Gender Equity and Change

CGO takes a unique approach to addressing gender issues in the workplace. Rather than seeing gender as a problem that individual women confront at work, we see gender as embedded in an organization's culture. Merely increasing the numbers of women of diverse backgrounds, although important, has not changed the gendered culture of most work organizations. This "gendering" of organizations, where culture and organizational work practices fit stereotypical white, western, heterosexual, middle-class, masculine ideals, has a differential impact on men and women of diverse races, classes, ethnicities, and sexual identities. We have come to see that much of the bias and inequities in the workplace that hinder the success and contributions of people who are "different" are less a product of overt practices and behaviors; rather, they are more the result of deeply embedded masculine norms about individual achievement and assumptions about what it takes to be a leader or a productive and committed employee. Dealing with these deeply embedded cultural issues requires that organizations have the means to identify the organizational dimensions of these issues, to access relevant information about the nature and extent of cultural barriers, to build institutional capacity to diagnose and respond to problems that arise, and to design and evaluate solutions.

PROJECTS:

CGO Research Finds Glass Ceiling for Women in Development

A new study conducted by the Center for Gender in Organizations at the Simmons School of Management with Women in Development (WID) of Greater Boston has found that women who work in professional not-for-profit fundraising across the Northeast earn significantly less than their male counterparts - and the gap has widened significantly over the years. The study also shows that women have yet to attain top fundraising jobs in numbers equal to men. Led by researchers Dr. Susan Sampson and Dr. Lynda Moore of Simmons School of Management, the study is the first comprehensive regional comparison of salary levels and career advancement for men and women in the fundraising profession.  

Click here to read the full press release.  

Click here to view key findings.
 

CGO Hosts Learning Seminar on Cultural Intervention in Policing

On October 19, 2004, CGO hosted Dr. Joan Eveline of the University of Western Australia and Dr. Michael Booth of Murdoch University (Perth, Australia) for a learning seminar on "Policing Identity, Gender and Process: Cultural Intervention in the Western Australia Police Service." Joan and Michael discussed the process and outcomes of a cultural intervention project they led within an Australian police service. The ambitious goal of the intervention project was to change the male-identified nature of policing. To date over 1,100 police service staff have joined in seven completed action research projects, and outcomes include a women-only leadership development program for both sworn officers and public servants, a mentoring program and staff development fund for women public service officers (unsworn officers), a female assistant commissioner to head the training academy, changes to recruiting and re-employment criteria, the removal of the time-at-rank promotion system which hampered those with family responsibilities, and a high-level implementation committee chaired by the Commissioner of Police. The committee's brief—to develop an inclusionary cultural identity for policing—is supported by the inclusion of senior and junior personnel plus as outsiders the State Equal Opportunity Commissioner and two academics specializing in gender and organization. A paper written by Joan and Michael, reflecting on the on the micropolitics of project ownership, capacity-building, frame-matching and identity at work for these members, the continuing forces ranged against change, and the background effects of a concurrent Royal Commission into police malpractice, will soon be published in the journal Gender, Work and Organization.

Capacity Building in African Universities, Part II (2004-2006)

CGO recently traveled to Nigeria to conduct two workshops. Click here to learn more.

The Center for Gender in Organizations has received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support the building of capacity of gender focal points and other university change agents working within universities in sub-Saharan Africa. CGO's principal role will be to provide support to the gender focal points in the design and implementation of institutional change efforts through consultation activities so that the focal points can provide more effective training, strategic planning, and implementation of change interventions within their institutions. The project will continue through February 2006. This project builds upon a workshop convened by CGO and Carnegie in Ghana in July 2003. Dr. Evangelina Holvino, Senior Research Faculty at CGO, is the project leader.

As part of the project, CGO will provide 1) technical assistance, 2) co-research and documentation, and 3) collaborative learning and dissemination of successful change efforts in order to:

  • Increase competencies in the use of organizational change models for gender equity, and
  • Develop knowledge and identify "best practices" on institutional change for gender equity in African universities.

CGO's principal role will be to provide support to the gender focal points in the design and implementation of institutional change efforts through consultation activities so that the focal points can provide more effective training, strategic planning, and implementation of change interventions within their institutions. As part of this capacity building effort and in collaboration with the gender focal points, CGO will also help gather, document, publish, and disseminate learnings and best practices, contributing to exchanging information and building knowledge about institutional transformation for gender equity among the six African universities.

CGO Event: "Rethinking Management: What's Gender Got to Do With It?"

