GENDER,EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY STRATEGY

Organisation's Gender,equality and diversity strategy from a feminist perspective

Organisation's Gender,equality and diversity strategy from a feminist perspective

Introduction

It is now well-established that organisations are characterised by a gender hierarchy reinforced and expressed through masculine norms and structures, embedded in wider social relations of male privilege and female disadvantage (Acker, 1990; Martin, 2003; Williams, 1995). Gender hierarchy in organisations is masked by processes of disembodiment, such as merit and productivity, which obscure the presence and dominance of men and the absence and marginalisation of women from leadership positions (Metcalfe, 2001). Leadership is usually expressed in masculine terms such as toughness, authority, aggressiveness, and individualism (Fletcher, 2002; Kerfoot, 1999).

Consequently, the continuing dominance of men in leadership positions appears “normal”. Informed by a cultural feminist perspective (e.g. Alcoff, 1989; Jacobs and Nash, 2003; West, 1988), this paper seeks to examine how masculine norms of leadership operate within organisations and explores possibilities for transforming the prevailing gender hierarchy especially within top management teams (TMTs). It examines how women and men may bring unique values to organisations and at the same time face different challenges at work thus warranting diverse management approaches to tackle gender diversity.

There is ample evidence that customary organisational approaches towards gender diversity, whether driven by equal opportunity laws or by voluntary business rationale of managing diversity, have been unable to bring significant improvement in women's participation in decision-making positions. For example, equal opportunity census data in Australia suggests that despite a higher proportion of women economically active in that country (44.6 per cent in 2003), only 3.2 per cent of women occupy the highest positions in businesses and less than 9 per cent are board directors or executive managers (Syed and Murray, 2006). The situation in the USA is not much different.

According to a study by Catalyst, a research and advocacy organisation for corporate women, there is a persistent lack of women in corporate leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies. The study reported that women are clearly underrepresented at the highest levels of business. Based on 2006 statistics, women hold just 15.6 per cent of Fortune 500 corporate officer positions, down from 16.4 per cent in 2005. Furthermore, it was reported that women hold only 14.6 per cent of all Fortune 500 board seats (Catalyst, 2007).

The recent class action against WallMart, the largest sex discrimination lawsuit in US history, is instructive in terms of the challenges of power and equality faced by women in organisations. The case is estimated to have implications for about 2 million women who have worked for Wal-Mart since 1998 to seek compensation for discrimination as a group. According to the statistical evidence provided by the plaintiffs, it took more than ten years, on average, for women from the date of hire in Wal-Mart to be promoted to managers compared with 8.6 years for men. Furthermore, female managers made an average salary of $89,280 a year, while men in the same position earned an average of $105,682 a year (Joyce, ...