Degendering organizations? The emergence of postfeminist networks<sup/>

This article aims to present an initial analysis of a new form of collective action related to gender issues emerging in the Brazilian corporate world. It is based on an empirical investigation through two networks of women executives that aim to encourage gender equity in organizations. The analysis was structured based on the following research question: What is the potential of these networks related to gender equity led by executive women to degender organizations? The findings help to understand the complexity of this phenomenon, with its ambiguities and contradictions.

Originality/value

The originality of the article resides in the proposition of the concept of postfeminist networks to understand this new form of collective action for gender equity in the corporate environment. This concept helps researchers in Organizations Studies better understand moderate corporate feminism, reflecting and deflecting feminism.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research of exploratory nature, whose investigation strategy was a multiple case study. Data collection occurred in two stages: documentary, and interviews. The interviews were with ten executives who lead and act directly in the management of two networks, both located in São Paulo, and aimed at increasing the representation of women in leadership positions in business.

Findings

The results show crucial limitations of these networks. They are related to a claimed distance from feminism and even a disdain for the feminist movement. They also do not consider the intersections between gender and other social markers of difference, such as race, class, and sexuality. Despite these limitations, this experience cannot be neglected. They represent a significant advance in individual strategies that women undertake to occupy spaces in the corporate world and those concerning affinity groups created by executive women within each company. These advances are even more critical in a business environment. There are typically very few women in upper management positions, and where male leaders have done very little in encouraging their presence in upper management.

Keywords:
gender equity; degendering; executive women; postfeminist; networks

Theoretical approaches	Synthesis
Liberal	Shaped by the liberal political ideal that emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it argues that individuals are considered autonomous beings, endowed with rationality; conceives the idea of gender from the notion of “sexual class”, that is, relative to the condition of women as an oppressed class (Calás & Smircich, 1999Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. (1999). Do ponto de vista da mulher: Abordagens feministas em estudos organizacionais. In S. R., Clegg & C. Hardy (Eds.), Handbook de Estudos Organizacionais (pp. 275-329). Atlas.).
Radical	It arises from the dissatisfaction of feminists with the subordination of women to men and with the domination widely supported by right-wing policies of the 1960s, and it does not see evidence that women can be liberated from sexual oppression through reforms or gradual changes (Giddens, 2012Giddens, A. (2012). Sociologia. Penso.).
Psychoanalytic	It denies biological determinism through Freudian interpretations of gender and sexuality (Flax, 1990Flax, J. (1990). Posmodernismo y relaciones de género en la teoría feminista. Feminaria.).
Marxist	It observes the construction of identities through social and labor practices, relating power and sexuality, which are intertwined in the relations between capital and labor, and argues that men, as a group, dominate and control women as another group (Calás & Smircich, 1999Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. (1999). Do ponto de vista da mulher: Abordagens feministas em estudos organizacionais. In S. R., Clegg & C. Hardy (Eds.), Handbook de Estudos Organizacionais (pp. 275-329). Atlas.).
Socialist	The traditional Marxist approach gives rise to Socialist Feminist Theory, which was consequently influenced by radical and psychoanalytic theories; in this approach, the patriarchal system remains the basis of inequalities (Scott, 1986Scott, J. W. (1986). Gender: A useful category of historical analysis. The American Historical Review, 91(5), 1053-1075. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/91.5.1053 https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/91.5.1053... ).
Poststructuralist	It rejects the notions used to explain gender inequality (patriarchy, race, or class) as something essentialist (Beasley, 1999Beasley, C. (1999). What is feminism? An introduction to feminist theory. Sage Publications.).
Third world/(post) colonialist	It challenges gender relations and Western feminist approaches; and argues that heterosexual white feminists from middle and high class developed countries and is not accessible to all women (Rabay, 2008Rabay, G. L. F. (2008). Mulheres na política e autonomia [Ph.D dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil]. https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/13702 https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle... ).

