Women and Men Municipal Managers Doing and Undoing Gender - Oxford Academic Journals
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, 1–17
doi:10.1093/jopart/muaa052
Article
Article
Women and Men Municipal Managers Doing
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
and Undoing Gender
Sebawit G. Bishu*,†, Nuri Heckler‡
*University of Colorado Denver; †Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School of Government;
‡
University of Nebraska Omaha
Address correspondence to the author at sebawit.bishu@ucdenver.edu
Abstract
Drawing on the literature from critical gender studies and feminist critiques of bureaucracy, we
explore the demands for gender work created when women occupy traditionally masculine roles
in municipal government management. The article traces the work performed when municipal
managers and municipalities respond to gendered demands, maintain gender perceptions, and
negotiate gendered expectations, collectively referred to as gender work. To examine this pro-
cess, we apply inductive qualitative method to analyze 21 semistructured interviews with men
and women municipal managers in southeast United States. Our study reveals gender work at dif-
ferent levels of organizational hierarchies and in multiple ways. We find that women CAOs perform
masculine gender work to negotiate a place in municipal leadership. We also find that municipal
governments and men CAOs do feminine gender work to cultivate an environment for women to
occupy counterstereotypical roles. This study suggests that jobs, institutional rules and policies,
informal arrangements, work structures, and individuals’ private lives interplay to require gender
work from women that is more complex and more demanding than that required of men in the
same roles.
I am not a trailblazer. I am not the first woman gender structure, what Smith (1987) labels gender
to multitask. I am not the first woman to work work, introducing a feminine gender practice to re-
and have a baby. I know these are special cir- place the practice of assigning most domestic labor to
cumstances but there will be many women who one’s spouse.
will have done this well before I have. Ardern, This article examines how women in municipal
Jacinda. Prime Minister of New Zealand (quoted management do gender work in their organizations,
in Quackenbush 2018) how they themselves do gender work to fill their roles,
and how their mentors, mostly retiring men do gender
In 2018, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern work to prepare cities for women leaders. Analyzing 21
became the first democratically elected head of state semistructured interviews with women and men Chief
to take maternity leave (Quackenbush 2018). Ardern Administrative Officers (CAOs), the study explores
implemented this feminine organizational practice in the following question. How do municipal managers
a Prime Minister’s office that had been occupied by and municipalities perform the gender work that pro-
37 men and only 3 women. If, as Butler (2004) con- motes and supports women CAOs in municipal gov-
tends, gender is “done” and “undone,” then Ardern’s ernments? Insight into this question is gathered from
maternity leave was an undoing of the dominant a review of critical gender studies (Sedgewick 2005)
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Public Management Research Association. 1
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.2 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
and feminist critiques of public organizational theory take to assert their masculinity in high school and in
(Mastracci and Arreola 2016). the locker room. Kendall (2000) finds that men in on-
After the literature review, a description of methods line communities secure their masculinity by asserting
is followed by a report of themes identified in the data. an alternative masculinity. Feeling threatened by their
Findings suggest that both men and women perform status as “nerds,” these men align themselves with mas-
masculine gender work as they pursue careers in mu- culinity through humor objectifying women and posi-
nicipal management. We also find men who mentor tioning themselves as rebels against traditional norms.
women adopt feminine gender work to serve their Similarly, Cooper (2000) finds that men software en-
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
mentees, even as women CAOs work to adopt some of gineers work through paternity leave motivated by
their predecessors’ processes. Municipal organizations a pressure from masculine expectations demanding
generally perform masculine gender work, but we also “a tremendous personal cost” (394) of fathers. These
find evidence of women CAOs installing feminine prac- men sacrifice their connections with their families to
tices in their organizations. Based on these findings, we defend their masculinity. Mumby (2006) situates this
argue that the career paths of both men and women masculine gender work in a modern context where
CAOs include gender work. Following presentation of blue-collar masculinity is replaced by a white-collar
our results, we use Turner’s (2006) mapping of gender masculinity focused on upward mobility derived from
work to draft a spatial representation of the differences mastery of the world through technocracy.
