Management and Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Management and Gender - Essay Example That the world is critical and reflective in thinking is a matter that is underscored by the many theories which try to explain gender relations. Many theoretical standpoints and postulations abound to divulge on gender relations, by analysing the dynamics of male-female relationships within the auspices of the society. As opposed to the 19th century developments which mainly delved on gender parity at the domestic level, the 1950s opened a new era which was characterised by the quest to have gender equality entrenched even in the corporate sector. This is the case with the UK, the US, the West and the rest of the developed world (Maleta, 2011, 75). The importance of theoretical standpoints that explain gender relations is that they help inculcate understanding on the history, nature and dynamics of gender relations, with the main goal being, providing directly or indirectly, the panacea to the problem of gender imbalance at the workplace, or any other sphere of the human society. Likewise, according to Moore (2012, 620), the need to relook the issue of gender and corporate life is underscored by the fact that in spite of women having been incorporated in the corporate life of developed countries, yet female presence is yet inadequately represented at the managerial level of corporate life. Theoretical Explanation on Gender Imbalance in Management One of the most moving theories on gender is that of Julia Kristeva. Kristeva’s theory has been applicable in the field of semiotics. Kristeva’s theory in explaining gender disparity and relations at the managerial level of the corporate life has a topical theme of abjec tion. Particularly, Kristeva structures subjectivity on abjection of the mother, arguing that a society is constructed just as an individual abjects or excludes his mother as a way of curving out an identity. Kristeva continues that just as individuals, patriarchal cultures exclude the feminine to either come into being, or consolidate its position (Cousineau and Roth, 2012, 430). Beyer (2011, 307) contends that the implication of Kristeva’s postulation is that the inability to perpetuate gender parity in organisational management is not so much occasioned by characteristics inherent in women, as is by unequal sexist relations, structures and policies which have been entrenched by a male-dominated society. This discourse will thus look into the issue of gender and management, in light of Kristeva’s theoretical postulations. Indicators of un/Equal Gender Representation in Management A critical examination of the corporate, entrepreneurial and public sectors shows the in ordinate concentration of men in management. One of the indicators of the gender gap in the British business sector is the stunted rise in