Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T18:56:44.594Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Women in management: A personal retrospective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Leonie Still
Leonie Still*
Affiliation:
UWA Business School, University of Western Australia, Crawley WA, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The status of women in employment in general and in management in particular has interested researchers in Australia since the mid-1970s, although interest in women's industrial and occupational employment segregation and pay inequality has an even longer history. However, this overview concentrates on developments in the ‘women in management’ field since the 1970s, primarily because of the concerted and concentrated efforts to raise the employment status of women since that time.

The overview also concentrates on the Australian experience, in an attempt to determine if ‘the more things change the more they remain the same’ or if actual change and progress has been made. My credentials for undertaking this retrospective are that I have been researching in the women in management area since the early 1980s and have tracked the main changes, influences and dimensions since that time. Readers who are expecting a critique of the impact of feminism and other ideologies in the area will be disappointed. My research perspective is, and always has been, managerial and organizational. I will thus not be mentioning a whole raft of substantive thinkers and researchers from other perspectives who have contributed to this area over the years. To assist the process of review, I have divided developments into a number of eras to illustrate the progression of both policy and research over the various periods.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 15 , Issue 5 , November 2009 , pp. 555 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2000) Small Business in Australia 1999, Cat. No. 1321.0.Google Scholar
Bartol, K. (1978) The Sex Structuring of Organisations: A search for possible causes, Academy of Management Review, 3: 805–815.Google Scholar
Bott, S. and Olive, K. (1988) A Study of Queensland Women in Business, Queensland Small Business Development Corporation, 09.Google Scholar
Bretos, C. T. (1984) Women Lawyers: Implications for Legal Educationalists and Employers, Law Society Journal, 7: 424–428.Google Scholar
Buono, A. and Kamm, J. (1983) Marginality and the Organisational Socialisation of Women Managers, Human Relations, 36: 1125–1140.Google Scholar
Burton, C. (1992) Finding the Words: Glass Ceiling or Protective Shield?Women in Leadership Public Lecture Series, Perth: Edith Cowan University, 17 11.Google Scholar
Carter, M. G., Rothman, G. P. and Thorne, P. J. (1982) Women in the Australian Public Service: Distribution and Career Patterns, Public Service Board Research Paper No.4 AGPS: Office of the Public Service Board.Google Scholar
Cass, B., Dawson, M., Temple, D., Wills, S. and Winkler, A. (1983) Why So Few: Women Academics in Australian Universities. Sydney: Sydney University Press.Google Scholar
Catalyst, (2005), Women ‘Take Care’, Men ‘Take Charge’: Stereotyping US Business Leaders Exposed, Report conducted in collaboration with T. Welbourne and eePulse Incorp. (wee.catalyst.org — accessed 3.3.06).Google Scholar
Davidson, M. and Cooper, C. (1992) Shattering the Glass Ceiling: The Woman Manager, London: Paul Chapman Publishing.Google Scholar
Department of Industry, Science and Tourism (1996) 1996 Annual Review of Small Business, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 11.Google Scholar
Department of Transport and Regional Services (2005) At the table: Getting the best people and making the right decisions for regional and rural Australia, Canberra ACT.Google Scholar
Equal Employment Opportunity Unit (1983) Women in the Public Service Victoria: A Discussion Paper, Victorian Public Service Board, 08.Google Scholar
Equal Opportunity Board, Victoria (1983) Women in Chartered Accounting, The Board, 08.Google Scholar
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency and Catalyst (2006) Australian Census of Women Executive Managers and Women Board Directors, Sydney: EOWA, 08.Google Scholar
FAUSA Committee on the Status of Women Academics (1977) Survey on Women in Australian Universities and Report on Characteristics of Academic Job Applicants, FAUSA, 11.Google Scholar