between the gender work performed in municipal man-
agement offices overseen by women and men. Feminine Gender Performance
In professional environments, many women perform
gender work to negotiate the masculine expectations
Gender Work in Municipal Management
of their role with gendered perceptions about their
Gender is performative (Butler 2004). Unlike sex or abilities. Implicit assessment tests find that women
sexuality, gender is a public-facing social construction are subject to biases in the workplace (Banaji and
in which phenotypes, actions, and rationalities are Greenwald 2013). This may explain why one study
made to connect with terms like man, woman, gender finds that leadership training emphasizing masculine
fluid, and transgender (Kennedy, Bishu, and Heckler socialization often results in increased gender disparity
2019). Gender is the glue that holds together ideas like (Trumpy and Elliott 2018), and why a meta-analysis
masculinity with concepts including strength, aggres- of gendered leadership finds that women consistently
sion, power, heavier and larger bodies, clothing, and adopt more democratic management styles than their
habits. Only one of the concepts involved in mascu- men peers (Eagly and Johnson 1990). A separate meta-
linity is maleness, and many people who were not born analysis finds that women tend to approach leader-
male live normal lives as men (Kennedy, Bishu, and ship differently, expounding communality over agentic
Heckler 2019). Butler’s (2004) performative gender is values and adopting more democratic approaches than
not dependent on sex, but rather on the gender work their peers who are men (Eagly and Johnson 1990).
performed by individuals and organizations (Smith Whether or not they serve in leadership roles, women
1987). negotiate workplace norms differently than men (Bishu
Gender work is how individuals and organizations and Headley, forthcoming). Kanter (1977) argues that
manage and manipulate their position on a spectrum women in corporations in the 20th century were ob-
between masculine and feminine. In identifying gender ligated to loyalty and adaptability, whereas men were
as a central organizing principle of modern life, Smith expected to be ambitious and strategic. Those women
(1987) argues for a generous concept of “work” cap- who manage to achieve masculine ideals of success
turing the “actualities of our experienced worlds” were tokenized as a “representative of their category
(110). In this context, gender work encompasses the ac- rather than independent individuals” (Kanter 1977, 6).
tivities and tasks that people do to manage perceptions To this day, women feel pressure to disassociate from
of their gender, negotiate their relationships to gender, the feminine by performing masculine gender work
and undertake expectations assigned to their gender. to meet workplace expectations while simultaneously
performing feminine gender work to manage gendered
Masculine Gender Performance perceptions (Inayatulla and Robinson 2020). These
Gender gives power to people who align with mas- women also report feeling pressure to overperform so
culinity, and so people who identify as men perform as to avoid creating perceptions that hurt other women
masculine gender work to manage their perceived in the future (Block, Croft, and Schmader 2018).
alignment with the masculine (Kimmel 2013). Scholars The literature indicates that women are more likely
find that men and boys work hard to align with mas- to need to reconcile gendered perceptions of them-
culinity. Katz (1995) document tasks that young men selves with their workplace roles. Eagly and Johnson’sJournal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX 3
(1990) meta-analysis finds that congruence between that manage perceptions of their legitimacy, often
the gender of a leader and the role they fill effects lead- adopting masculine images to appeal to dominant
ership styles. “…[T]he tendencies for female leaders to gender structures (Stivers 2000). Individuals in these
be more interpersonally oriented and more democratic organizations perform and receive gender perform-
than male leaders weakened to the extent that a role ances from their colleagues, making sense of their place
was male dominated” (Eagly and Johnson 1990, 248). in the organization using gender as an interpretive de-
Also, Player et al. (2019) find that leadership poten- vice (Acker 1990).
