"Strong" Objectivity and the Use of Q-Methodology in Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract

This article describes a cross-cultural exploration of the experiences of two groups of women managers and uses Q-methodology to create career scripts. This approach, based theoretically in a feminist standpoint and strong objectivity, links rich understanding of the subjective expressions of local inhabitants of a national culture and organization with concrete historical, political, and economic structures, thus bridging micro and macro levels of analysis. The project was conducted in Finland and the United States, two nations with quite different values, attitudes, policies, and programs concerning work life support and equal opportunity. Results indicate that gender is complex, multifaceted, and deeply internalized in individual behavior. It is also persistently, although differentially, embedded in societal as well as organizational structures and cultural notions of what it is to be a "good" person.