Gendered cooperation in a post-NPM era: a comparative study of the perceptions of municipal technostructure experts and middle-line managers

Abstract

ABSTRACT By exploring the perceptions of cooperation between technostructure experts and middle line managers of different departments in three Swedish municipalities in a qualitative study, this paper contributes to an understanding of how gendered norms inscribed in type of work influence expectations on cooperation. Theories of principal-agent, stewardship, and partnership, and a gender perspective are used. The comparative analysis shows that despite changes in work roles under the influence of NPM, traditional norms about gender appear to be reproduced in the expectations of cooperation. The results illustrate how cooperation is shaped in contexts associated with feminine respective masculine work.