tial is valued in men, whereas leadership experience Most public organizations perform masculine
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
is valued in women making it more challenging for gender work. Historically, many public organiza-
women to enter leadership in the first place. Masood tions were considered feminine, with some scholars
and Nisar (2020) show that Pakistani women phys- even referring to local government work as municipal
icians relied on close social networks to navigate their housekeeping (Addams 1913). Stivers (2000) tracks
traditionally masculine roles. Similarly, a study of the transition from the feminization of municipal gov-
women police indicates that outcomes begin to change ernment to masculinization through the offices of the
only after a critical mass of women is achieved (Schuck Bureau of Municipal Research. The Bureau reframed
and Rabe-Hemp 2014). Popular literature debates be- municipal government as masculine by applying statis-
tween “leaning in” to the expectations of the work- tical analysis “spurred by the prospect of rationalizing
place (Sandberg 2013) or “stepping back” to prioritize and systematizing public life” (Stivers 2000, 23). These
meaningful lives (Slaughter 2015) reveal that both methods are not gender neutral, Stivers argues, but
positions are feminine gender work when undertaken instead laced with masculine gender work conducted
in response to gendered perceptions. Women must by “Bureau men” seeking distance from devalued
work to position themselves simultaneously as women femininity.
and workers, uncompensated gender work less often Mastracci and Arreola (2016) conclude that most
required of men (Player et al. 2019). public organizations continue to lean masculine.
Masculinity reveals itself in the ways that public ad-
Undertaking Gendered Expectations ministration approaches research, emphasizing statis-
Working women, more so than men, are expected tical analyses, and attempted scientific objectivity that
to perform caritas for their families and partners conceals a masculine bias (Stivers 2000). Calling for
(Hochschild and Machung 2012). These private-life recognition of the “masculinism” in public organiza-
expectations constitute a “second shift” that is un- tional leadership, Duerst-Lahti and Kelly (1995) argue,
equally placed on the shoulders of women workers “Since men have long controlled social and political
(Hochschild and Machung 2012). The last two dec- institutions, they also have shaped the conventions of
ades have witnessed increasing inequality between those institutions” (261). Public organizational mascu-
women and men when it comes to domestic labor linity results in hierarchies of men-dominated jobs over
(Sayer 2016). In response, some women “step back” women-dominated jobs, and in barriers to women
from their careers to manage the burden, whereas seeking leadership roles (Mastracci and Arreola 2016).
others find themselves caught between irreconcilable Even in more inclusive adhocracies, flatter structures
expectations (Hochschild and Machung 2012). Still at the top can conceal strong hierarchies over jobs
others delay starting a family, or find innovative ways still dominated by women (Burris 1996). To negotiate
to undertake their family, social, and work aspirations masculine jobs, women managers trade gender capital
simultaneously (Bowles 2012; Cooke, Mills, and (Huppatz and Goodwin 2013), doing masculine gender
Lavender 2010). One study finds quantitatively that work to perform government roles that have been de-
this juggling of obligations hurts the job satisfaction signed by and for men (Mastracci and Arreola 2016).
rates of women (Mullins, Charbonneau, and Riccucci Women quietly adopt masculinity to negotiate mas-
2020). As employees work to facilitate their families’ culine public organization. When differences between
care, they are undertaking gender work necessary to men and women are observed, women are often con-
meet obligations inordinately placed on women. sidered deficient by default (Knights 2019). Therefore,
women often avoid speaking about their private lives in
Women and Men in Masculine Public Organizations the workplace even as men are rewarded for discussing
Organizations perform gender work differently than theirs (Cooper 2000). This suppression of gender is
individuals. For example, offering flexible work ar- feminine gender work when it is performed by women
rangements could be feminine gender work performed to secure success in masculine organizations.
