From Resistance to Change: Processes for Change Within an Organization?

Abstract

Management is often identified as the key to success when changing an organization. In chapter ten, the role of the management team in gender equality work is analysed, as well as what the team needs in order to address these issues. But has the faculty management team’s commitment to gender equality work had any effects on the organization? Has the discourse changed? Are things done differently? This chapter analyzes the effects of the management team’s efforts by studying a seminar series for PhD supervisors. The series consists of two parts: five seminars before the management team embarked on gender equality work, and seven seminars after. The data show that when the management team clearly stated that gender-related challenges remained within the faculty and offered a theoretical approach and method for the organization’s gender equality work, the seminar discussions moved from resistance, denial and ambivalence, to an interest in understanding one’s own role and potential for improving gender equality. When the management team contributed to the knowledge base through education in gender perspectives and offered a method for the organizational work that all employees could apply in their everyday activities, this opened opportunities for change at all levels in the organization.