Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public sector worksites

The 'glass ceiling" model of gender equity has its weaknesses. Therefore, a multiple-dimensions approach to gender is proposed. This essay reports on a field study of organizational gender arrangements in 10 public sector worksites in New South Wales, Australia. Despite equal opportunity measures, gender divisions of labor persist in several forms. Processes that sustain and undermine these divisions are identified. Authority patterns are being reconfigured with restructuring and rising numbers of women in management resulting in local turbulence in gender relations. Emotions of gender transition are identified, with considerable diversity in reactions among men. An emerging pattern, the "depolarized workplace," is described. A cultural trend toward workplace gender neutrality is observable. Proposals are made for better practice in gender equity work, including richer ways for public organizations to study their own gender regimes.