by an organization because it helps women manage Public organizations create jobs and processes
the second shift (Mullins, Charbonneau, and Riccucci based on gendered expectations. Many cities are
2020). Public organizations construct gender images “greedy organizations,” workplaces where employees4 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
are expected to dedicate almost all their time, energy, Men mentors to women protégés often perform
and attention to the needs of the organization, with feminine work by taking on a role usually performed
de minimis personal and domestic distractions (Coser by women, and by encouraging women into leadership
1974). These jobs demand an abstract worker with no roles in masculine organizations. These men engage in
outside obligations. In a study of city management and mentoring that looks more like what Doucet (2018)
policing, Bishu and Headley (forthcoming) reveal how calls mothering. While men generally do not engage
these expectations are gendered by creating a gender- as closely with women protégés (Ragins and Cotton
suppressed double standard where men and women 1999), women protégés of women mentors in academia
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
alike are expected to have stay-at-home spouses to report holistic and communal attitudes to mentoring
care for their children, their elders, and cook and clean help nurture success (Palmer and Jones 2019).
for the worker who must focus all of their efforts
on the needs of the greedy organization (Franzway Masculine and Feminine Gender Work Defined
2001). Because of the second shift, women in greedy Using the context provided by the literature, gender
organizations often work even harder to do their fem- work are actions that attempt to manage gendered
inine gender work at home while keeping up with the perceptions and/or shoulder gendered expectations.
hyperdedicated men they work alongside (Hochschild Gender work is performed in concert with other
and Machung 2012). players including managers, mentors, protégés, cli-
ents, citizens, and peers (Acker 1990). Gender work
Women and Men in Feminine Public Organizations includes both an expectation and an action to manages
Some public organizations are more feminine. In fem- that expectation. For example, organizational proced-
inine organizations, men may be called upon to per- ures may establish a precedent that managers are men
form feminine gender work. McDowell (2015) finds performing mostly masculine gender work. When a
that men working as nurses take on feminine discourse woman becomes a manager, she will likely have to per-
styles, even as they learn ways to protect their mas- form some masculine gender work to negotiate gender
culinity. Similarly, Buschmeyer (2013) and O’Keeffe perceptions about women by conforming to the mas-
(2018) find that men in childcare professions negotiate culine perceptions of managers. This same woman may
the feminine cultures of their profession with their have to undertake the private-life obligations placed
own desires to maintain masculinity. Doucet (2018) on women by historic norms. To accommodate this
interviews stay-at-home dads to discover that they do second shift, she may perform feminine gender work to
mothering through attentive love, which is acknow- make the management role more feminine as needed to
ledging the faults in one’s charges by tirelessly training fulfill her expected role as a woman even as she nego-
them to improve. This feminine valuation can be ob- tiates a conflict with the masculine expectations of her
served in Newman, Guy, and Mastracci’s (2009) ar- job. Although it is likely impossible to strictly divide
gument for affective leadership, managing by caring masculine and feminine gender work, the attempt to
for subordinates, and working with them to develop draw the distinction helps generate a better under-
unique solutions to contextual problems. Affective standing of the ways that gender is maintained, repro-
leaders can be men so long as they are willing to per- duced, and ultimately changed (Smith 1987).
form feminine work to adopt the affective role.
One example of work that can be both mascu-
Propositions: Municipal Management as
line and feminine is mentoring, especially when a
Gendered Performance
man mentors a woman protégé. Bozeman and Feeney
(2008b) argue that mentoring is important for equity The CAO position was established in the early 1900s
in the public sector because it can break down barriers when the council-manager form of government intro-
for women, and call for more research on why this is duced separation of political roles from professional
so. In study of mentoring in municipal management, leadership in municipal governments (Nelson and
Fox and Schuhmann (2001) find women are disadvan- Svara 2015). CAOs are responsible for the day-to-day
taged when attempting to leverage mentoring to get administration of municipal governments. Their ad-
jobs as CAOs. “[M]en and women are more reliant ministrative roles include overseeing human resources,
on same-sex mentors and… …there are significantly budgeting, and policy oversight (Nelson and Svara
fewer women in the universe of possible mentors” 2015; Wheeland 2000). CAOs also play active roles
(Fox and Schuhmann 2001, 388). This finding takes on in mediating community and elected officials’ inter-
increasing significance in light of findings that women ests and as policy advisors. Often, CAOs engage in
are more successful when mentored by men (Noe administrative roles including implementing policy
1988), though it is noteworthy that at least one other and budgetary decisions initiated by elected officials.
