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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look beyond the issue of disclosure/non‐disclosure in the workplace, to explore the ways gay men challenge, negotiate and conform in the two‐way process of managing their identities in what Jenkins terms the interaction order. In the validation of their external identities, the author aims to identify critical incidents and experiences in gay men's working lives in which they have resisted or challenged identities, labels and stereotypes ascribed by others.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered through ten semi‐structured interviews with self‐identified gay men in a wide range of occupations and age ranges working in Bournemouth, UK.FindingsThe data focus on the fluidity of identity and the impact of organisational context. In their self‐presentations a number of strategies were deployed. The respondents experienced exclusion, stereotyping, being viewed as a piece of curiosity, silence, discomfort and a marked identity in the eyes of others. In response to these reactions, themes of compliance, conformity and adopting an educator role were uncovered.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the findings presented are not necessarily generalizable, themes of exclusion, silence and marked identities were uncovered that echo many previous studies of gay men's experiences in the workplace.Originality/valueLittle research has been done on identity management in the workplace beyond the issue of disclosure of sexual identity. In particular, there has been limited focus on how gay men challenge, negotiate and modify the labels and social identities ascribed by others in what Jenkins terms the interaction order. Nor does there seem to be any research on whether gay men have modified the management of their social identities throughout their working lives.

PurposeBorrowing from the literature on social cognition and schema theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine sexual orientation and sex discrimination, to critique and refine that doctrine, particularly when traditional gender roles are enforced in workplaces. The insights of cognitive schemas on lesbian and gay identity are employed to link models of judicial decision making and gender/sexual orientation.Design/methodology/approachMethodologically, the paper is located in the sociolegal tradition, but also uses case analysis to supplement and advance its thesis. Because US nondiscrimination law distinguishes between sexuality and gender discrimination, it provides a unique laboratory to critique not only American law, but the structure of nondiscrimination law generally.FindingsJudges' and others' schemas of lesbian and gay men suggest explanations for the analytical confusion in nondiscrimination law. Additionally, the paper's specific findings both supplement and question aspects of extant models of judicial decision making and gender/sexuality.Originality/valueSocial cognition framework enables judges and commentators to reconceptualize facts and relevant doctrine in gender and sexual orientation discrimination cases and to critique some fundamental assumptions of nondiscrimination law. Further, because the paper bridges judicial decision making and gender/sexuality, researchers in those areas can use this analysis of a specific legal context to provide additional insights into how those models work and their underlying, hidden assumptions. This is a conference paper based on this author's work on schema theory and sexual orientation identity in nondiscrimination law.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between "locker room" hegemonic masculinities at work and the construction of homophobia, particularly the use of the word "fag" to describe gay men – real or perceived. Although research indicates that men are more homophobic than women, examples are presented which examine some of the reasons why women use the word "fag" at work. Although equal opportunities at work have improved for sexual minorities over the past two decades, studies indicate that some forms of anti‐lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) behaviour continue, which raises the question whether a hierarchy of inequality exists in some organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe data used to analyze this under‐researched phenomenon come from the author's observations working for three multinational corporations in the USA.FindingsThe paper shows how men and women engage in locker room culture to construct homophobic narratives.Research limitations/implicationsThe issues raised in this article will be useful for empirical studies which examine the relationship between competitive sports and sexuality in the construction of masculine hegemonies in the workplace. Additionally, research should address the workplace experiences of sexual minorities who are also ethnic minorities, and disabled.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the largely invisible research on the role of sports culture, especially the locker room, and gender and sexuality in non‐sports work environments. It also contributes to the study of masculine embodiments by focussing on sports culture such as the locker room, heteronormative‐masculinities and homophobia.