Are Women in Management Victims of the Phantom of the Male Norm?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Are Women in Management Victims of the Phantom of the Male Norm?

AU - Billing, Yvonne Due

PY - 2011/5

Y1 - 2011/5

N2 - Managerial jobs have conventionally been understood as male and thus as not being directly suitable for women. The point of departure of this discourse is that women and men are different and that there is congruence between men and managerial jobs. On the basis of a qualitative study of women managers, I argue that there is a need for more sophisticated ways of appreciating the experiences of (many) women in relation to management. Variation, complexity and contradictions may be lost when holding onto essentialist understandings such as the male norm.

AB - Managerial jobs have conventionally been understood as male and thus as not being directly suitable for women. The point of departure of this discourse is that women and men are different and that there is congruence between men and managerial jobs. On the basis of a qualitative study of women managers, I argue that there is a need for more sophisticated ways of appreciating the experiences of (many) women in relation to management. Variation, complexity and contradictions may be lost when holding onto essentialist understandings such as the male norm.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2010.00546.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2010.00546.x

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0968-6673

VL - 18

SP - 298

EP - 317

JO - Gender, Work and Organization

JF - Gender, Work and Organization

IS - 3

ER -