Dear GDO members,
We have a PhD position in the Netherlands available for a student trained in mixed methods. Please forward to suitable candidates. For more information: http://www.ics-graduateschool.nl/successful-women-individual-opportunities-company-policies-and-general-opinions/
Successful women: individual opportunities, company policies and general opinions
Project 6
Aim
To explore the opportunity structures of successful women leaders in terms of family background, company policies and societal norms on women in leadership positions.
Background
Women in leadership positions are still largely underrepresented in contemporary organizations. Most research focuses on explaining the persistence of gender inequality in organizations, but little research has provided insights in the conditions that positively contribute to women's success at work. The few study that do, examine these conditions in isolation and are thus not able to connect the opportunity structures of women on several levels (micro, meso and macro). In this research project, we will integrate these levels to come to a better understanding of the conditions that nurture women's success. We focus on three aspects of women's opportunity structures that may hinder or stimulate women to achieve higher occupational positions. First, next to women's individual human resources (education, experience), factors for success are sought in the family background of women (mothers position/work status), partner characteristics (education, work status), and family features (children). A second focus of our project lies with the role of companies who either stimulate or restrict women to grow into and succeed in leadership positions. We will define qualities of gender policies implemented in companies or occupational sectors that may facilitate women's success, such as Women Leadership programs, family friendly policies and women's networks. Thirdly, our research will focus on social norms among the Dutch population for women in leadership positions. Women face prevailing gender stereotypes within specific business sectors and society at large, especially around the suitability of women to be a supervisor. We will therefore focus on whether exposure to successful women nurtures the acceptance of women in leadership positions.
Research design
In our proposed project the PhD-student will employ a mixed-method design, and use insights from gender studies, sociology and organization studies. This is a challenging but innovative design as it will both combine the advantages of quantitative and qualitative methods. Our first research question will be answered studying women's occupational careers with data from a nationally representative survey. A selection of 50 successful women from this survey will be approached for an elaborate in-depth questioning on perceived restrictions and opportunities on a micro level. To deal with our second question, again 50 successful women will be asked on their experiences with implemented policies of their companies which facilitate women's careers. Our third question will be answered combining information on women leaders' experiences in companies with information on the opinion of the general public on women in top positions. A proposed PhD student is expected to perform the 50 in-depth interviews and to collect the data on the company policies. Information on the societal norms is gathered in a collective NISCO effort aiming at a representative sample of 3.000 respondents.
Literature
Goodman, J. S., Fields, D. L., & Blum, T. C. (2003). Cracks in the Glass Ceiling In What Kinds of Organizations Do Women Make it to the Top?. Group & Organization Management, 28(4), 475-501. Hofmeister, H., Blossfeld, H. P., & Mills, M. (2006). Globalization, uncertainty, and women's mid-career life courses, A theoretical framework. Globalization, uncertainty and women's careers: An international comparison, 3-31.
Supervisors
Prof. dr. Marieke van den Brink (RUN) , Prof. G. Kraaykamp (RUN), Dr. R. Meuleman (RUN)
Location
Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, http://www.ru.nl/
Prof. dr. M.C.L. (Marieke) van den Brink
Professor Gender & Diversity
Nijmegen Institute for Social and Cultural Research
P.O. Box 9104
6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands
024 3611174
Member Young Academy / Jonge Akademie KNAW