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.
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