Abstract

PurposeTo challenge gender neutrality within management theories and to show how such theories influence the practice of management development to the detriment of women managers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a feminist questioning of changes in management theory over the past several decades and the impact this has on management development practice in relation to women.FindingsThe notion of a feminine ethos being carried to practicing managers through characteristics culturally associated with females should be helpful to women. However, the basis for formal, mixed group situations as a means of enabling women to develop as managers is debatable. A continuing reliance on questionnaires that fail to quantify the extent to which the constructs reflect a gender sensitivity and the failure to recognise such situations as reflecting relations between women and men in the wider social context serve to reinforce women in a subordinate role to men, deferring to and privileging men's knowledge.Originality/valueThe value lies in how the paper shows the barriers facing women as they develop as managers in contexts that are still masculine despite claims of a feminisation of management. It is also valuable in the way it suggests a different way of working with women on their development as managers.

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