Dossier: «Gender and business: towards real equality» coordinated by Laura Lamolla KristiansenISSUE 13 (MAY 2020)
HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS

Competitive companies with inclusive and respectful environments

Abstract

The fact that women do not occupy positions of responsibility within highly competitive companies in the technological sector demonstrates how organisations are failing to adapt to the present reality: women are half of the population and are sufficiently prepared to occupy professional posts, but they are rarely welcomed. The liberalist explanations, that is to say, those which maximise the principle of freedom as regulating the market, indicate that women are not present because they take private decisions which involve a lack of ambition or commitment to the companies. In the face of this evidence, I maintain that the organisations are less than healthy social structures, which impose rules and values that cannot be adapted to the differing realities of women and men who are eager for another organisational culture – one which could fit better with their lifestyles. This work tackles this question by providing evidence on the basis of two generative axes of psychosocial risks for the knowledge society: (1) the imbalance between personal and work lives (2) the imbalance during the management of personal and emotional relations, as well as in the daily practices in the organisations, in the family and, in general, in society. The results of this work show that the technological companies are facing up to some changes relating to the profile of their workers, however, there is a need for a more profound reflection and cultural changes which abandon the idea that there exists a male professional ideal.

Tags:  
work-life balance;  labor arrangement types;  gender;  life-course cycle;  health;  power relationships;  gender equality;  decent work and economic growth; 

ODS

ODS ODS 5 ODS 8

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