study indicates that gender congruence has no statis- In other cases, studies report that CAOs’ roles can
tical effect (Bozeman and Feeney 2008a). extend to making policy and budgetary decisions inJournal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX 5
conjunction with elected officials (Selden, Brewer, and Semistructured interviews were formulated to explore
Brudney 1999). (a) the career paths taken by women and men CAOs;
The CAO position is dominated by men (Aguado (b) reasons CAOs chose the CAO profession; and (c)
and Frederickson 2012). According to International the factors that influenced CAOs’ decisions to pursue
City County Management Association (ICMA) mem- the profession and their current roles. Follow-up ques-
bers’ demographic data, women represent 16.9% of tions solicited additional information about the fac-
CAOs. Arguing for changes to the MPA curriculum, tors that made their careers possible. The protocol
Beaty and Davis (2012) argue that the field has suffi- ended with general questions about demographic and
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
cient numbers of women trained to be city managers, organizational context. The objective of the research
but discrimination continues to prevent women from was to compare and contrast the career trajectories
attaining the CAO position. of men and women CAOs. Once identified, one of the
We examine the following propositions based on researchers of this study conducted all of the inter-
the literature described earlier: views. On average, interviews with participants lasted
45–60 min. All interviews were audio-recorded, tran-
1. Men who mentor women in municipal management
scribed verbatim, and uploaded to NVivo 10 Software.
do gender work to support women CAOs.
2. Women CAOs do masculine gender work to secure Participants
and perform their job. The participants were 12 men and 9 women CAOs
3. Cities with women CAOs do feminine gender work (table 1). The mean years of work experience was
to accommodate incoming women CAOs. 34 years for men (minimum = 25 and maximum = 60)
and 29 years for women (minimum = 12 and max-
Method imum = 40). 58.7 percent of men interviewees were
White/Non-Hispanic, 8.3 percent were Black, and 33.3
We applied inductive, qualitative research methods to percent were Hispanic. 55.5 percent of the women
build a theoretical explanation for the gendered ex- interviewees were White/Non-Hispanic, 33.3 percent
periences of men and women CAOs. We started with were Hispanic, and 11.1 percent were of another ra-
two open-ended interview prompts: tell us about your cial background. 91.7 percent of the men were mar-
career paths and what are the factors that determined ried or with a partner and 100 percent of the women
your career choices that lead to your current role. were married or with a partner. All but one man and
one woman had children. In addition, most CAOs
Data Collection (men = 83.3% and women = 88.9%) had graduate
To find hard to reach CAOs, we used a professional degrees.
contact with an ICMA state chapter in the US southeast
to distribute an invitation to 30 CAOs. Of the 30 in- Data Analysis
vited CAOs, 12 men and 9 women CAOs participated. Analysis focused on the social and institutional fac-
Human subject research approval was obtained from tors that drove the career paths of men and women
the Florida International University institutional re- CAOs. Gender was a central focus of the analysis
view board prior to conducting interviews. Our inter- (Smith 1987). Emergent coding identified the formal
views with CAOs followed semistructured protocol. and informal processes and practices that shaped the
Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of Interviewees at the Time of Interview
Women CAOs (n = 9) Percent Men CAOs (n = 12) Percent
Race/ethnicity
Black 0 0 1 8.3
White 5 55.5 7 58.3
Latino 3 33.3 4 33.3
Other 1 11.1 0 0
Education
High school graduate 1 11.1 0 0
Bachelor’s degree 0 0 2 16.7
Graduate degree 8 88.9 10 83.3
Average municipal government population 33,238 24,962
Average work experience (years) 29 34
Family status (married or with partner) 9 100 11 91.7
Children 8 88.9 11 91.76 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
career trajectories of informants. We then used theory administration; (b) seek economic and leadership op-
and textual evidence to analyze the gender work per- portunities; and (c) intentionally pursue executive
formed by each group. Comparing and contrasting roles. We also trace masculine gender work women
how men reported their experiences with the ways that CAOs do as they overcome hurdles and grasp op-
women reported their experiences highlighted differ- portunities. We also observe municipal governments
ences in which gender work could be observed. This performing feminine gender work to create space for
observed gender work supported the identification of women leaders. Beyond the propositions, we explore
themes that differed between the career paths of men commonalities in the masculine gender performances
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
and women CAOs. By applying gender as a central of men and women CAOs.
