This article considers gender and managerial identities in organizational life, taking the recent change in higher education in Sweden and England with the coming of the new public management as the context in which to explore these issues. In reviewing the literature on gender identity and organization/management, which has moved from a pre-occupation with difference to an examination of the complex inter-relationship between gender and organization, an attempt is made to operationalize the concept of positionality, using insights from the work of Alcoff and Melucci. It is argued that Academic Shape Shifting is developed by academics during their time in academia, as well as in defensive and proactive response to the recent managerial reforms. A number of indicative responses to the recent changes are identified. These are: the Stressed Professor, the Managerial Advocate, the Administrative Patrician, the Accidental Female, the Academic Chameleon and the Resolute Researcher. As Academic Shape Shifting is used by social individuals in interaction with others, at particular moments in time and in different circumstances, it is concluded that the implications suggest complexity in the changing character of university life, with female academics in middle range positions facing more difficult compromises than their male counterparts.
Acker, Joan (1990) ‘Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations’ , Gender & Society4(2): 139-158 .
2.
Acker, Joan (1998) ‘The Future of “Gender and Organizations”: Connections and Boundaries’ , Gender, Work and Organization5(4): 195-206 .
3.
Acker, Sandra (1994) Gendered Education. Buckingham: OU Press .
4.
Alcoff, Linda (1988) ‘Cultural Feminism versus Post-Structuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory’ , Signs13(3): 405-436 .
5.
Aldrich, Howard (1999) ‘Promise, Failure, and Redemption: A Life Course Perspective on Teaching as a Career’, in B. A. Pescosolido and R. Aminzade (eds) The Social Worlds of Higher Education: Handbook for Teaching in a New Century, pp. 533-542. Newbury Park, CA: Pine Forge Press .
6.
Askling, Berit (1999) ‘Professional Diversity in an Egalitarian System’ in D. Farnham (ed.) Managing Academic Staff in Changing University Systems: International Trends and Comparisons, pp. 191-208. Buckingham: OU Press .
7.
Barry, Jim , Chandler, John and Clark, Heather (2001) ‘Between the Ivory Tower and the Academic Assembly Line’ , Journal of Management Studies38(1): 87-101 .
8.
Becker, Tony (1989) Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. Milton Keynes: SRHE and OU Press .
9.
Berg, Elisabeth (2000) Kvinna och chef i offentlig forvaltning. Lund: Liber .
10.
Berg, Elisabeth (2001) ‘To Be or Not to Be—A Lecturer in Higher Education in Sweden’ , International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy11(12): 57-74 .
11.
Berg, Elisabeth (2003) ‘Women and Men Positioning’, in J. Barry , M. Dent and M. O’Neill (eds) Gender and the Public Sector: Professions and Managerial Change. London: Routledge .
12.
Berger, P. and Luckmann, T. (1966) The Social Construction of Reality. Harmondswoth: Penguin .
13.
Billing Due, Yvonne and Alvesson, Mats (2000) ‘Questioning the Notion of Feminine Leadership: A Critical Perspective on the Gender Labelling of Leadership’ , Gender, Work and Organization7(3): 144-157 .
Clark, Burton R. (1998) Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation. Oxford: Pergamon .
16.
Clark, Heather , Chandler, John and Barry, Jim (1999) ‘Gender and Management in the Organisation of University Life’, in P. Fogelberg , J. Hearn , L. Husu and T. Mankkinen (eds) Hard Work in the Academy, pp. 177-183. Helsinki: University of Helsinki Press .
17.
Clarke, John and Newman, Janet (1993) ‘The Right to Manage: A Second Managerial Revolution’ , Cultural Studies7(3): 427-441 .
18.
Clarke, John and Newman, Janet (1997) The Managerial State. London: Sage .
19.
Collinson, David and Hearn, Jeff (1994) ‘Naming Men as Men: Implications for Work, Organization and Management’ , Gender, Work and Organization1(1): 2-22 .
