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Gendered Organizations. The Case of Italian Astrophysics
Fabio Gaspani
1
1) Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca, Italy
Date of publication: October 25
th
, 2014
Edition period: October 2014- February 2015
To cite this article: Gaspani, F. (2014). Gendered Organizations. The Case
of Italian Astrophysics. Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 3(3),
483-504
.
doi: 10.4471/generos.2014.43
To link this article:
http://dx.doi.org/10.447/generos.2014.43
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GÉNEROS –Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 3 No. 3
October 2014 pp. 483-508
2014 Hipatia Press
ISSN: 2014-3613
DOI: 10.4471/generos.2014.43
Gendered Organizations. The
Case of Italian Astrophysics
Fabio Gaspani
Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca
Abstract
Focusing on the Italian astrophysical sector, the article summarizes the results of a
qualitative study that explores the role played by gender in scientific organizations.
In the workplace, social and cultural practices related to gender can be considered as
interpretative keys to investigate the relations of power and the processes of
stratification and mobility. Furthermore, the study analyses how women-scientists
define themselves on the basis of processes that act interactively on different levels
and spheres of life. Only by re-defining the relationships that women and men have
established, both with the socio-political order of the scientific environment and
with the rest of everyday reality, gender equality can be achieved.
Keywords:
gendered organizations, gender and science, scientific careers, identity.
GÉNEROS –Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 3 No. 3
October 2014 pp. 483-504
2014 Hipatia Press
ISSN: 2014-3613
DOI: 10.4471/generos.2014.43
La Dimensión de Género en las
Organizaciones. El Caso de la
Astrofísica en Italia
Fabio Gaspani
Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca
Resumen
Ubicado en el análisis del sector astrofísico italiano, el artículo resume los resultados
de un estudio cualitativo que explora el papel jugado por la dimensión del género en
las organizaciones científicas. En el lugar de trabajo, las prácticas sociales y
culturales relacionadas con la variable género pueden ser consideradas como claves
interpretativas para investigar tanto las relaciones de poder como los procesos de
estratificación y movilidad. Por otra parte, el estudio analiza cómo las mujeres
científicas se definen a sí mismas de acuerdo a procesos que influyen de forma
interactiva en diferentes niveles y ámbitos de sus vidas. Sólo redefiniendo las
relaciones establecidas entre mujeres y hombres, tanto en el orden socio-político del
ámbito científico como en el resto de ámbitos cotidianos, puede lograrse la igualdad
de género.
Palabras clave:
organizaciones por género, género y ciencia, carreras científicas,
identidad.
Géneros – Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 3(3) 485
he term “scientist” was coined by William Whewell in 1834 in his
review of the Mary Somerville’s volume “On the Connection of the
Physical Sciences”, in which she attempted to define a common
identity for professionals working in the different fields of natural
philosophy
(Noble, 1992)
. However, this new collective identity has soon
assumed a gender connotation. After almost two centuries, and despite the
exponential growth of female participation in the labour market, women’s
under-representation in research and technology is still significant,
especially in leadership and decision-making positions
(European
Commission, 2012)
. For this reason, over the last decades women-scientists
have become the object of a new field of academic study called “gender and
science”. Scholars involved in this area of research investigate the
inequalities that characterise the scientific sector, starting from different
disciplines and according to various perspectives
(Schiebinger, 1999)
. For
instance, historians study the lives of women-scientists in different contexts
and times; sociologists focus on women’s access to the scientific field and
on the barriers they face; cultural critics investigate normative concepts of
femininity and masculinity; philosophers and historians of science analyse
the influence of gender on the content and methods of the sciences and on
the construction of scientific knowledge
(see for example Keller, 1985;
Harding, 1986; Kohlstedt & Longino, 1997; Schiebinger, 1999; Kourany,
2010)
. Some contributions by gender studies researchers have been accepted
by national and supra-national authorities
(European Commission, 2002)
.
From a policy perspective, European institutions have been among the first
to analyse systematically women’s presence in the scientific field,
in order to
develop equal opportunities in a mainstreaming perspective – a method that
requires to integrate gender equality into institutions, policies, programs and
practices
(European Commission, 2000)
.
Focusing on the organizational dimension, the present study addresses
two closely related topics: the professional experiences and the identity
construction of women-scientists. Scientific organizations represent areas in
which gender differentiations and inequalities are constructed and
reproduced. There are different levels of understanding organizations as
gendered
(Newman, 1995b)
. The first concerns gender as a social division
within organizations and it highlights the ways in which work structures are
T