| "Why
can’t a man be more like a woman?" seems to be the catchphrase
of modern management gurus. They claim to be revaluing feminine "soft"
skills as qualities necessary for corporate success. This book looks
behind the rhetoric and investigates the gender relations of senior
management in a post–equal opportunities world.
The proportion of women managers has risen dramatically in the
last twenty years, yet there are still very few women getting to
the top. Based on a major study of five multinational corporations
with model equality policies, this book takes a critical look at
women's and men's experience in a changing corporate climate. Wajcman
brings to bear feminist theories on equality and difference in employment,
together with organizational analysis, in her assessment of whether
women really do bring a distinct feminine style of management to
tomorrow’s organizations. The main focus is on the processes
of masculine organizational culture that sexualize women and exclude
them from senior management.
But how comfortable are men with the masculinity of management?
This book presents fascinating material on the private lives of
managers and looks at the interconnections between home and work
for men as well as women. The author reveals how relations between
the sexes are negotiated in the corridors of power and at the kitchen
sink. |