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the principal reasons why Emirate women are under‐represented in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) information technology (IT) sector; and the barriers and challenges that national women have encountered while working in this sector of the national economy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on data from 20 structured in‐depth interviews conducted with Emirate women who had worked for a minimum of five years in IT.FindingsAlthough national women have made remarkable inroads into almost all professions and occupations in recent years, they are still noticeably under‐represented in IT, particularly in the private sector. In addition, very few are in senior‐level positions and there are, at the time of writing, no Emirate women technology‐entrepreneurs. The results show that cultural and familial factors still inhibit many young Emirate women from choosing careers in this profession, and negative gendered attitudinal assumptions about women are still prevalent within the local IT sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was small, so we were unable to test specific research hypotheses, or compare our results with quantitative cohort surveys conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the findings warrant additional research, as increasing numbers of Emirate women graduate from local universities with IT/MIS degrees, and further research on this topic is described.Practical implicationsFive practical strategies are identified to encourage more young Emirate women to embrace IT careers in the future.Originality/valueThis is the first research on this issue conducted in the UAE/GCC region.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight findings from the dialogue and proceeding research report presented by the Gender and Public Policy Programme partnered with Al‐Sayedah Khadijah Bint Khuwailid Businesswomen Center and Monitor Group at the 2010 Dubai School of Government.Design/methodology/approachA selected paper on women entrepreneurship activity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was chosen from the proceedings report at the conference for this paper. The programme participants included prominent business leaders and experts from the Gulf region.FindingsThe findings presented in this paper clearly illustrate that Saudi female entrepreneurs are generally confident, educated, optimistic about the future and resourceful. However, they face several main challenges such as gender‐specific obstacles in the regulatory environment, limited access to and use of formal capital and financing mechanisms, and the need for increased integration of sophisticated marketing and technology tools into business operations and greater availability of key support services.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper mainly focuses on women entrepreneurs in the KSA. To give a clear picture of the women's entrepreneurial activities in Middle East and North Africa region, the opinions of women located in other countries need to be investigated.Practical implicationsThe research has implications for government and non‐governmental organisations, financial institutions or other related business development agencies to formulate effective policy and appropriate strategy to motivate Saudi women to become entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThere are few Arab studies that have focused on growth‐oriented, women‐owned and operated businesses. The selected research paper gives some insight into the issues of women entrepreneurs from an Arab world.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore flexpatriates' perceptions of work life balance (WLB) issues and identify possible adjustments of WLB programs to better meet the needs of flexpatriates. This paper investigates flexpatriates' challenges at the interface of personal and work lives and their perception of standard WLB programs and then proposes organizational adjustments to better meet the needs of flexpatriates.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a qualitative research approach and two kinds of empirical data were collected: first, through in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with 40 employees involved in flexpatriate assignments in multinational companies operating in Austria and, second, through a document analysis of the homepages of their employing organizations to gain information about WLB practices.FindingsDrawing upon the study findings, the authors present a typology of flexpatriates and propose a model that considers both WLB and work life imbalance as a desirable or acceptable option and offers a new theoretical perspective for examining organization and individual dimensions in WLB.Originality/valueThe authors' contribution is a new contextualization of WLB initiatives that incorporates both WLB and work life imbalance as valid perspectives of employees.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss complexity approaches of management theory, by focusing on their capacity to use efficiently contingence in organizations. As a theoretical framework the theory of social systems (Luhmann) is used, where a difference is made between complexity reduction and condensation. Complexity reduction is related to certain functional needs to control a hierarchical system. Complexity condensation redesigns communicative structures towards participative norm development, offering discursive connectivity, and decision making in networks. It is described how heterogeneous cultures in organizations have the chance to be successful by focusing their functional needs to include, to orient, and to motivate.