CGO launched our 2003-2004 events series Gender at Work: A BOLD New Perspective on October 8, 2003, with "Rethinking Management: What's Gender Got to Do With It?" Nearly 125 people came to learn how CGO's gender lens can revolutionize management, and how we redefine negotiation, diversity, merit and globalization through our concepts of collaborative inquiry, gender-in-all-its-complexities, and the dual agenda. Presenters: Dr. Robin Ely, Dr. Evangelina Holvino, Dr. Deborah Kolb, and Dr. Maureen Scully.

Click here to read CGO Commentaries No. 1, which summarizes the presentations made at this event.

Capacity Building in African Universities, Part I (2003)

The International Development Program (IDP) of the Carnegie Corporation has defined as one of its primary goals the providing of institutional support to selected universities and libraries in sub-Saharan Africa in order to improve the quality and sustainability of their services, to augment women's educational opportunities and professional attainment, and to contribute to socioeconomic development in the countries where Carnegie works. In order to fulfill this goal, the Carnegie Corporation conducted a 3-day educational event with twelve gender focal points of African universities during July 13-17, 2003 in Accra, Ghana. The gender focal points carrying out the work of institutional transformation at these universities need broader and more effective frameworks within which to do their work as change agents. The Center for Gender in Organizations supported this mission by planning, implementing, and following up on three modules that were part of a workshop for gender focal points of African universities. The modules provided the gender focal points with knowledge of institutional change frameworks and a deeper understanding of the institutional indicators of gender equity, thus enabling the possibility of strategic and systemic change which would augment women's educational professional opportunities in African higher education institutions. Dr. Evangelina Holvino, Senior Research Faculty at CGO, was the project lead on the grant. CGO plans to disseminate the work done and findings of the workshop by holding a learning seminar and publishing a CGO Insights briefing note.

Reader in Gender, Work, and Organization

Editors: Robin J. Ely, Erica Gabrielle Foldy, Maureen A. Scully, and The Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons School of Management

Written for MBA students, advanced undergraduates, and researchers in organizational behavior and human resource management, the Reader in Gender, Work, and Organization (Blackwell Publishing 2003) presents students with an alternative conceptual approach to gender in the workplace. This approach traces the alignment of commonly held assumptions about work and competence with idealized images of masculinity. The readings illustrate how this alignment limits opportunities for all but a small, narrowly defined segment of the workforce. These limitations not only affect women and men, but also restrict how work gets done and therefore reduce organizational effectiveness.

The contributors take stock of the most important recent research on gender and diversity in organizations and apply it to mainstream contemporary management. The result is a book that not only gives readers a deeper understanding of gender and diversify in organizations, but also provokes new ways of thinking about traditional topics, such as leadership, human resource management, negotiation, globalization and organizational change. The reader is available from Blackwell Publishing.

Click here to order your copy now!

Workload, Time, Gender Equity, and Organizational Effectiveness at International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

This two-year collaborative action research project was funded through a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada. The project was carried out in collaboration with Lotte Bailyn and graduate students from the MIT Sloan School of Management. IDRC identified workload and time pressures experienced by professional staff as a significant concern both for staff and for organizational performance. The research project had five objectives: 1) develop an in-depth analysis of the nature and extent of workload and time pressure problems within IDRC; 2) analyze the nature and extent to which these are experienced by or have different impacts on diverse groups of staff (with special attention given to assessing the differential experiences and impact on women and men); 3) analyze the implications of workload and time pressures on IDRC's ability to achieve its strategic objectives and do its work effectively; 4) develop a set of proposals for explicit changes in management systems, work practices, or norms that IDRC could introduce to reduce the negative consequences of workload and time pressures on women and men employees' lives and on IDRC's ability to meet its strategic objectives; and 5) refine analytic frameworks, methods, tools, and indicators. Through this project, CGO enhanced its expertise in working on issues of gender equity, work-personal life integration, and organizational change in research and scientific organizations.

CGO Change Agent Action Learning Forum

In May 2000, CGO launched its "Action Learning Forum" for senior professionals working to advance gender equity and diversity and improving effectiveness in organizations. We convened a group of 10 change agents and reflective practitioners who engaged in mutual inquiry and learning about making and sustaining deep cultural and systemic changes in organizations.

This project was guided by the principles of "action learning." In several sessions over a seven-month period participants had the chance to:

  • interact with CGO researchers and other senior professionals engaged in making change around gender equity and broader diversity issues in complex organizational systems
  • work on real problems and dilemmas with which they were currently struggling as the basis for learning
  • meet on equal terms to discuss one another’s dilemmas and share ideas and lessons grounded in members’ years of practice and research
  • engage in ongoing cycles of action and reflection, by focusing on the work they do in their organization and the reactions and analytical frameworks that were brought forward.

