Power in Gendered Organizations: Workplaces and Gender Equality

Experiences of work restructuring at workplaces

The purpose of the research project is to explore the possibilities of new orders in gender and power relations in public- and private-sector workplaces in the context of changing work organizations.

The research group approaches gender and power theoretically in specific workplace contexts; analyses are made of the association between the structures of power and gender relations in a particular workplace context with special emphasis on the multiple and contradictory nature of gender and power relations. The relation between gender and power as a contested terrain is emphasized. Alongside with the familiar patterns of gender / organization relations (e.g. women's subordinate position with limited power resources), phenomena can be observed which contradict this picture (e.g. resistance to gendered stereotypes; ignorance of gendered iron cages).

The research group's approach

· is based on a multi-perspective analysis of contradictory situations and phenomena
· aims at developing concepts to explain gender, organization and power relations
· explores 'gender' and 'power' as social practices or repertoires of practices of doing
· focuses on interaction and social relationships at work

Research questions

This empirical study has two guidelines. First, it starts from a multi-perspective view on power to get a grasp on both the persistence and change of gendered power relations. Second, a multilevel "gendered practices" methodology is applied.

On broad terms, the following questions are presented:

1. The structures of work have undergone major changes, but gendered positions, gender segregation and gendered work cultures have remained in their old hierarchical shape. What conditions, spaces, actors and acts are needed in creating more equal workplaces for women and men?

2. Work cultures are constructed through interaction between people. How is gendered power constructed in this interaction and what are the implications of gendered dynamics on women and men? How does power take shape in communication at work? What different meanings and interpretations can gender equality get in interaction between e.g. women and men, different age groups, people with different class backgrounds?

3. What is the experience of women and men in the middle of the multiple changes at work? In what ways has the relation between power and control affected the identities and self-strategies of women and men?

Data and methods

The group has available three data sets which will be utilized to answer these questions. Each data set consists of surveys, interviews and tape-recorded discussions in inter- and intra-organizational work conferences.

Data set 1: A long-term research process within textile and clothing industry providing data from three different periods:
· the second half of the 1980s: period of mass production
· the 1990s: period of crisis
· the 2000s: among micro-entrepreneurs (data to be expanded)

Data set 2: A long-term research process within one company producing industrial textiles and employing about 800 workers. The data will cover the period 1998–2007.

Data set 3: Gender equality development in an action research processing different kinds of work organizations. The process included eight organizations both from public and private sectors. The data consist of
· intra- and inter-organizational development forums and interviews
· gender equality plans

Subprojects

The empirical work proceeds with different foci in the following subprojects:

Hanna Ylöstalo: Equalities in gender equality development work

Minna Leinonen: Gender, power and interaction

Leena Piispa: Changing gendering patterns of the shop floor. From control to self-regulation

Riitta Lavikka: Repertoires of power and gender in workplace development

Tuula Heiskanen et al.: Power repertoires in work organizations in information society

Funding

The project is financed by the Academy of Finland, VALTA Research Programme.
For the description of the programme, go to /valta

Contact information:
Work Research Centre
FI-33014 University of Tampere
Finland

http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/tyoelama/WRC.html

Email: firstname.lastname(at)uta.fi

Tuula Heiskanen, PhD, Docent, Research director
Project leader
+ 358 3 3551 7133

Riitta Lavikka, PhD, Docent
Senior researcher

Minna Leinonen, M.Soc.Sc
Researcher
+358 3 3551 7262

Leena Piispa, M.Soc.Sc.
Researcher
+358 3 3551 7192

Hanna Ylöstalo, M.Soc.Sc
Researcher