structure shaping social realities, our analysis revealed
the relevant gender work. Men CAOs’ Career Paths: Stumbling and Climbing
To analyze the interview data, statements were Men in our study found their way into municipal man-
coded according to their relevance to the proposi- agement differently than women. Some men CAOs en-
tions, and the gender work performed by CAOs was tered the career almost unintentionally, whereas others
mapped using institutional ethnography. Smith (1987) followed their ambition. Both career trajectories em-
developed institutional ethnography to reveal the ways ployed masculine gender work. When compared with
that gender dictates social interactions. In her edited women, men CAOs less frequently recognized the
volume on institutional ethnography methods, Smith gender work used to navigate ascendant career paths.
(2006) recommends Turner’s (2006) tool of mapping
institutional processes, including gender work, saying Stumbling: “…my career was almost by accident,…”
“The power of Turner’s method is to enable research to Three men CAOs described entering municipal leader-
arrive at a map that is a schematic representation ana- ship almost unintentionally. This subcategory reveals
lyzing an institutional process” (9). After gathering and the relative ease with which men CAOs ascend to man-
analyzing data to observe themes, we mapped identi- agement. For example, one CAO described his rise as
fied gender work to provide a heuristic for clearer unimpeded by substantial barriers.
understanding of the system of gender work embedded
The selection of my career was almost by acci-
in CAOs work experiences.
dent, it was not intentional. I started in local gov-
ernment as an entry level position as a parking
Findings citation clerk. [Some years later] I was the dir-
Context: “This position is very demanding on your ector of operations of a parking authority in
personal life. It is very volatile…” Miami…The transition after that was mostly
CAOs operate in a context characterized by uncer- local government. (Man CAO B)
tainty and conflict. Most women CAOs and some men Overall, this subtheme highlights the extent to which
CAOs who participated in the study emphasized the some men city managers came into their roles by fol-
impact of uncertainty on their lives. Our data show lowing their career’s momentum and without substan-
that support from elected officials is important to their tial awareness of gender work they performed along
career choices and tenure on the job. These statements the way.
exemplify this theme.
This position… …is very volatile…politically Opportunities: “I could make more money…”
speaking it is what we call a hot potato because Four men CAOs in our study described opportunity
you know the managers are as good as stable as seeking as a primary driver in their career. Some men
their commission allows to be and the reason for CAOs perceived their career path as an opportunity for
that is because the positions have become highly better economic benefits and for leadership experience.
politically charged. (Woman CAO F) A man CAO explained:
In [City], I had been given a performance I was an elected official first and decided to go
evaluation and I scored 99.9% satisfaction rating back to school and continue my education, stum-
from my council a month before I left. I was ba- bled into public administration and realized that
sically forced to leave. So that could show you, I could make more money in the public adminis-
it was not a performance issue, it was political. tration side then political science side and the rest
(Woman CAO D) is history. (Man CAO A)
Men CAOs in this subcategory identified an oppor-
CAOs Navigating Career Paths tunity in their lives and seized it, again indicating few
We find that men CAOs reported engaging in gender barriers except for the ability to recognize and take ad-
performances as they (a) stumble into municipal vantage of opportunities.Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX 7
Ambition: “…started off as a teller and I want to be the president” Despite the demanding nature of the CAO role, men
The largest subcategory of men CAOs included five in this group repeatedly touted the flexibility the pos-
who reported ambition to be an executive as a primary ition affords them to work irregular hours and outside
driver for their career choices. CAOs that identified the office.
