Géneros – Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 3(3) 491
resorted to the consulting and advisory functions of the Committee on Equal
Opportunities for the approval of the Human Resources Regulation,
although this is in contrast with the current norms
(INAF, 2010b)
.
Homosociality at the highest hierarchical levels and the male culture that
it reflects perpetrate gender segregations within scientific organizations.
Despite the public competitions system, promotions are often based on
integration mechanisms for which the new member is recruited through the
designation of those already in office. The so-called “old boys’ network”
refers to the relations between men in formal and informal decision-making
contexts and groups. However, such network is not only about excluding
non-members. It involves information giving and the socialisation into
masculinity of younger professionals in a place where masculinity is
equivalent to senior management behaviour. These practices outline the
processes of “homosocial reproduction”
(Monaci, 2002, p. 77, my
translation)
, through which «the leaders with powers of selection and
promotion of staff (...) generally prefer to promote and appoint individuals
with social traits corresponding to their own; (...) acting on the assumption
that, in each case, they will be “naturally” more inclined to make decisions
in line with their expectations and visions of the world». The uncertainty of
the organizational work leads to the development of rigid inner circles to
keep control in the hands of a socially homogeneous group. Women who
wish to climb the professional hierarchy must satisfy a certain system of
behaviour and learn a complex and hidden set of rules that reflects the male
culture at its base.
It comes to my mind the case of three women who have been
department or institute directors: Woman/X, Woman/Y and
Woman/Z… W/X is completely different from the other two: she
has become a director because she was good, scientifically
speaking; instead the others used to give more importance to
“political” aspects, maintaining good contacts and relations without
antagonizing anybody… At a certain point in their careers, they
were already thinking about becoming directors. W/X, quite the
opposite, has never had this ambition and she has become a director
because there weren’t any other candidates at the time. I’ll tell
you… Some years ago, an authority needed a new director. Man/X
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F. Gaspani – Gendered Organizations. The Case of Italian
Astrophysics
sponsored a candidate who was rejected by an overwhelming
majority. The director had to be a full astronomer:
Man/X wanted
to step aside; Man/Y wasn’t available; Man/Z was finished (because
some years earlier he had tried to become a director without
success) and – in the opinion of many – W/X wasn’t fitting: she
isn’t aggressive, she is too kind and correct... But she was the only
admissible candidate and so she became the director, almost by
chance... otherwise they would have had to choose an associate, but
it wouldn’t have been wise to appoint an associate astronomer as a
director... and if W/X had been passed over, they would have been
accused of discrimination. If W/Y or W/Z had been in W/X’s place,
this problem wouldn’t have existed...but I have to admit that W/X
made it better than many people could have expected. (Man1,
Level4).
This extract reveals two different topics: the perceptions/representations
of the female figures in science and the importance of networks and social
capital in organizations. On the first point it should be observed that the
woman’s position (W/X) as a minority subject can be described in terms of
both visibility – she is seen as an anomaly – and invisibility – she is not
recognized as a legitimate leader
(Kanter, 1977)
. In society and in the
organization there is a wide range of activities that refer to symbolic
categories and collective representations that reflect the polarity of genders.
In the scientific institutes involved in this work, leadership is socially
constructed in masculine terms, making it difficult for a woman to find a
balance between being seen as a competent leader and as sufficiently
feminine not to disregard gender expectations. Traditional conceptions of
leadership imply that there is only one “right” way to lead in an
organization, and the sort of people equipped for this leadership have to be
men. In the interview, woman’s visibility (W/X) as a leader depends on a
different notion of leadership, linked to the gender role. However, «for
women raised to be polite and deferential, the physics culture is not a natural
home»
(Urry, 2008, p. 154)
. The model of “female” leadership is the
antithesis of “real” leadership, which use power in more direct and overt
ways. Since women in leadership lack legitimacy within the dominant