Symbols of organisational culture: describing and prescribing gender integration of navy ships

Abstract

The symbols of organisation culture can both describe and prescribe human behaviour within that organisation. This paper examines experiences of gender integration of South African Navy ships through the use of symbols of military culture. Accounts from female and male sailors were collected through interviews and focus groups, 18 months after the gender integration of their ships, and revealed the symbolic use of rituals, metaphors, artefacts and physical space. Military organisations typically do not allow deviations from either their hegemonic masculine orientation, or official gender-supportive policies. To express either resistance or acceptance of gender integration, sailors used accepted (naval) cultural symbolism to covertly communicate and enforce their relative positions. Rituals were used as expression of inclusion and to communicate organisational norms, while metaphors reflected the ambivalence in the fleet. Further, as metaphors were constructed from familiar images, they served to regulate interaction in novel situations. Uniforms acted as organisational artefacts of oppression and resistance to women. The use of corporate space acquired different meanings, of both resistance and acceptance, within the context of gender integration of naval ships. The paper concludes by discussing some issues that arose from both the descriptive and prescriptive use of these symbols – in particular for the expression and maintenance of identity, and for the regulation of behaviour in unfamiliar situations.