ambition indicated that the drive to be in executive
roles was the main reason for their career choices. Two I have been fortunate enough to be in a position
quotes exemplify this theme. where I have flexibilities. [Pause]. My work ethic
dictates for me that if I go to a non-work related
Even if it was in the bank teller just like anybody event, for example when my daughter played
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
else I would have started off as a teller and I want softball or when my son played soccer and has
to be the president. You know just like I said, a game at one o’clock, I have the flexibility of
I would have started as a cashier at Wal-Mart but going to the game and come back to the of-
I want to be the president or CEO. So that was fice two hours later [to work late hours]. (Men
my goal. [Pause.] I applied here. When I came CAO B)
here, I came here originally as a public works dir-
ector. I was a public works director from 2006 Some men CAOs engaged in feminine gender work by
to 2012. I was one of the original department taking up some childcare, but differently and less ex-
heads. Our then manager left, and I became in- tensively than the women CAOs in the study. Two men
terim manager in 2012 and became permanent participants describe the sacrifice of avoiding moving
manager in about a year. (Man CAO E) when kids are in secondary school, performing fem-
Well, I retired from the army in 1976 and inine gender work of resisting their ambition to pro-
I used my GI Bill to go back and get my Master’s vide a stable home for their children.
in Public Administration… …[O]nce I got a [T]his is a very mobile profession we know that,
masters I started to look up in the ground and but at the same time when your kids start get-
the city manager position just intrigued me you ting into high school and now that opportunity
know, because of the masters courses in public comes, you realize you have to maybe uproot
administration were in local government. So first them. I was not interested in doing that. (Man
job, I applied for I got it. So my first job was as CAO A)
an administrator. I was in charge of hire and fire. For me at this point in my life because of
(Man CAO K) family, I do not want to be mobile…Once the
Men in this category describe ambition as a pri- kids grow up I can relocate. (Man CAO J)
mary driver for their career choices, and a determin- Overall, we find that men performed masculine and
ation to overcome the relatively minor hurdles they sometimes feminine work to manage childcare, heavily
encountered. relying on spouses and traditional gender roles, with
some men indicating a willingness to make career sac-
Gender Divisions: “And my wife was the caregiver for the most part”
rifices to serve family needs.
Nine men CAOs described gender divisions at home
as an important factor in their career paths. Some men Proposition One: Men Who Mentor Women in
CAOs justified their reliance on their spouses to care Municipal Management Do Gender Work to Support
for children using arguments that women were better Women CAOs
caregivers. The Gender Work of Men Mentors: “…my very strong mentor”
Unlike any men CAOs in our study, four women CAOs
I think also there are certain elements especially were mentored into the CAO position by retiring
when the kids are younger, that the dependency men. As they mentor their replacements, these men
on the mother figure is more, just because there CAOs perform feminine gender work to support their
are things that are really basic that men are just mentees. Women CAOs reported that men mentors
not adept to doing, at least not until now. (Man engaged in psychosocial and career development they
CAO A) prepared protégés to undertake traditionally masculine
Men participants also identified their own work as roles never before held by women. Men mentors also
masculine using language describing traditionally gen- did gender work to prepare municipalities for women
dered divisions of labor. leaders by sharing the spotlight with protégés and set-
ting norms of women in leadership. For example, one
And my wife was the caregiver for the most part. woman CAO described behaviors associated with af-
My wife was a stay-at-home mom and did not fective leadership of the man she eventually replaced.