Grieve, N. and Percides, M. (1981) Patriarchy: A Refuge from Maternal Power? Dinnerstein's Answer to Freud, in Australian Women: Feminist Perspectives, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia (1992), Half Way to Equal: Report of the Inquiry into Equal Opportunity and Equal Status for Women in Australia, Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Levison, D. (1978) The Seasons of a Man's Life, New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
McGregor, D. (1967) The Professional Manager, New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Mainiero, L. and Sullivan, S. (2005) Kaleidoscope Careers: An Alternative Explanation for the ‘Opt-Out’ Revolution, Academy of Management Executive, 19: 106–123.Google Scholar
Mathews, J. H. (1982) The changing profile of women in the Law, The Australian Law Journal, 56: 634–632.Google Scholar
Office of the Status of Women (1988) A Say, A Choice, A Fair Go: The Government's National Agenda for Women, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Powell, G. and Mainiero, L. (1992) Cross-currents in the River of Time: Conceptualising the Complexities of Women's Careers’, Journal of Management, 18: 215–237.Google Scholar
Pringle, J. and Dixon, K. (2003) Re-incarnating Life in the Careers of Women, Careers Development International, 8: 291–300Google Scholar
Public Service Board of Victoria (1983) Women in the Public Service of Victoria: A Discussion Paper, The Board: Equal Opportunity Unit, 08.Google Scholar
Sams, D. (1982) Occupational and Industrial Segregation of Female Employment in Australia: A Review, in Ed. Hoy, Mavis, Women in the Labour Force, Conference Proceedings, Bureau of Labour Market Research Monograph Series No 4, Canberra: AGPS, pp. 66–92.Google Scholar
Sawer, M. (1984) Towards Equal Opportunity: Women and Employment at the Australian National University, Report of the Working Part of the Association of Women Employees, Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Sawer, M. (1990) Sisters in Suits: Women and Public Policy in Australia, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Schein, V (1975) Relationship between Sex Role Stereotypes and Requisite Management Characteristics among Female Managers, Journal of Applied Psychology, 60: 340–344.Google Scholar
Sheridan, A. and Milgate, Gm (2005) Accessing Board Positions: A Comparison of Female and Male Board Members, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 13(6): 847–855.Google Scholar
Sheridan, A., Still, L. and Haslam-McKenzie, F. (2006), Women's Leadership in Rural Australia’, Paper presented at First International Women and Leadership Conference, Curtin University of Technology, 11.Google Scholar
Still, L. (1986) Women in Management: The Case of Australian Business, Human Resource Management Australia, 24: 32–37.Google Scholar
Still, L. (1992) Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Another Perspective, Women in Management Review, 7: 3–8.Google Scholar
Still, L. (2006) Where Are the Women in Leadership in Australia? Women in Management Review, 21: 180–194.Google Scholar
Still, L. and Guerin, C. (1990) Self-Employed Women: The New Social Change, Report to the New South Wales Women's Advisory Council.Google Scholar
Sullivan, S. (1999), The Changing Nature of Careers: A Review and Research Agenda, Journal of Management, 25: 457–481.Google Scholar
Super, D. (1957) Psychology of Careers, New York: Harper and Brothers.Google Scholar
Taperell, K., Fox, C. and Roberts, M. (1975) Sexism in Public Service: The Employment of Women in Australian Government Administration, Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration, Discussion Paper No.3, Canberra: AGPS.Google Scholar
Turner, C. and Glare, A. (1982) Women in Large Retail Companies in Victoria: Perspectives on Work Status, Opportunities and Prospects, Monograph in Public Policy Studies No. 10, The University of Melbourne: Program in Public Policy Studies.Google Scholar
Victorian Women's Consultative Council (1988), Women and Small Business: A Report for the Premier, Victoria: Department of Premier and Cabinet, 03.Google Scholar
Victorian Office of Women's Affairs (1981) Women in Management: A Survey with Comparisons, Department of the Premier, Victoria.Google Scholar
Western Australian Department of Employment and Training (1988) The Hub Report: Promoting Women's Enterprise, The Department, 08.Google Scholar
White, B., Cox, C. and Cooper, C. (1992) Women's Career Development: A Study of High Flyers, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar