Queering Management in Are the Women in Management Victims of the Phantom of the Male Norm by Billing - Article Example

?Article Critique Introduction This essay critically reviews the article ‘Are the women in Management victims of the phantom of the male norm’ in thejournal Gender, Work and Organization, published in the year 2011. The author name is Yvonne Due Billing. The author is well known for presenting articles and papers on gender issues as well as workplace development. The article comes under the department of sociology and deals with the gender and norm issues faced by modern age women. The article has used data and information from previously published literature and article about gender issues in workplace, gender norms and women working in managerial positions (Gilpin, 2007). Before the critical review, a summary of the article will be drawn, based on the main points and conclusion of the article. The effectiveness of the structure of article will be analysed in the next stage. These sections will also investigation about the setting of information and the ease of availability. After that, the essay will critically examine the article, giving thrust to its major points and its relevance in the current environment. The critique will also include article’s authority, objectivity, accuracy, currency and coverage (Centre for Academic Excellence, 2008). Accessibility as well as credibility of the article will be judged on the basis of the various criteria discussed above. Overall the article was clear, well written and relevant. Article summary The purpose of the article is to explore work practise norms and gender issues that influence and affect women in workplace. The article has given special attention to women working in managerial position. According to the author, most of the managerial positions in workplace are expected to be filled by men. As a result, women find it difficult while holding or accepting a position. In order to further this investigation, the author has used a primary research method, doing a survey with 20 women in managerial positions. The author has also tried to evaluate if the work practices and norms still reflect the life situations and interest of men. The author has concluded his article by examining the response of women managers participating in the survey as well as the review of the literature and past works on this topic of sociology. Article structure In order to provide a thesis or stance to the developed article, it was introduced with a short abstract. This abstract provided a brief overview of the critical points in the article. The rationale was included for the article as well as the research. The article contained short paragraphs and access to information was easy. However, only 3 headings were provided for the main body thus segregating a lot of information in each heading. Most of the information provided in the article was conventional. For example, a proper review of the literature and post works was done before doing the survey. And the results were analysed using the similarity between what has been said and what was found through the survey (Armstrong, Henson and Savage, 2009). However, the conclusion formed at the end of the article was too short to come to a final decisive argument. There was no comprehensive summary of the crucial points in order to review the findings. At the end, links to journals, subjects, references, authors were provided to allow better evaluation of the author’s work (Craswell, 2005). However, providing links at each heading world have made the evaluation process much faster and easier. Article critique In the article the main argument which the author has put is the relevance of using male as the general norm which explains the difficulties of women in management. According to the author, the idea that women do not belong to the managerial place and they are basically ‘others’ in this managerial place is based on few rigid ideas pertaining to male norms (Acker, 2006). But given the fact that these norms have generated from ideas which are ages old, the credibility of these male norms are in question. The sections of the article were divided skilfully in order to provide a proper flow of the theory, data collection, findings and discussion. The first section was introduction which dealt with giving a brief idea about the whole structure of the article. The author gave example of how some male norms, even though their influence is not amplified, are supposed to be the reason for female uncomforted in managerial positions (Parker, 2002). In the next section, the author provides a review on the literature which has enhanced the notion of male as a norm. The author has critiqued many papers and articles by saying that they are not relevant in the present work environment. According to the author most male norms have represented managerial position as bureaucratic and male specific while stating that they are not suitable for females (Zhang, Schmader and Forbes, 2009). The use of examples such as Nordic working women and the changing roles of parents as a caretaker have been implemented in a very influential manner (Bergman, 2008). In this section the author has successfully made readers think that just having strict regulations in the work place does not necessarily means that they are meant for men only (Glover and Kirtin, 2006). The author is apt in saying that most of the job positions require specific skillet as well as qualifications. Individuals who are not accustomed to this skillet are bound to show scepticism or uncertainty while taking up the job responsibility. This uncertainty is independent of the gender of the individuals. Through the article the author has tried to demonstrate the falsified idea that female uncertainty and discomfort in managerial positions are most of the times caused due to male norms (Goyder, Gruppy and Thompson, 2003). The author has cited few journals in order to give weight to the idea presented. The author has also argued that many of the pressures and constraints which arise out of work are not solely male dominated or otherwise and can be caused due to various other reasons (Mastekaasa, 2004). In the next section the author has argued on the theory of congruency and bodies. the author has used references from 90’s to state that most of the traditional managerial positions have been designed to suit male needs and females, if taking over that position might face incongruence. The author