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Women's Identity in Management: A Qualitative Study on Non-Academic Women in New Zealand Universities

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Thesis(2.14 MB)

Date

2020

Authors

Supervisor

Pio, Edwina
McGregor, Judy

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Neoliberal reforms in the 1990s have changed the way universities are managed. A more corporatised structure has impacted on the professional identity of both academic and non-academic staff. Boundaries between administration and academia have blurred as management, once seen as the domain of academics, has now shifted to the control of administrative managers (McInnis, 2012; Olssen & Peters, 2005). Extensive research has been undertaken to examine the effect these changes have had on academic staff in universities (Henkel, 2005). Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in non-academic staff and the importance of the need to establish their professional identity (Gray, 2015; Lewis, 2014; Whitchurch, 2008a; 2008b). However, these studies have mostly explored non-academic staff as a homogenous group. Over half the staff in New Zealand universities are non-academic staff (Ministry of Education, n.d.-a) and a large proportion are female (Ministry of Education, n.d.-b, see Figure 1). In spite of this, there has been very little research on non-academic staff in New Zealand universities and no research specifically on the identity of non-academic women managers in academic units. This thesis aims to address this gap and gain an understanding of how non-academic women working in management roles within academic departments understand their identity and perceive their career opportunities in the New Zealand university environment. The study uses a hybrid approach informed by van Manen’s (1997) hermeneutic phenomenology. Tajel’s (1974) social identity theory was an overarching theoretical guide. A hybrid approach brings a ‘hue’ of phenomenology to the sociological concepts of professional role and identity rather than the strong focus of lived experience that underpins a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 20 participants within four New Zealand universities. The findings were conceptualised in a model (Figure 3) showing how the participants spatially, relationally, corporeally, temporally and materially experienced their professional identity. This thesis shows how the participants proudly enacted their roles with a management style known as doing gender, using feminine attributes. The lived space the participants were positioned in had a significant influence on their everydayness of being-in-the-world. There is still evidence of the binary divide between academic and non-academic staff in New Zealand universities. Findings suggested that validation of the participants’ roles by their academic-manager and the university would lead to more credibility and a stronger professional identity. This thesis makes a significant contribution to scholarship on women in universities, providing educational policy makers and tertiary institutions with a greater sense of how professional identity and career progression of female non-academic staff in New Zealand universities can be enhanced. This thesis also contributes to the body of knowledge on professional identity of roles predominately undertaken by women and also a deeper understanding of power imbalance between intra-groups in organisations. The caring aspects of doing gender, such as supporting, protection and adapting behaviour, could be considered a positive asset to the future management of academic units. A key recommendation from this thesis is for universities to strategically develop their female non-academic managers with the potential of developing a management model based on collaboration as an ethic of care where academic and non-academic managers work together.

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Keywords

Identity, Women, Manager, Management, University, New Zealand, Career development

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Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/13106

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Doctoral Theses