Women in a Man′s World

Abstract

As a departure from the more traditional managerial literature, a women‐centred perspective of social relations at work is adopted. The conventional view is that we are “different” – we do not conform to the model of a good manager – and this explains our failure to reach the top. A woman‐centred analysis, by contrast, begins with the realisation that our notions of what makes a good manager are profoundly male‐centred. Standards of competence and success in business are designed by men, for men, with the result that we frequently fail to measure up. Only when we consciously broaden our vision to include women′s experiences can we see that the standard by which we are being judged is a male standard and that our inability to advance results from the patriarchal structures within which managers work