	Net A	Net B
Purpose	Promote female leadership to achieve gender balance in leadership positions.	Promote the excellence of Latin American professionals, improve the economic condition of women in Latin America, promote women’s leadership in the corporate environment, and contribute to women’s empowerment.
Starting date	Between 2013 and 2014.
Head office	The city of São Paulo and connections in Brazil and abroad.
Members	About 100 women in Brazil (30% foreign and 10% participate on its board).	About 100 members (women and men) in Brazil and abroad.
Technologies	Both networks make heavy use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
To join the network	It is necessary to have: Complete undergraduate course, approximately seven years of professional experience, fluent English, and fill out the registration on the global network website.	Through invitations. It is necessary to be in a position of power and decision in some organizations and to have international experience.
Partnerships	Higher education institution; global consulting and research firm; other organizations in Brazil and abroad.	Higher education institutions; communication vehicles; male business leaders.
Main actions	Events focused on skills development and networking, mentoring and entrepreneurship programs, and the dissemination of good practices by companies focused on gender equality.	Events to mobilize male leadership; dissemination of studies and research and support to companies in the development of programs and policies for gender equality.

Analytical category	Subcategories	Empirical evidence
Motivations	The relevance of the issue for organizations	“An organization that does not have women in decision-making positions does not reflect society, does not understand society and leaves companies poorer in many ways” (E3, Net A).
	Influence of experiences abroad	“Ten years later, when I came back to Brazil [after working in a bank in Switzerland], it was somewhat mind-blowing to know that these very intelligent and professionally ambitious women, with whom I had contact, were not working in any companies. They had little children and had a hard time reconciling work and family. Yet men were all vice presidents in large corporations” (E3, Net A).
	Personal purpose and legacy	“My greatest wish is to make my contribution. That’s because of the professional level I reached - I became a CEO - with all my career and my life experience, with my struggles and my battles, I believe that I should try to help other women to get there too” (E8, Net B).
Motivations	Career development and professional networking	“Participation in the network brought me recognition in the company I work, and it also improved my articulation in the organization” (E1, Net A).
Focus of action	Gender parity at the highest hierarchical levels	As a first objective, the networks analyzed have gender parity in the positions of power and decision-making in companies. This goal works as a guiding force for their actions, which are carried out at two levels: 1. individual level that aims to promote the development of new skills for women who are already active in the market, training them to work in middle and top management positions; 2. organizational level that cares for the promotion of events and instructive projects on relations between gender equity and financial results (DOCUMENTATION OF THE A AND B NETWORKS).
Focus of action	Partnerships with strategic stakeholders	The most strategic stakeholders of the networks are Business Schools, international organizations, such as UN Women, other national and international networks, and the government. Partnership agreements focus mainly on enabling an expansion of the action scope for the network. More specifically, it seeks to contact young professionals at their career start to assist them in getting to leadership positions. To do so, the networks have been developing forms of integration and support, either through the mentoring program or through the support of a business school (DOCUMENTATION OF A AND B NETWORKS).
Challenges	Diagnosis of causes	“We focus on identifying the causes of gender disparity in positions of power, which is very difficult” (E5, Net A).
Challenges	Intersectionality	“We do not talk much about diversity [race, sexual orientation, etc.]. There are other entities or organizations that deal with that. In fact, our goal is to help women, at managerial positions, reach the top level of companies” (E8, Net B).
Barriers	Sexism	“Brazil has a sexist culture that replicates itself in the business world. This culture is embodied by women, and most of them do not realize gender inequality in high-ranking posts” (E1, Net A).
Barriers	Abandonment of career	“Some women, at a certain career level, leave the job market, which contributes to this imbalance in the top management positions” (E1, Net A).
Barriers	Biases	“The network holds many networking meetings for women early in the morning. For me, it is a good time because my children leave for school. So, I take advantage of the children’s school time, and I also take part of my work time, and I attend the meetings. At night, for me, it’s awful because I get back home, then I have to wash my children, have dinner, help them with their homework” (E7, Net B).
	Absence of organizational policies	“In Brazil, few companies are involved in gender equality, and most of them are multinational corporations” (E2, Net A).
	Lack of resources	“This is voluntary work. In order to expand our activities and rely on structured projects and programs, we would need a fixed team, remunerated properly” (E3, Net A).
View on feminism	Recognition and rejection	“I do not sympathize with the feminist movement at all. It does not drive me. Of course, I’m not throwing away the feminist movement background. But I would not be a person who would go burn bras on the streets. It is not my way. I would not participate, you know...” (E4, Net A). “Oh, I do not see myself as a feminist. All that extreme. I think that’s the last straw. I’ve seen a lot of demonstrations, women with breasts out, protesting. I think that’s damn silly. This is my view: I am against everything that is extreme, exaggerated, and that causes segregation. I do not think we have to start a war between men and women, and there are a lot of people heading that way. We take the risk of getting the feminist movements to sabotage merit initiatives, don’t we?” (E6, Net B).

