Gender Organizations Theory Assignment Help

Case Study on Gender Organizational Theory

The gender organizational theory was developed by Joan Acker after observing the failure of the existing gender-based theories to analyze and provide an insightful explanation of the impact of gender in the organisation. The gender organizational theory posits that organizations and workplace interaction contain normative gender expectations that privilege men and oppress women. According to Acker (1990), integrating gender as an analytic category in understanding organizational culture and process is critical. The gender organizational theory is a systematic framework that focuses on the various gender-based factors and practices that create inequality between men and women. Indeed, adopting a gendered perspective in organizational analysis illuminates the bias, segregation, oppression, discriminations, and inequality created by patriarchy and male dominance in the workplace.

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The concept of the gender organizational theory perceives the organisation as an extension of the society with inherent elements of the political sphere that demonstrate patriarchal systems. Therefore, understanding this theory calls for the scrutiny of the organisation as a power holding tool that promotes patriarchy by perpetrating male privileges. The organisation is an important avenue to understand gender inequality by analyzing and understanding its practices and processes. A look at the career market illustrates that women cluster in a secondary labour market characterized by lower wages, uncertainty, short career ladder, and few benefits while men thrive in primary labour markets marked by greater economic rewards and high career prospects. The gendered organizational theory examines the occupational and job segregation as well as gender-based differences related to income, power, authority, status, and autonomy. Adopting a gendered analytical perspective is critical in understanding the role of the organisation in propagating gender inequalities and formulating policies that can help address the problem.

In conceptualizing gendered organisation, Acker (1990, p. 146) argues that an organisation is gendered when ‘‘advantage and disadvantage, exploitation and control, action and emotion, meaning and identity, are patterned through and in terms of a distinction between male and female, masculine and feminine.’’ This shows that the gendered organisation theory does not only help to understand gender inequality in the organisation or the workplace but also identifies the ways in which gender inequality is created, recreated, and maintained. The framework acknowledges that gender is a critical analytic unit that permeates organizational ideologies, practices, and symbols. The gendering of institutions occurs when the organizational structure categorise men and women into different realms based on the type of labour, acceptable behaviours, and emotions. This follows the construction of symbols and images such as language and culture to reinforce the segregation of men and women. This fosters the gendering process where individuals demonstrate gender symbols and images in interactions between men and women. The development of individual identities promotes and reinforces gendered outcomes that lead to the internalization of gender-specific behaviors and scripts.

The gendered organisational theory invites an analysis of the organisation using a gender perspective to understand the position of women and the impact of the organisation on their life. During the slavery period, people of colour were categorized as the lowest social class with limited privileges compared to the whites. Although the concept of race continues to elicit significant debate in relation to discrimination and inequality, women, regardless of race, have continuously been treated unequally. In a patriarchal society, man has the privilege and control of the power apparatus even in the organisation. Indeed, this is not only evident in the workplace but also in other social organisations including schools and healthcare. In the gendered institutions, gender is present in the process, practice, image, ideology and distribution of power.

 

 

Apparently, most institutions around the world in the present and historically are developed, dominated, and symbolically interpreted from the standpoint of men (Acker, 1992). This leaves out women and when present, they assume the subordinate role. As Acker (2006, P. 443) states on inequality regimes, “All organizations have inequality regimes, defined as loosely interrelated practices, processes, actions, and meanings that result in and maintain class, gender, and racial inequalities within particular organizations.” The impact of gender inequality in the organisation is a systematic disparity in power and control over goals, resources, and outcomes. Other adversities that affect women include lack of power to influence how the organisation works, as well as “opportunities for promotion and interesting work; security in employment and benefits; pay and other monetary rewards; respect; and pleasures in work and work relations” (Acker, 2006, P. 443).

Acker (2006) illustrate that gender inequality in an organisation has an impact on the opportunities for promotion. The male dominance in the organisation is evident in the healthcare setting where men dominate powerful position in management and in well-paying jobs such as doctors while women serve in a subordinate position such as nurses. The impact of the glass ceiling effect is evident in the healthcare organisation where the number of women in an administrative or managerial position is limited. As illustrated by Wiggins (1991), the glass ceiling is a significant factor that influences the limited number of women in healthcare management despite the high number of women working in the field. Horton (2012) states that the glass ceiling as a major challenge that stops women from reaching senior positions. The impacts of gendered institutions are the discriminative promotions and recruitment of individuals to high positions. The dominance of men in senior roles results in an inclination to recruit men as a symbol of dominance and authority as well as upholding the patriarchal culture that propagates a men network.

The theory of gendered organisation best explains the promotion criteria in healthcare organizations. According to Madsen and Blide (1992), intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence career progression. However, the gender organizational theory invites an analysis of the impact of gender as an analytic unit to understand how the organisation promotes workers into senior positions. In consideration of organizational factors such as organizational culture, male dominance facilitates the promotion of men into senior positions creating a glass ceiling for female workers. Based on the argument of the gender organizational theory presented by Acker, glass ceiling in healthcare is a product of a continued male dominance and absence of women.

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References

Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4(2), 139-158.

Acker, J. (1992). From sex roles to gendered institutions. Contemporary Sociology, 21(5), 565-569.

Acker, J. (2000). Revisiting class: Thinking from gender, race, and organizations. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 7(2), 192-214.

Acker, J. (2006). Inequality Regimes: Gender, class, and race in organizations. Gender & Society, 20(4), 441-464.

Horton, C. (2012). Female healthcare professionals held down by glass ceiling | Healthcare Professionals Network | The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2012/nov/28/female-healthcare-professionals-glass-ceiling

Madsen, M. K., & Blide, L. A. (1992). Professional advancement of women in health care management: a conceptual model. Topics in health information management, 13(2), 45-55.

Wiggins, C. (1991). Female Healthcare Managers and the Glass Ceiling: The Obstacles and Opportunities for Women in Management. Hospital topics, 69(1), 8-14.