practicesmay be viewed as culturallymasculine

24. Masculinity as conceptII • Men, masculinities (women, femininities) not homogenous, unified or fixed, but diverse, differentiated, shifting • Herebymasculinitiesratherthanmasculinity • Differences and competing divisions accordingto age, class, ethnicity, religion, bodilyfacility, sexuality, worldview, region, nationality, apperance, paternal/maritalkinshop status, leisure, occupation and career, sice, propensity for violence

25. Masculinity as conceptIII • Hegemonicmasculinities • White, heterosexual, middleclass • On behalfof black, gay, workingclass • White male-dominatedshopfloormasculinitiescan be subordinatedwithregardtoclass and hierarchy • White, gay masculinities or black, middle-classmasculinitiescancarryinternalcontradictions, undermining power and identity

26. Masculinity as conceptIV • Values, experiences, meaningsthatareculturallyinterpreted as masculine and typicallyfeel’natural’ to or areascribed men morethanwomen in a particularculturalcontext • Multiplemasculinities

27. Masculinity features • Hard, dry, impersonal, objective, explicit, outer-focused, action-oriented, analytic, dualistic, quantitative, linear, rationalist, reductionist, materialist • Self-assertion, separation, independence, control, competition, focused perception, rationality, analysis

28. Anthithesis: Femininity features • Interdependence, cooperation, receptivity, merging, acceptance, awarenessofpatterns, wholes and contexts, emotional tone, personalistic perception, being, intuition, synthesizing, • Nurturance, compassion, sensitivity, empathy

29. Problems • Do the conceptsreflect social reality in someway? • Or are theyused for analyticalpurposes by the researchers? • Are theyopen to empirical impressions • Or in the hands of the researcher todefine and useaccordingly • Valid acrossculture and history? • Or do theyreflectcontemporary Western society, • or onlycontemporary gender researchers’ ideas on what is masculine and feminine?

30. Problems • Are masculinity and femininitytightlyconnected to men and women? • Or canthey be usedtoilluminate non-humans as artefacts and techniques?

31. To researchers • ”The researcher must be clearabout the use of the conceptanalytically and with little or no grounding in the culturalmeanings of the natives.” • ”A basic problem is that the terms easilyincorporatecommonsensicalnotionsheld by the researcher, who may be as strong a victim of prejudices as other natives.” • She or hecansimply read in masculinitywhenevershe or hefeels like it. • (Alvesson and Billing, 1997: 86)

32. Examplemasculinity a workplace • Men in management • Accounting, engineering, strategicfunctions • Represent ”hegemonicmasculinities” • Unchallenged by trade unions • Comparativelyhighsalaries, remunerationpackagesthroughsecretarial support, share options, companycars, pensions, extensive holidayentitlements • Size and position of personal offices, officialfurniture, display ofpictures, paintings, plants, computers, clothing

33. Example W2T • Men working with genderequality in top positions

34. Sweden: an ambition to become a equal opportunity model • European Commission sponsored the project W2T, • aimed at “challenging the imbalance between men and women in top management positions in Europe”. • In Sweden, 15 large and influential corporations and public administration organizations were involved in the project. • Other participating countries: Estonia, Greece, Denmark

35. The study • An evaluation of a project aiming at increasing Women to the Top (W2T) • Observation: an introductory seminar with 115 representatives of Swedish businesses • Event: a very influential business representative reveals a complete ignorance regarding the relationship between gender and management. • Analysis: shows variation in understanding how management and gender/parenthood is co-constructed.

36. Evaluators Method • Ethnographically inspired evaluation • Data: 19 Interviews, 65 hours of participant observation, document collection, e-mail letters, surveys

37. W2T Participants • The European Union CommissionSwedish Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications • The Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Julie Andersson, with Assistant, Annie • CEO of participating organizations • Person from executive management supporting a candidate from another participating organization • The executive management represented by Human Resource Manager or similar person from each organization • Female managers who had already advanced in their careers and were interested in reaching executive management group

38. W2T project: roles and functions • Head Sponsor • Supporter and financer • Managing organization • Project Managers • Corporations and public organizations involved • Responsible in each participating organization • MentorProject leaders • Top Management Candidates • (TMCs):Leadership consultants • Recruitment firms • HomepageSteering group

39. Material • From Seminar 1 with CEOs, project leaders, TMCs and mentors • Setting

40. Project leader, M, opens the seminar W2T is a project which aims to elaborate tools and action plans in order to create changes in the long term regarding the gender representation in organizations top management positions. Many organizations have already made a great deal concerning these issues and thus there is much we can learn from each other. Our plan is that part of this learning can be reached by establishing networks among the participants in this project.