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for discussing theoretical frameworks to reconstruct management approaches to develop towards more diversity capacity in organizations. Theory of social systems is employed as basic methodology.FindingsThe chosen research reconstructs management approaches to focus on functional imperatives of organizational systems as well as the development of functional equivalents. The logic figure of functional equivalents describes alternatives of exclusive organizational cultures. Heterogeneity in organizations is based on the redesign of communicative procedures, structures and cultures.Research limitations/implicationsThe aim of the paper is diversity theory development. It offers heuristic moments which might be useful in empirical research, too. Following the suggestion homogeneity is just an outcome of certain organizational decisions to deal with contingency and complexity, it might offer practical relevance by testing the capacity to change communication and interaction patterns. The culture‐function matrix also might offer an opportunity to discuss the paradigms of organizational development towards more diversity.Practical implicationsThere might be the possibility to enhance conditions of observing organizations, but the practical implications might be rather limited.Originality/valueUsing theory of social systems (Luhmann) as theory which focuses complexity traits is rather undeveloped. It could offer insights in the capacity to deal with contingency, and the attempts to suppress it. Complexity in social systems could offer a prerequisite to support the interdisciplinary research in diversity studies.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how gay men and lesbians draw upon workplace friendship for developing and sustaining managerial careers and identities.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a qualitative design, using data collected from semi‐structured interviews with four lesbians and eight gay men, all employed in managerial roles in the UK.FindingsData reveal the importance of workplace friendship as a resource for mentoring, climbing managerial career ladders, fitting into existing work cultures and developing gay and lesbian managerial identities. A significant finding is that participants preferred to befriend heterosexual colleagues, to that end complicating previous research that suggests gay and lesbian friendship preferences tend to be marked by similarity in regard to sexual identity. Work friends enable and constrain the development and visibility of gay and lesbian managerial identities and careers.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the data are not generalisable, it is of concern that gay men and lesbians continue to be disadvantaged by heteronormative constructions of gender and sexuality. While gender and sexual norms can limit the visibility and embodiment of gay and lesbian managers in the workplace, the study reveals also how gay sexualities can be utilised as a resource for developing influential friendships.Originality/valueThis article provides insights into issues not previously covered or understudied in the organisation studies literature such as the agency of gay men and lesbians in constructing different types of workplace friendships as a resource for developing managerial identities and careers.

PurposeThe present paper seeks to focus on the processes involved in the knowledge transfer of CSR and sustainability programs and theorises about a conceptual framework that addresses three aspects of such a knowledge transfer process: the "thinking", the "doing" and the "being".Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a theoretical interdisciplinary study, which combines insights from the theory of knowledge transfer within the application domain of CSR and sustainability, and looks into the ways the above impact aspects of diversity, career identity and career development of professionals in this field.FindingsHRM issues such as new competencies and differing approaches to career development options, talent retention and management, and a change of the notion of employment contract need to develop to successfully support the transfer of knowledge in terms of professionals in the domain of CSR and sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsFuture directions and implications of this research include furthering the understanding of career identities and their development in the milieu of globally mobile knowledge workers in the field of CSR and sustainability knowledge transfer and identifying relevant and necessary tools for HR management and stakeholder engagement in this field.Social implicationsThe establishment of career pathways and new career identities is an increasingly significant challenge in the workplaces of the twenty‐first century, and CSR/sustainability knowledge transfer processes highlight that.Originality/valueThe paper contributes an innovative angle to the topic of knowledge transfer in the area of CSR and sustainability, whilst also highlighting the importance of the role of knowledge workers with global mobility in this process, including their perceptions of career identities and development.