This project was funded by the Ford Foundation and built on research and practice of the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO). The design of the Forum was done in collaboration with Gill Coleman of the New Academy of Business in the UK.  Click here to download the resulting briefing note, "Exploring Action Learning," developed by the CGO Action Learning Project Team.

Gender Issues in the Workplace Project at CIMMYT

Based at CIMMYT (el Centro Internacional de Maiz y Trigo or International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat), this project, which began in 1996, used the “dual agenda” approach to carry out an in-depth analysis of work culture and practices that affect its ability to both develop a gender equitable work environment and meet its strategic objectives. This project was initially carried out with support from the CGIAR Gender Program (see below). The action research team identified four mental models, or deeply held assumptions about work and success, that were making it difficult for CIMMYT to pursue its mission and achieve its strategic objectives as well as to cultivate a hospitable working environment for women. Through a participatory process, staff and managers designed and implemented several organizational experiments designed to challenge these assumptions that reproduce gender inequities by changing specific work practices and management systems. Experiments focused on improving communications up and down the hierarchy and across functions; implementing a multi-source performance appraisal system; strengthening team-based projects to foster interdisciplinary research; examining alternative ways of dividing work tasks and responsibilities among scientists and technicians; and developing new forms of consultation to ensure that relevant expertise of staff is brought to bear in strategic decision-making within the center.

Several publications resulted from this collaborative action research project, including CGO Working Paper No. 3. A case study of the CIMMYT project was published in Gender at Work: Organizational Change for Equality, Aruna Rao, Rieky Stuart, and David Kelleher (Eds.), W. Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1999, pp. 77-128.

Gender Equity at The Body Shop

The goal of this project was to work in partnership with The Body Shop employees to bring about changes in practices, policies, and values that would improve opportunities for advancement and the quality of life for women and men, while also enhancing the company's capacity to develop people's competence. Another goal of The Body Shop project was to develop a pragmatic understanding of how to train organizational members to do this work as full partners in the intervention and inquiry. The project team, working in concert with internal change agents, collected diagnostic data, fed back analyses in a number of sites within the company, and initiated several pilot projects. These projects resulted in a heightened awareness of how the firm's culture created problems for women, but also had a negative impact on the business. These insights were incorporated into the primary executive development program at The Body Shop. In addition, the action research team developed an off-site workshop for a group of self-selected change agents. That methodology has become incorporated into a framework for teaching about the dual agenda as an innovative approach to change. The project was funded by The Ford Foundation and spanned three years.

A case study of the Body Shop Project is available in the book, Gender at Work: Organizational Change for Equality, Aruna Rao, Rieky Stuart, and David Kelleher (Eds.), W. Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1999.

A series of articles based on CGO’s work at The Body Shop were published in the November 2000 issue of Organization.

Gender Staffing Program at Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

For three years (1997-1999) CGO (formerly the Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change) implemented a large gender and organizational change project for an international consortium of agricultural research centers. The research centers are based in both developed and developing countries. They are supported by a membership group of 50 donor agencies, called the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), representing governments, United Nations Agencies, and private foundations from around the world.

The Gender Staffing Program provided cutting edge knowledge, information on best practices, technical expertise and consultancies, and funds to support centers interested in strengthening gender equity and organizational performance. Work focused on strengthening recruitment of highly qualified women scientists and professionals; providing executive development for women professionals; ensuring equal opportunities for advancement and career development; and developing work environments that are equally supportive of the productivity, advancement, and job satisfaction of both men and women. Action research projects aimed at the dual agenda of strengthening organizational effectiveness and gender equity were carried out with two centers in Mexico (see CIMMYT project above) and the United States.

A 1998 review of gender staffing within the CGIAR showed that the centers had made significant progress and that the Program had a major impact. The number of women professionals and scientists increased 25% in 6 years; significantly more women are in leadership and senior management positions; improved practices for recruitment, performance, assessment, and promotion systems have been adopted by more than two- thirds of the centers; and several centers have succeeded in creating work environments that are perceived by both men and women to be more hospitable and supportive. The Program produced 18 working papers and six newsletters; these can be ordered from the CGIAR Secretariat at the World Bank. Selected newsletters from the project were published as briefing notes by CGO: CGO Insights No. 1 and CGO Insights No. 2.

 

 

 

CGO COMMENTARIES
BOOKS
CGO INSIGHTS BRIEFING NOTES
CGO WORKING PAPERS
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS