O Gráda, Aifric and Ni Laoire, Caitriona and Linehan, Carol and Boylan, Geraldine and Connolly, Linda (2015) Naming the parts: a case-study of a gender equality initiative with academic women. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 30 (5). pp. 358-378. ISSN 1754-2413

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Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to current debates about the effectiveness of different types of gender equality interventions in the academic context. We present an argument for the need to move beyond an individual-structural dichotomy in how such interventions are perceived. The paper draws on an action-research case study, the Through the Glass Ceiling project, to challenge the idea that ‘individual’/single-actor interventions serve only to reinforce underlying inequalities by attempting to ‘fix the women’. We suggest that actions that support women in their careers have the potential to achieve a degree of transformation at individual, cultural and structural levels when such actions are designed with an understanding of how individuals embody the gendered and gendering social structures and values that are constantly being produced and reproduced within society and academia. The case study highlights the benefits of supporting individuals as gendered actors in gendering institutions and of facilitating the development of critical gender awareness, suggesting that such interventions are most effective when undertaken as part of an integrated institutional equality agenda.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Accepted version of article. Cite as: Aifric O Gráda, Caitríona Ní Laoire, Carol Linehan, Geraldine Boylan, Linda Connolly (2015), "Naming the parts: a case-study of a gender equality initiative with academic women", Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 30 Iss 5 pp. 358 – 378; http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/GM-09-2013-0118
Keywords:	Gender; academic careers; action research; equality; change in organizations;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute, MUSSI
Item ID:	9223
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-09-2013-0118
Depositing User:	Linda Connolly
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2018 15:21
Journal or Publication Title:	Gender in Management: An International Journal
Publisher:	Emerald
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.emeraldinsight.com
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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