Women Who Succeed: Strangers in Paradise? PDF
Preview Women Who Succeed: Strangers in Paradise?
Women Who Succeed This page intentionally left blank Women Who Succeed Strangers in Paradise? Susan Durbin UniversityoftheWestofEngland,UK ©SusanDurbin2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-32825-0 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedherrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2016by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-349-58088-0 ISBN 978-1-137-32826-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137328267 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Durbin,Susan,author. Womenwhosucceed:strangersinparadise?/SusanDurbin. pages cm 1. Womenexecutives—GreatBritain. 2. Women— Employment—GreatBritain. 3. Discriminationin employment—GreatBritain. 4. Glassceiling(Employment discrimination)—GreatBritain. 5. Successinbusiness—Great Britain. 6. Women—Vocationalguidance— GreatBritain. I. Title. HD6054.4.G7D872015 (cid:2) 331.481658400941—dc23 2015023918 This book is dedicated to Betty and Rachel This page intentionally left blank Contents ListofFigures x Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 Whyabookaboutseniorwomen? 4 Methods 9 Structureofthebook 11 2 StrangersinParadise?Women,WorkandManagement 13 Introduction 13 Whatis‘genderequality’? 15 Exclusion,segregationand‘choice’:Women’srelationship withpaidwork 20 Womenmanagers:Commongroundordifferent experiences? 24 Howmanywomendoesittake? 32 Achievingcriticalmass:Howmanyisenough? 33 Thebusinesscaseforincreasingwomen’srepresentationin management 36 Targetsorquotas?Howbesttomovethegenderequality agendaforward? 38 Chaptersummary 43 3 ThroughtheGlassCeilingandBeyond:Getting In/GettingOn 44 Introduction 44 Context 45 Intervieweeprofile 47 Maritalstatusandchildren 47 Qualifications 50 Currentroles 51 Workinghoursandpart-timeworking 53 Careers:Plannedorserendipitous? 58 Careersatisfaction 64 Challenges 66 vii viii Contents Gender-relatedchallenges:Privatesector 66 Role-relatedchallenges:Privatesector 69 Gender-relatedchallenges:Publicsector 70 Role-relatedchallenges:Publicsector 70 Careerprogressionstrategies 71 Chaptersummary 74 4 WhoSupportsSeniorWomen?TheRoleofMentors 77 Introduction 77 Mentoring 79 Genderandmentoring 82 Thementoringfunction 83 The‘darkside’ofmentoring 85 Formalmentoringschemes 86 Movingin/movingup:Theimportanceofpastmentorsto seniorwomen’scareers 87 Currentmentoringforwomenintheprivatesector 91 Currentmentoringforwomeninthepublicsector 97 Theoverallbenefitsofmentoring 101 Chaptersummary 103 5 WhoInspiresSeniorWomen?RoleModels 106 Introduction 106 Whatisarolemodel? 107 Rolemodelsidentifiedbywomenintheprivatesector 111 Rolemodelsidentifiedbywomeninthepublicsector 114 Comparingrolemodelsacrosstheprivateandpublicsectors 116 Seniorwomenasrolemodels 118 Chaptersummary 123 6 WhoConnectswithSeniorWomen?Networking 126 Introduction 126 Whatisnetworking? 127 Whyisnetworkingimportantforseniorwomen? 129 Homophilousandheterophilousnetworking:‘Oneofthe boys’or‘oneofthegirls’? 130 Homophilouswomen’snetworks 131 Homophilous‘oldboys’networks’ 133 Seniorwomenandnetworking 135 Is‘gettingon’basedonwhoorwhatyouknow?Social capitalversusknowledgeandexpertise 135 Women’snetworkingintheprivatesector 139 Contents ix Women’snetworkinginthepublicsector 142 Therelationshipbetweennetworkingandcareer progression 146 Areseniorwomenengagingwithandparticipatingin women’snetworks? 150 Women’sexperiencesofoldboys’networks 158 Chaptersummary 163 7 ConclusionsandFutureDirections 168 Thefuture 169 Areseniorwomen‘strangersinparadise’? 176 Researchimplicationsandrecommendationsforthefuture 181 References 185 Index 195
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