Doyin Atewologun

Challenging ethnic and gender identities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how UK black professionals construct and negotiate ethnic/gender identities at work.Design/methodology/approach – Separate semi‐structured focus groups for three females and four males are used.Findings – Ethnicity, gender and their intersection play important roles in identity construction of black UK professionals, who frequently encounter identity‐challenging situations as they interact with explicit and implicit models of race and stereotyping. Males use agentic strategies to further their careers, drawing strength from “black men” identities. Women are less agentic, reframing challenging episodes to protect/restore their identity.Research limitations/implications – This study helps understanding of workplace experiences of UK black professionals beyond entry level. Several years after graduation, they still engage frequently in identity work, facing stereotyping and expectations based on intersecting gender and ethnic social categories. The paper show...

Experiencing privilege at ethnic, gender and senior intersections

Purpose – In management studies, assumptions surround the fixed, categorical and binary nature of male, ethnic and other privileges. Compared to white, middle-class men, “others” are typically assumed not to experience privilege. The authors counter this assumption by applying intersectionality to examine privileges juxtaposition with disadvantage. The paper offers an elaborated conceptualisation of organisational privilege and insight into the agency employed by individuals traditionally perceived as non-privileged. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using diaries and interviews, the paper analyses 20 micro-episodes from four senior minority ethnic women and mens accounts of intersecting ethnic, gender and senior identities. The paper identifies how privilege plays out at the juxtaposition of (male gender and hierarchical) advantage with (female gender and ethnic) disadvantage. Findings – The fluidity of privilege is revealed through contextual, contested and conferre...

Ethnic, gender and class intersections in British women’s leadership experiences

A qualitative study was conducted to examine how gender and ethnicity influenced leadership experiences of a mixed ethnic sample of British women. An intersectional framework was used which took the viewpoint that socio-demographic identities should be considered simultaneously in order to challenge universalist, gender and ethnic neutral assumptions of leadership. One hundred and thirty women of white, black, Asian and mixed ethnicity in senior management and leadership positions from a broad range of sectors participated in focus groups and interviews exploring leadership constructions and enactment. White women’s leadership definitions reflected contemporary leadership models. In contrast, minority ethnic women defined leadership using predominantly ethno-cultural lenses, which informed their self-identities and orientation towards others. Regarding enacting leader identities, white women described historical gender and class barriers to enacting leadership, while minority ethnic women described current barriers linked to ethnic and religious identities. Practical implications for women’s leader identity development and theoretical implications for developing more inclusive leadership theories are discussed.

Individual-level foci of identification at work: A systematic review of the literature

This paper presents a systematic literature review of individual-level targets (or foci) of identification, that is, the bases by which one derives a sense of self as a unique being in the context of work. We reviewed 253 articles from over 30 top management journals between 2005 and 2016. In examining foci types, definitions, underpinning theoretical and philosophical assumptions, we catalogue nine categories of individual-level identification foci (manager, leader, follower, team, organization, occupation-specific, professional, career and work), finding a dominance of functionalist meta-theoretical orientations (comprising over half the sample, with interpretivist approaches comprising about a third of studies). Further, we enhance construct clarity in the field; we identify conceptual challenges with extant definitions of key foci, and offer integrative definitions by specifying scope conditions for each identity focus and semantic relationships between various identity foci. We contextualize our discussion of construct clarity to different research orientations in the field and offer possibilities for theoretical developments therein. Third, we offer an integrative framework for positioning work in the field by scope of interest (identity content or context) and identity construction assumptions (stable or evolving), suggesting directions for future research.

Women at the top

Purpose – This paper reviews the recent “Women at the Top” Conference held in London by the British Psychological Societys Division of Occupational Psychology and offers some suggestions for future research on women at the top.Design/methodology/approach – The report is generated from attendee observations, notes, other reviews and podcast recordings following the conference.Findings – Conference proceedings highlighted key areas of interest and current work for psychologists tackling the dearth of women leaders. A majority of presentations examined the role of stereotyping and prejudice in understanding leadership and gender, while a few others discussed contextual factors shaping womens leadership journeys such as life experiences and external parties such as head‐hunters. The limited focus on other diversity dimensions such as racio‐ethnicity is noted.Originality/value – In light of the conference proceedings, the authors discuss how psychological research could further contribute to addressing the l...

Expanding the Notion of Dialogic Trading Zones for Impactful Research: The Case of Women on Boards Research

Debates about research impact highlight the importance of involving practitioners in research processes but are unclear as to how precisely to foster this dialogue. This paper considers how dialogic encounter can be encouraged through �trading zones� where academics and practitioners collaborate. We draw on our experience of conducting research on women on boards for over 15 years to examine (a) how we established and evolved our role within trading zones in this field, achieving impact on policy and business practice, and (b) how we interfaced between trading zones and the academic field, thereby enabling cross-fertilization of ideas between academics and practitioners. We contribute to literature on research impact by empirically examining and critically evaluating the key characteristics of trading zones. First, trading zones are theorized to be action-oriented. Our analysis reveals how multiple stakeholders collectively redefine the action goals, illustrating the need to expand our understanding of relevant �practitioners� beyond managers. Second, we find that durability of trading zones is crucial because it enables gestation of ideas and reframing problems. Third, we problematize the notion of psychological safety in trading zones, arguing that dialogic capability and the pursuit of impact require acceptance of trade-offs and political manoeuvrings. © 2017 British Academy of Management

Sites of intersectional identity salience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences relating to and the nature of the episodes that raise individuals’ salience of their intersecting gender, ethnic and senior organizational identities. This paper is based on a presentation given at a British Academy of Management Joint Gender in Management and Identity Special Interest Groups Research Seminar entitled “Exploring Intersectionality of Gender and Identity”. Design/methodology/approach – Based on identity-heightening incidents elicited through diaries and interviews from minority ethnic women and men in middle- and senior-management positions, the paper adopts a multilevel, intersectional framework to present “sites” of intersectional identity salience. Identity-salient sites were analysed from accounts of episodes that raised the salience of gender, ethnic and senior identities for respondents. Researcher reflections on identity salience are also analysed. Findings – This paper draws on subjective accounts of identity salience fro...

Advancing racio-ethnic and diversity theorising through intersectional identity work

Management research on racio-ethnicity inadequately addresses the complexities of multiple identity dimensions and underplays the role of context. Integrating identity construction with intersectionality, we focus on how individuals make sense of the dynamic nature of non-essentialist identities. We offer an ‘intersectional identity work’ framework to advance racio-ethnic scholarship in organisations.