20.
Collinson, David and Hearn, Jeff (1996) Men as Managers, Managers as Men. London: Sage .
21.
Colye, Kenny (1992) ‘Postmodernism’ , Bulletin of the Marx Memorial Library117 (Winter/Spring): 9-19 .
22.
Czarniawska-Joerges, Barbara (1996) ‘Autobiographical Acts and Organizational Identities’, in S. Linstead , R. Grafton Small and P. Jeffcutt (eds) Understanding Management, pp. 157-171. London: Sage .
23.
Davies, Bronwyn and Harre, Rom (1991) ‘Positioning: The Discursive Production of Selves’ , Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour20(1): 43-63 .
24.
Dent, Mike (1993) ‘Professionalism, Educated Labour and The State: Hospital Management and the New Managerialism’ , The Sociological Review41(2): 244-273 .
25.
Epstein, Cynthia Fuchs (1991) ‘Debate: Is It Time to Stop Talking About Gender Differences?—Ways Women and Men Lead’ , Harvard Business ReviewJanuary-February: 150-151 .
26.
Evans, Mary (1997) ‘Negotiating the Frontier: Women and Resistance in the Contemporary Academy’ in L. Stanley (ed.) Knowing Feminisms, pp. 46-57. London: Sage .
27.
Ferguson, Kathy E. (1984) The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press .
28.
Fraser, N and Nicholson, L. J. (1990) ‘Social Criticism Without Philosophy: An Encounter Between Feminism and Postmodernism’, in L. J. Nicholson (ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism, pp. 19-38. New York and London: Routledge, Chapman and Hall .
29.
Gergen, Kenneth, J. (1994) Toward Transformation in Social Knowledge, 2nd edition. London: Sage .
30.
Gilligan, Carol (1982) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
31.
Goode, Jackie and Bagilhole, Barbara (1998) ‘Gendering the Management of Change in Higher Education: A Case Study’ , Gender, Work and Organization5(3): 148-164 .
32.
Granovetter, M. (1989) ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ , American Journal of Sociology78: 1360-1380 .
33.
Halsey, A. H. (1995) Decline of Donnish Dominion. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
34.
Hartsock, Nancy (1990) ‘Foucault on Power: A Theory for Women?’, in L. J. Nicholson (ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism, pp. 157-175. London: Routledge .
35.
Hearn, Jeff (1999) ‘Men, Masculinities, Managements and Gender Equality in UK Universities’, in P. Fogelberg , J. Hearn , L. Husu and T. Mankkinen (eds) Hard Work in The Academy, pp. 167-176. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press .
36.
Hearn, Jeff and Parkin, Wendy (1993) ‘Organizations, Multiple Oppressions and Postmodernism’, in J. Hassard and M. Parker (eds) Postmodernism and Organizations, pp. 148-162. London: Sage .
37.
Hood, Christopher (1995) ‘The “New Public Management” in the 1980s: Variations on a Theme’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society20(2/3): 93-109 .
38.
Jameson, Fredric (1991) Postmodernism or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. London: Verso .
39.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss (1977) Men and Women of the Corporation. New York, NY: Basic Books .
40.
Keen, Linda and Scase, Richard (1996) ‘Middle Managers and the New Managerialism’ , Local Government Studies22(4/Winter): 167-186 .
41.
Lauretis, de, Teresa (1986) ‘Feminist Studies/Critical Studies: Issues, Terms and Contexts’, in T. de Lauretis (ed.) Feminist Studies/Critical Studies, pp. 1-19. Houndsmill: Macmillan .
42.
Lowndes, Vicky (1997) ‘“We are Learning to Accommodate Mess”: Four Propositions about Management Change in Local Governance’ , Public Policy and Administration12/(2): 80-94 .
43.
Lunneborg, Patricia (1990) Women Changing Work. New York, NY: Bergin and Garvey .
44.
Mannheim, Karl (1936) Ideology and Utopia. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul .
45.
Melucci, Alberto (1997) ‘Identity and Difference in a Globalized World’, in P. Werbner and T. Modood (eds) Debating Cultural Hybridity: Multi Cultural Identities and the Politics of Anti-Racism, pp. 58-69. London: Zed Books .
46.
Morgan, Robyn (ed.) (1970) Sisterhood is Powerful. New York, NY: Vintage .
47.
Morgan, Robyn (ed.) (1984) Sisterhood is Global. Harmondsworth: Penguin .
48.
Nicholson, L. J. (1990) ‘Introduction’, in L. J. Nicholson (ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism, pp. 1-16. New York and London: Routledge and Chapman and Hall .
49.
Parker, M. (2000) ‘Postmodernising Organizational Behaviour: New Organizations or New Organization Theory?’, in J. Barry , J. Chandler , H. Clark , R. Johnston and D. Needle (eds) Organization and Management: A Critical Text, pp. 36-50. London: Thomson Learning .
50.
Parker, Martin and Jary, David (1995) ‘The McUniversity: Organization, Management and Academic Subjectivity’ , Organization2(2): 319-338 .
51.
Pollitt, Christopher and Bouckaert, Gert (1997) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
52.
Power, Michael (1997) The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
53.
Prichard, Craig and Willmott, Hugh (1997) ‘Just How Managed in the McUniversity?’ , Organization Studies18(2): 287-316 .
54.
Pringle, Rosemary and Watson, Sophie (1992) ‘“Women’s Interests” and the Post-Structuralist State’, in M. Barrett and A. Phillips (eds) Destabilising Theory: Contemporary Debates, pp. 53-73. Oxford: Blackwell .
55.
Rosener, Judy B. (1990) ‘Ways Women Lead’ , Harvard Business Review90(Nov/Dec): 119-125 .
56.
Rustin, Mike (2000) ‘Reflections on the Biographical Turn in Social Science’ in P. Chamberlayne , J. Bornat and T. Wengraf (eds) The Turn to Biographical Methods in Social Science: Comparative Issues and Examples, pp. 33-52. London: Routledge .
57.
Sarup, Madan (1993) An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Post-modernism. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf .
58.
SOU: 82 (2000) Hogskolans Styrning. Stockholm .
59.
Sum, Ngai-Ling (2000) ‘From Politics of Identity to Politics of Complexity’, in S. Ahmed , J. Kilby , C. Lury , M. McNeil and B. Skeggs (eds) Transformations—Thinking Through Feminism, pp. 131-144. London: Routledge .
60.
Thomas, R. and Davies, A. (2002) ‘Gender and New Public Management: Reconstituting Academic Subjectivities’ , Gender, Work and Organization9(4): 372-397 .
61.
Tiger, Lionel (1970) ‘The Possible Biological Origins of Sexual Discrimination’ , Impact of Science on Societyxx(70): 29-44 .
62.
von Otter, Casten (1995) Public Administration and Result-Oriented Management in Sweden. Working Paper Series 24. Stockholm: Institutet for Arbetslivsforskning .
63.
Waerness, Karen (1982) Women and Care Work. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget .
64.
Wajcman, Judy (1998) Managing Like a Man: Women and Men in Corporate Management. Cambridge: Polity Press .
65.
White, Judy (1995) ‘Leading in Their Own Ways: Women Chief Executives in Local Government’, in C. Itzin and J. Newman (eds) Gender, Culture and Organizational Change, pp. 193-210. London: Routledge .
66.
Whitehead, Stephen and Moodley, Roy (eds) (1999) Transforming Managers: Gendering Change in the Public Sector. London: UCL Press .
67.
Williams, Robin (2000) Making Identity Matter: Identity, Society and Social Interaction. Durham: Sociologypress .
68.
Woolf, V. (1938) ‘Three Guineas’, in A Room of one’s Own and Three Guineas, pp. 115-334. Harmondsworth: Penguin .
