This article presents a study of women graduate engineers entering male-dominated organizations and management positions. The individual perspective used in most of the previous studies in the Women in Management tradition is criticized and a structural approach to gender and organization is developed. The main data come from case studies in six large Norwegian companies where pairs of comparable male and female graduate engineers were selected. The study shows how the differences in organizational structures are the main explanatory factor for the differences in opportunities for careers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acker, J.1990. Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations . Gender & Society, 4, 139-158.
2.
Acker, J.1992. Gendering Organization Theory. In J. Mills & P. Tancred , Gendering Organizational Analysis. London: Sage.
3.
Acker, J. & van Houten, D.1974. Differential Recruitment and Control: The Sex Structuring of Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19, 52-63.
4.
Averitt, R.T.1968. The Dual Economy: The Dynamics of American Industry Structure . New York: Norton.
5.
Bartol, K.M.1978. Sex Structuring of Organizations : A Search for Possible Causes. Academy of Management Review, 3, 805-815.
Calas, M. & Smircich, L.1991. Voicing Seduction to Silence Leadership. Organizations Studies, 12, 567-601.
9.
Clegg, S.R.1990. Modern Organizations. Organization Studies in the Postmodern World. London: Sage.
10.
Cockburn, C.1983. Brothers. London: Pluto.
11.
Cockburn, C.1985. Machinery of Dominance. London : Pluto.
12.
Cockburn, C.1991. In the Way of Women. Basingstoke : Macmillan.
13.
Donnell, S. & Hall, J.1980. Men and Women as Managers: A Significant Case of No Significant Difference. Organizational Dynamics, 8, 60-76.
14.
Emery, F. & Thorsrud, E.1976. Democracy at Work. The Hague : Nijhoff.
15.
Esping-Andersen, G. et al. 1993. Trends in Contemporary Class Structuration: A Six-nation Comparison. In G. Esping-Andersen (ed.), Changing Classes. Stratification and Mobility in Post- Industrial Societies. London: Sage.
16.
Feldberg, R. & Glenn, E.N.1979. Male and female: Job Versus Gender Models in the Sociology of Work. Social Problems, 26, 524-538.
17.
Ferguson, K.1984. The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
18.
Gallie, D.1994. Skill, Gender and Technological Change. Paper presented at a seminar at Warwich Business School, 12 October.
19.
Gustavsen, B. & Hunnius, G.1981. New Patterns of Work Reform - The Case of Norway. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
20.
Hackett, G. & Betz, N.E.A.1981. A Self-Efficacy Approach to the Career Development of Women. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 18, 326-339.
21.
Handy, C.1984. The Future of Work. Oxford: BasilBlackwell.
22.
Harlan, A. & Weiss, C.1980. Women in Managerial Careers; Third Progress Report . Wesley, Mass: Wesley Centre for Research on Women.
23.
Hearn, J. & Parkin, W.1987. Sex at Work. The Power and the Paradox of Organization SexualityBrighton: Wheatsheaf.
24.
Henning, M. & Jardim, A.1978. The Managerial Woman, London : Marion Boyars.
25.
Hernes, H.M.1982. Staten - kvinner ingen adgang? Oslo : Universitetsforlaget.
26.
Kanter, R.M.1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.
27.
Kanter, R.M.1984a. The Change Masters. London : Allen & Unwin.
28.
Kanter, R.M.1984b. Variations in Managerial Career Structures in High-Technology Firms: The Impact of Organizational Characteristics on Internal Labour Market Patterns. In P. Osterman (ed.), Internal Labour Markets. Boston: MIT Press.
29.
Kanter, R.M.1989. When Giants Learn to Dance. London : Simon & Schuster.
30.
Kaul, H.1982. Når Fravær er Nærvær. Trondheim : IFIM.
31.
Kaul, H. & Lie, M.1982. When Paths are Vicious Circles - How Womens's Working Conditions Limit Influence. Economic and Industrial Democracy , 3, 466-481.
32.
Kern, H. & Schumann, M.1984. Das Ende der Arbeitsteilung. Rationalisierung in der industriellen ProduktionMünchen: C. H. Beck.
33.
Kjeldstad, R.1993. Kvinner og menn på arbeidsmarkedet. In R. Kjeldstad & J. Lyngstad , Arbeid, Lønn og Likestilling. Oslo : Universitetsforlaget.
34.
Knights, D. & Wilmott, H.1986. Gender and the Labour Process. Aldershot : Gower.
35.
Kvande, E.1982. Anpassning och protest. Kvinnovetenskaplig tidsskrift, 3, 42-51.
36.
Kvande, E.1994. 6-timers kvinnen og 60-timersmannen. In B. Fougner & M. Larsen-Asp (eds.), Norden - Kvinners Paradis? Køb-enhavn : Nordisk Ministerråd.
37.
Kvande, E. & Rasmussen, B.1990. Nye kvinneliv. Kvinner i menns organisasjonerOslo: Ad Notam.
38.
Kvande, E. & Rasmussen, B.1992. Fra kvinner og ledelse til kjønn og organisasjoner . Oslo: NORAS/LOS, LOS-notat 1992:3.
39.
Kvande, E. & Rasmussen, B.1994. Men in Male-Dominated Organizations and their Encounter with Women Intruders. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 10, 163-175.
40.
Lawrence, P. & Lorsch, J.1967. Organization and Environment. Boston : Harvard Business School.
41.
Loden, M.1986. Feminine Leadership or How to Succeed in Business without Being One of the Boys. New York: Times Books.
42.
Marshall, J.1984. Women Managers - Travellers in a Male World. Chichester: Wiley.
43.
Martin, J.1990. Deconstructing Organizational Taboos: The Suppression of Gender Conflict in Organizations. Organization Science , 4, 339-359.
44.
Mills, J. & Tancred, P.1992. Gendering Organizational Analysis. London: Sage.
45.
Mills, C.W.1963. The American Business Elite: A Collective Portrait . In I. L. Horowitz (ed.), Power, Politics and People. New York: Ballantine.
46.
Mintzberg, H.1979. The Structuring of Organizations. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
47.
Morgan, G.1986. Images of Organization. Newbury Park, CA.: Sage.
48.
Pfeffer, J.1981. Power in Organizations. Boston: Pitman.
49.
Pfeffer, J. & Salancik, G.R.1978. The External Control of Organizations. A Resource Dependence PerspectiveNew York : Harper & Row.
50.
Piore, M.J. & Sabel, C.F.1984. The Second Industrial Divide: Prospects for Prosperity . New York: Basic Books.
51.
Powell, G.N.1993. Women and Men in Management. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
52.
Pugh, D.S. & Hickson, D.J.1976. Organization Structure in its Context: the Aston Programme 1. London: Saxon House .
53.
Ressner, U.1986. The Hidden Hierarchy. London : Gower.
54.
Robinson, J.G. & Mcllwee, J.S.1989. Women in Engineering: A Promise Unfulfilled? Social Problems, 36, 455-473.
55.
Rosener, J.B.1990. Ways Women Lead. Harvard Business Review , 68, 119-125.
56.
Skrede, K. & Tornes, K.1986. Den Norske Kvinnerevolusjonen. Oslo : Universitetsforlaget.
57.
Terborg, J.R.1977. Organizational and Personal Correlates of Attitudes Toward Women as Managers. Academy of Management Journal, 20, 85-100.
58.
Yukl, G.1981. Leadership in Organizations. Englewood-Cliffs : Prentice-Hall.