has built his statements on the fact that most of the jobs are congruent to particular characteristics. Many of these jobs are not gender biased and they remain unlabelled (Butler, 200; Deutsch, 2007). In order to demonstrate that job descriptions are unstated the author has used gender variations in general physicians occurring in different parts of the world such as Russia and USA (Simpson, 2004). However, the author’s view that higher job positions which are gender specific cannot be overtaken by other gender is biased. What the author is trying to say is that if a job is specifically designed for male and a female overtakes it, the position is likely to be unsuccessful (Ulku-Steiner, Kurtz-Costes and Kinlaw, 2000). There are many real-life examples in the current business environment which have proved that women have been successful in a male dominated position (Sweet and Meiksins, 2008). Same has been true in case of man taking over a female dominated position. It can be said that there is a deviation in the pattern followed by the author. However, the author has rightly argued that most of these managerial positions are seen as masculine thereby expected to be run by the male gender. This creates an unintentional biasness among subordinates in case an opposite gender takes over. Thus, even though the male norms are not so much amplified, the tendency of individuals to go by norms itself might do that harm (Alvesson and Billing, 2009). In order to evaluate the perceived effect of gender construct, the author did a focus group survey. The survey involved 20 women managers within the age group of 35-60. These women were chosen from three different departments. 19 out of total respondents were married and 17 have children. The major aim of the focus group interview was to understand how these individuals represent themselves as interviewees when they are provided a managerial position. The participant’s motivation, confusions as well as their overall experiences as managers was noted. Even though the self-presentation of these respondents may be very selective, the credibility and effectiveness of the survey is not affected because of the fact that they are representing their present, which is a clear reflection of how they have reached and their current identities. Many useful insights were found from this survey. Most of the women had started taking responsibility from a very early age. Thus, childhood environment can be regarded as one factor determining the career of individuals, regardless of their gender (Fletcher, 2004). However, during interview their views and perception about the workplace and colleagues were much more intimate while compared to men (Hakim, 2000). For example, they perceive colleagues as friends and family oriented organisation are perceived as favourable. In contrast, men generally see colleagues as internal competitors. Another insight found was that the level of discomfort and using norms in order to explain their experience was found more in older women (Taylor, 2010). Younger managers were not so apt about following traditions. They liked to work on their own as well as according to the laws and rules, giving less performance to the expected behaviour according to their gender (Gabriel and Schmitz, 2006; Heilman, et al., 2004). At last, the author has also showed that gender relevance is many times amplified as a result of the daily experiences of opposite gender, even though they are not so strong. Conclusion Assessing the facts and overall structure of the article, it can be concluded that overall the article was well written. Barring few of the areas where arguments were made without sufficient back-ups, most of the arguments went in the right direction. The overall opinion of the author is that most of the managerial positioned are unlabelled and can be controlled by any gender, provided they satisfy the requisite skill set for that particular position. Also, the author has successfully argued most of the time the male norms are not as influential as they are perceived. The conclusion of the author is critical as it has opened new areas of study in topics such as gender and job congruence, male norms etc. The survey took only 20 respondents. In future, surveys can be organised with deeper insights and in larger numbers. Reference List Acker, J., 2006. Inequality regimes: Gender, class and race in organizations. Gender & Society, 20(4), pp. 441–64. Alvesson, M. and Billing, Y.D., 2009. Understanding gender and organizations. London: Sage. Armstrong, D. G., Henson, K. T. and Savage, T. V., 2009. Teaching today: An introduction to education. Upper Saddle River: Merrill/Pearson. Bergman, B., 2008. 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Glover, J. and Kirtin, G., 2006. Women, employment & organizations. London: Routledge. Goyder, J., Gruppy, N. and Thompson, M., 2003. The allocation of male and female occupational prestige in an Ontario urban area: A quarter-century replication. Canadian Review of Sociology & Anthropology, 40(4), pp. 417-430. Hakim, C., 2000. Work–lifestyle choices in the 21st century—Preference theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haslam, A., 2004. Psychology of organizations. London: Sage Heilman, M.E., Wallen, A.S., Fuchs, D. and Tamkins, M.M., 2004. Penalties for success: Reactions to women who succeed at male gender-typed tasks. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), pp. 416-427. Mastekaasa, A., 2004. Sickness absence in female and male-dominated occupations and workplaces. Social science & Medicine, 60, pp. 2261-2272 Parker, M., 2002. Queering management and organization. Gender, Work & Organization, 9(2), pp. 146–66. Simpson, R., 2004. Masculinity at work: The experience of men in female dominated occupations. Work, Employment & Society, 18(2), pp. 349–68. Sweet, S. and Meiksins, P., 2008. Changing contours of work: Jobs and opportunities in the new economy. London: Pine Forge Press. Taylor, C.J., 2010. Occupational sex composition and the gendered availability of workplace support. Gender & Society, 24, pp. 189-212. Ulku-Steiner, B., Kurtz-Costes, B. and Kinlaw, C. R., 2000. Doctoral student experiences in gender-balanced and male-dominated graduate programs. Journal of educational psychology, 92(2), pp. 296-307. Zhang, S., Schmader, T., and Forbes, C., 2009. The glass ceiling in the 21stcentury: Understanding barriers to gender equality. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association. Read More