Understanding Gender and Women‘s Positioning in Organisations - A Literature Review

Abstract

Gender being a social construction, women and men world over are subject to the effects of what the society expects from them. Currently around the globe women are entering the labour force much more than the past but it is evident that women are mostly the majority at the lower organizational levels. In contrast the top of the organizational hierarchy is governed by the men and this is true for the developed world as well as for the global south. This tendency on male domination in organisations is a result of a system of stratifying men and women differently and structuring personal and work lives of either gender. Thuswomen’s work lives are affected due to the effects of gender and they are positioned in the lower rungs of organisations. As discussed in literature cumulative disadvantage of blocked opportunities causes women’s under representation at higher ranks. Adding to the same women managers experiencechallenges not faced by their male counterparts because of the dominant masculinist ethos of corporate management culture that privileges men. Thus the effectsof gender as a social construction to a greater extentdecides wherewomen are positioned in organizational hierarchies.