Gender on the agenda 2: unlearning gender blindness in management education

Abstract

This paper argues that UK business and management schools continue to operate a gender blind approach (or at best gender neutral) to management education, research and the development of management theory. This echoes a pattern repeated in the practice of management, which closes down and inhibits opportunities for management to be “done differently” and for organizations to be different. Our aim in this paper is to critically scrutinise and enable a consciousness raising in ourselves and our audience by highlighting what we understand as gender blindness within management, management research and education. However, the issue of whether this gender blindness results from “not seeing”, “being unaware”, “suppressing gender” or “gender defensiveness” remains problematic. We conclude with a call for an “unlearning” and a “rethinking” of gender blind management education and provide some examples of how this might be achieved.