41. M continues… Bottom line, it is about gender equality and attitudes. I usually say that gender equality can be compared to a minefield since it affects the emotions of everyone participating. By getting new insights, something that builds upon emotion and knowledge, these issues can be changed. To start with, everyone can start with thinking of what they feel about gender equality. All of us have some personal experience to relate to.

42. M continues Today we have hundred and fifteen participants from 20 different organizations here. My own personal experience starts with my upbringing in Norway. My parents raised me to believe that girls and boys could do the same things. When I worked as personnel manager in the public sector, I learned that the work with gender equality could be related to the work of individual wage standards. After that I began as a personnel manager in the private sector where I realised that these issues were actually about profitability. There I also saw the problems with same-sex working groups. Research has shown that gender mixed teams are more creative and more innovative. Research has also shown that companies with high representation of women in top management positions have better profitability both in the long and short run. This has also turned out in the preliminary work done in the networks of this project. One public sector organization reported that women in the top management make the managerial work more efficient. A private organization reported in the same manner that women and men working together lead to better decisions – covering more aspects – and also have more fun in managerial work.

43. Next speaker: manager N He [my boss] said: "Think about this for a week". On Friday of the same week, he called me and said "You do not have to reply today about the job I offered you. You still have the weekend to decide. But you must know that if you say no, I will have to recruit someone frm the outside, and you will have to teach this person, because you know the ropes. And please, do not come to me six months from now and say that your current work is boring. But if you say ‘yes’ to this position, I will give you all support you need".

44. N continues: N accepted the position after the weekend. Here is how the narrative ended: "Sometimes you come to the crossroads. I believe I am an ordinary kind of person. A program like W2T can serve as a crossroad; a conscientious manager can serve as another. This question cannot be solved with a quick fix, however; it needs long-ranging, sustainable work. My company has been working with these issues for ten years, and we still have a lot to do. "

45. Influential business representative: O • It is nice to be here. This situation can easily create impatience. Yet we need patience. In changing work, it is easy to be led astray by the fast changes, but they seldom provide us with results in the long run. Attitudes indicate that we have a long way to go. For me, gender equality occurs when a qualified woman has the same opportunities as a qualified man. We cannot afford to dispense with existing competence.

46. I admire those women who dare to take the step to stay at home with their children for some years. There are great similarities in bringing up children and in taking care of the co-workers as a leader. Women ought to double these years in their CV:s because they tell about their profound experience of leadership. I was in the USA at the beginning of this week and read about a 43-year old woman who was a promising manager within Pepsi when she had her first child. She chose to leave her career in order to stay home. During the next seven years, she stayed in contact with the company. Today, she is the CEO for Sarah Lee. Showed endurance and made that decision. It feels good that a company could see this.

47. … • Our goal is that 20 per cent of our leading positions should be held by women. We have to start from the scratch, recruiting more women, in order to change the numbers higher up in the organization.

48. Howcanthis be understood? • Your interpretation • Your interpretation given the Swedish context

49. A gender researcher at the seminar In these kinds of issues it is important to stay to the matter of fact and to be analytical. It is not enough to be an enthusiast. The purpose of today is – with support of theories – provide the participants with tools for their work. • Many feel guilt in respect to these issues, but when gender is related to the structural levels instead of the personal levels, the guilt aspect disappears. It is important to see the structures instead of the personal issues, to think organizational level instead of believing that this is about personal experiences. Looking at the structures, it is easy to feel powerless. The question is how one can continue the work, and what can be done about it.

50. A gender researcher commentingO'sstory of Sarah Lee's CEO during a lunch break… What's so new about parental leave? Probably every woman in the audience has taken it; they stayed home with their children for a couple of years and then continued with their career. And what happened after the first year with that newborn child if this woman was so successful in combining career and family life? Speaking of which, does he not know that fathers can take a parental leave as well? All this says much more about him and others like him than about women in managerial positions!