PurposeAttempts to modernise the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK involve promoting flexible approaches to work and training, restructuring postgraduate training and increasing control and scrutiny of doctors' work. However, the medical community has responded with expressed anxiety about the implications of these changes for medical professionalism and the quality of patient care. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on literature on nostalgia, gender, identity and organisations, the paper explores the narratives of 20 senior NHS hospital doctors to identify ways in which doctors use nostalgia to react to organisational and professional challenges and resist modernisation and feminisation of medicine.FindingsThis paper illustrates how senior hospital doctors' nostalgic discourses of temporal commitment may be used to constitute a highly esteemed professional identity, creating a sense of personal and occupational uniqueness for senior hospital doctors, intertwined with gendered forms of othering and exclusionary practices.Practical implicationsNostalgia at first sight appears to be an innocuous social construct. However, this study illustrates the significance of nostalgia as a subversive practice of resistance with implications for women's career and identity experiences. Change initiatives that seek to tackle resistance need also to address discourses of nostalgia in the medical profession.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is that we illustrate how supposedly neutral discourses of nostalgia may sometimes be mobilised as devices of resistance. This study questions simplistic focus on numerical representation, such as feminisation, as indicative of modernisation and highlights the significance of exploring discourses and head counts for understanding resistance to modernisation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the career experiences of Turkish Cypriot women solicitors in Britain, by examining their choices of employment or self‐employment.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a critical realist approach considering the macro‐contextual and micro‐agentic aspects of Turkish Cypriot women's career development. Applying "the instrumental case study" approach, it explores the career experiences of four Turkish Cypriot women solicitors. Case study material was collected through semi‐structured interviews.FindingsThe paper argues that one cannot talk of ethnic enclaves in positive or negative terms, without considering layered individual experience. Their life and career trajectory is marked by their ethnicity and migration that is characterised by dual processes of break with tradition and later return to tradition during which identities are tested and usually reaffirmed where Turkish Cypriots may rediscover their Turkish Cypriotness.Originality/valueThe study reveals that macro‐, meso‐ and micro‐effects are responsible for the polarisation of opportunities in the ethnic enclaves.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to summarize and reflect on four presentations at the 2010 Women of Color in the Academy Conference which focused on strategies that are beneficial to women, especially women of color, to overcoming barriers prevalent in pursing graduate degrees, acculturating to the professoriate, and building portfolios for tenure and/or promotion in the academy.Design/methodology/approachObservations and notes were used to capture the content of these four presentations; thematic analysis was used to discern the major themes.FindingsThe major themes presented were: the process of writing; productivity and publishing; pragmatic approach to quantitative research design; viewing qualitative research as an activity; and understanding the academy.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of these presentations are that these strategies may assist women, especially women of color, to attain greater success rates in their graduate education and professorial endeavors; thus, increasing the number of women and women of color in faculty and administrative positions and creating a more diverse workforce.Social implicationsIn addition, the social implication for these presentations is that the research community may benefit from the differing perspectives and topics chosen by this underrepresented group.Originality/valueThe originality in this general review is that the material was presented by women of color with doctorates in multidisciplinary fields and presented to an audience of women. The conference was hosted by Sisters of the Academy and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at Auburn University at Montgomery.

PurposeThis paper seeks to answer the practical question whether the institutionalisation level of same‐sex relationships can affect the social acceptance of lesbian women and gay men in Europe, and highlight some of the factors that can potentially determine the incidence of homophobia in 26 European countries.Design/methodology/approachThe study contributes to the literature on acceptance of lesbian women and gay men in Europe by using the European Social Survey dataset, focusing especially on a key variable measuring the agreement level with the statement that gay men and lesbians should be free to live their own life as they wish. For data analyses, explanatory models were constructed by applying multilevel mixed‐effects linear regression.FindingsThe study presented empirically tested arguments that the introduction of same‐sex partnership legislation can lead to a decrease of anti‐gay/lesbian attitudes, as has happened in the European countries examined in this study.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research in more societies is needed to examine the long‐term effects of the introduction of same‐sex partnership legislation on homophobia.Social implicationsA key policy implication of highlighting that the provision of equal rights for gay and lesbian citizens in the form of same‐sex marriage and registered partnership can positively influence attitudes, is to urge policy‐makers to introduce these legal frameworks in order to create a more inclusive society.Originality/valueThe content presented in this paper is based on the authors' own original research.

PurposeThis paper maps gender‐related outcomes of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Code (GPC) by highlighting the role of deskilling in changing labor market rewards for women employed in traditionally feminine service occupations.Design/methodology/approachThe emergence of the "contract state" is examined as a major response to the GPC, one, that generates fragmentation and promotes deskilling in public service jobs. Fragmentation is examined by comparing average income in direct public employment and in public procurement contracts.FindingsIn the context of service procurement, previous collective agreements recognizing skill and experience are circumvented generating precarious employment for skilled employees.Originality/valueThe analysis unveils the ways in which the contract state through its prioritization of low‐cost bids, promotes women's deskilling in public services. It contributes to a better understanding of the importance of employees' representatives' active participation in tender committees as well as in long‐term auditing of service contractors.