	Feminism	Postfeminist network
Distinctive feature	The social-political-ideological intention of broad sense: change of men’s domination in the various social arrangements (Flax, 1990Flax, J. (1990). Posmodernismo y relaciones de género en la teoría feminista. Feminaria.).	The pragmatic intention in the strict sense: the ascension of the woman in the organizational hierarchy until gender equalization in positions of power.
Rupture	Motivation is broad (several social spheres) and collective action is fragmented (different courses/currents) (Calás & Smircich, 1999Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. (1999). Do ponto de vista da mulher: Abordagens feministas em estudos organizacionais. In S. R., Clegg & C. Hardy (Eds.), Handbook de Estudos Organizacionais (pp. 275-329). Atlas.; Giddens, 2012Giddens, A. (2012). Sociologia. Penso.; Flax, 1990Flax, J. (1990). Posmodernismo y relaciones de género en la teoría feminista. Feminaria.; Scott, 1986Scott, J. W. (1986). Gender: A useful category of historical analysis. The American Historical Review, 91(5), 1053-1075. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/91.5.1053 https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/91.5.1053... ; Beasley, 1999Beasley, C. (1999). What is feminism? An introduction to feminist theory. Sage Publications.; Rabay, 2008Rabay, G. L. F. (2008). Mulheres na política e autonomia [Ph.D dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil]. https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/13702 https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle... ; Pinto, 2003Pinto, C. R. J. (2003). Uma história do feminismo no Brasil. Fundação Perseu Abramo.).	Motivation is strict (ascension in the organizational structure), and collective action is cohesive (only one way: career recognition).
Continuity	Latency (hidden character of the collective action focus) (Calás & Smircich, 1999Calás, M. B., & Smircich, L. (1999). Do ponto de vista da mulher: Abordagens feministas em estudos organizacionais. In S. R., Clegg & C. Hardy (Eds.), Handbook de Estudos Organizacionais (pp. 275-329). Atlas.). Idiosyncrasy (peculiar or contradictory character of its collective action) (Rabay, 2008Rabay, G. L. F. (2008). Mulheres na política e autonomia [Ph.D dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil]. https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/13702 https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle... ; Buttler, 2003Buttler, J. (2003). Problemas de gênero: Feminismo e subversão da identidade. Civilização Brasileira.).
Potential to degender organizations	Low: struggle does not focus on specific causes of organizational genderization.	High: actions strategically aimed at ending the genderization of organizations.

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[1] Author notes

Pedro J. Coelho Júnior is now a professor at the Postgraduate Program in Administration and the Department of Administration of FEI University and professor of Undergraduate courses in Social Communication of the Higher School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM); Edvalter B. Holz is now an assistant professor II at the Department of Administration of Insper Institute of Education and Research; Raquel C. Sajonc is now a senior tutor of long distance education at DOT Digital Group; Audrey S. Hein is now a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Postgraduate Program in Administration of FEI University Center.

Brasil

Brasil

Degendering organizations? The emergence of postfeminist networks1 1 This study was financed in part by the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Capes) - finance code 001.

Degenerificando as organizações? A emergência das redes pós-feministas

Abstract

Purpose

Originality/value

Design/methodology/approach

Findings

Degendering organizations? The emergence of postfeminist networks¹ 1 This study was financed in part by the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Capes) - finance code 001.