Marianne Tremaine

Choosing whether to resist or reinforce the new managerialism: the impact of performance‐based research funding on academic identity

This article uses four academics’ gendered and cultural responses to life in a university in Aotearoa New Zealand under the new managerialist regime. Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) requires academics to submit evidence‐based portfolios every six years to categorise and rank them, with government funding assigned accordingly. When the authors met as members of a writing group, the talk often turned to negative aspects of PBRF. Using co‐operative enquiry, the four co‐researchers began writing observations of their individual experiences, differences and identities to help them reflect and understand the impact of the changed environment. The four phases of writing as enquiry were: deciding on a focus, writing observations, engaging with the written accounts and interpreting the outcome through metaphor. The article process facilitated a positive outcome by helping the authors regain a sense of collegiality and mutual support, along with a sense of preserving their academic identity by writing and publishing as a group.

Feminizing the boardroom: a study of the effects of corporatization on the number and status of women directors in New Zealand companies

Changes to government policy, deregulation and corporatization in New Zealand have influenced the number and status of women on boards of directors. Using company records, archival material and interviews, examines gender equity on boards of directors in New Zealand and compares the progress of women on the boards of corporate companies in the private sector with those on crown company boards in the public sector. While increasing numbers of New Zealand women are entering the business arena, they continue to be underrepresented in the boardrooms and there exists a clear disparity between gender representation on the boards of crown and corporate companies with women being disadvantaged in the private sector. Includes interview material from women who have successfully achieved directorships and examines the approaches they adopted. Outlines some positive steps to assist women in the bid for corporate directorship, but suggests that the challenge of changing corporate and societal attitudes remains.

Women mayors say what it takes to lead: setting theory against lived experience

Leadership theorists have attempted over the years to encapsulate the mystique, the magic ingredient of what makes leadership successful into a formula or model. The most widely‐held view of leadership during the 1980s and 1990s seems to be that derived from Burns’ work in 1978, which contrasts “transforming” leadership with “transactional” leadership. To explore the relationship between gender, success as a mayor in local government leadership and Burns’ theory, New Zealand’s women mayors were interviewed about their perceptions of leadership and their responses were linked to the concept of transforming leadership. The results suggest that women mayors do judge success as a leader in terms that are closely allied to transformational rather than transactional leadership.

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling in the Ivory Tower Using a Case Study to Gain New Understandings of Old Gender Issues

The Problem. Universities are patriarchal institutions. More males reach upper levels of the academic hierarchy than females. The authors were concerned that their university had a marginally lower percentage of female professors than others in their country and used a survey and interviews to explore the facts behind the figures. The Solution. Statistics showed that though fewer females applied for promotion, proportionately more female applicants were successful. The authors researched what helped female professors and associate professors gain promotion and explored views on the spillover between work and family/community roles. Promotion enhancement factors included encouragement from department heads and senior colleagues. Family/community roles were seen to spillover positively to work, though work could negatively affect time for family and community involvement. The Stakeholders. These findings could encourage proactive mentoring of female academic staff by managers, and increase HR and HRD support for family-friendly policies and training programs.

Feminizing the boardroom

Purpose – Changes to government policy, deregulation and corporatization in New Zealand have influenced the number and status of women on boards of directors. Using company records, archival material and interviews, this paper seeks to examine gender equity on boards of directors in New Zealand and compare the progress of women on the boards of corporate companies in the private sector with those on crown company boards in the public sector.Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes interview material from women who have successfully achieved directorships and examines the approaches they adopted. The paper uses company records and interviews to achieve this aim.Findings – While increasing numbers of New Zealand women are entering the business arena, they continue to be underrepresented in the boardrooms and there exists a clear disparity between gender representation on the boards of crown and corporate companies with women being disadvantaged in the private sector.Originality/value – The paper out...

Negotiating the package: the managerial woman′s experience in New Zealand′s deregulated labour market

The impact of the deregulation of New Zealand′s labour market on women is seriously under‐researched and to date available scholarship tends to concentrate on collective bargaining with little written about the effects of deregulation on women in management. The Employment Contracts Act 1991 was presented by supporters as offering women more flexibility in negotiating wages and conditions. Employers′ spokeswoman Ann Knowles argues that the legislation empowers women because it allows them to take greater responsibility for their own needs and aspirations. Critics of the Act suggest that the labour flexibility strategies of government and management are contributing to the marginalization of women′s work, and that minority women fare worst. Hammond and Harbridge argue that the assumption that gender neutrality underpins the labour market is a fallacy and Hyman criticizes labour market deregulation on the grounds that it perpetuates existing structures of inequality. Examines the experiences of top women ma...

Chinese female immigrant entrepreneurs in New Zealand: two brief case studies

With an increasing mobility of populations, particularly through globalisation and international migration, there has been a growth of immigrant entrepreneurs in host countries, including a minority group of female immigrant entrepreneurs. This latter group has not been adequately investigated, even though these female immigrant entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the economy of the host country. This article explores female immigrant entrepreneurship in Aotearoa New Zealand and provides two brief case studies of Chinese immigrant women who have set up their own businesses.