Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the symbolic meaning attributed by women in academia to workplace artifacts. Design/methodology/approach – The research approach is that of auto-ethnography, whereby the authors, as researchers and participants, explore symbolic meaning from artifacts in their working environment. Findings – Three themes emerged on the symbolic meaning from artifacts for women in academia. The theme of “affect” revealed women as uncomfortable in their surroundings; “representation”, renders women invisible within the institution; and women felt themselves to be under “surveillance”. Research limitations/implications – The investigation is limited to one university, which limits generalizability. The implication is to replicate this auto-ethnographical study in other institutions of higher education. Practical implications – This paper implies that architectural, institutional and personal artifacts play an important role in defining women’s workplace identity. Social implications – Women in academia identify themselves as “outsiders” in the workplace because of the symbolic meaning they attribute to artifacts. Originality/value – This study on women in academia is original as it is the first auto-ethnographical study on artifacts in an international institution of higher education.
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