work at the time. That makes me the primary Her mentor shared credit by creating opportunities for
bread-winner. (Man CAO K) her to present their shared work.8 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
[H]e is a very humble leader so he was the type demonstrated loyalty, and positioned themselves to
of manager that was very happy for other people take advantage of geographically limited promotional
to receive credit for the work that they have done opportunities.
and he let other people, me in particular. …[I] We find that women CAOs’ career paths were not
f there were projects that I was working on, he characterized by stumbling into their jobs or following
allowed me to present them and communicate their ambition as men’s were. Instead, women partici-
them. (Woman CAO E) pants focused on strategies for coping with the second
shift and readying to grasp at sporadic opportunities.
Here, a man mentor does feminine gender work in
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
Examples are numerous in our data.
two ways. (a) He does feminine gender work by
establishing the norm of women in city leadership. (b) Before that I was director, I mean it has been
He does feminine mentoring by creating space for his promotions from within, I think I started as
protégé to succeed and encouraging others to recog- code compliance then director of neighborhood
nize her leadership. Despite the feminine gender work, services, and then I think we did director of ad-
the man mentor socializes his future replacement into ministration and neighborhood services and then
his proven processes paving the way for a less disrup- assistant manager. I was employed in [City X] as
tive leadership transition. admin services manager and then I moved here,
Another woman CAO notes that she began to repli- started out as contract here first and then eventu-
cate part of her mentor’s approach. ally moved to be converted [to fulltime]. (Woman
CAO B)
The [retired] manager in the city where I work
now was my very strong mentor. These two man- Another woman city manager describes how carefully
agers [that I worked under] were always basically she selected her work to gain well-rounded experience
my mentors…When you are learning you pick up in different roles.
[the leadership] style of the people you work for.
(Woman CAO D) I have worked in two other cities. [Pause.] One,
I came in as the zoning administrator and an-
Mentorship is important for bringing women into other one I was the planning and zoning man-
CAO positions (Fox and Schuhmann 2001). Even as ager in two different cities. In my work life in the
mentorship facilitates women to move into manage- public sector I have worked for three different
ment, mentorship trains those women in systems and cities. I have worked up through the organiza-
processes developed by men in a profession and offices tion. They did not go outside, at the time they
occupied by mostly men. Thus, men mentors help so- made me the interim and then they decided after
cialize women to adopt the masculinity of the CAO I think four or five months and at that point they
profession, give them the political connections and just appoint me to permanent position. I was the
organizational knowledge to gain the office, and nor- assistant city manager and then the city manager
malize women leadership in municipalities. resigned in the same city where I was serving as a
city manager. (Woman CAO C)
Proposition Two: Women CAOs Do Masculine Gender The women reporting on their climbs up the organ-
Work to Secure and Perform Their Job
izational ladders highlighted the intentional experience
Women CAOs’ Gender Work: “…institutional knowledge is huge…”
building that eventually led to their CAO positions.
Eight women CAOs in our study described step-by-
As they engage in their slow vertical climbs, women
step career paths working up through a small number
CAOs learn existing organizational processes and de-
of organizations and intentionally acquiring skills.
velop relationships with elected officials. They do so by
This slower, more vertical movement diverged from
making themselves indispensable through traditionally
the mobility described by men CAOs. Women’s years
feminine traits like loyalty and authentic relationship
of deliberate ascension reveal how they squeezed
building. In the following quotes two women describe
through an institutional stiffness not apparent in men’s
how they used both masculine and feminine gender
career paths. Like corporate secretaries in Kanter’s
work to position themselves as the best candidates
(1977) research, women CAOs’ were rewarded for
for CAO.
their loyalty to their organizations. Informants re-
ported that this stability helped women CAOs manage I bring with me institutional knowledge which is
their second shift even as it helped them develop ne- extremely important. Commissions come and go
cessary leadership competencies. As they worked their but institutional knowledge is huge in terms of
way up through a limited number of organizations, fu- applying for grants for your day-to-day for your
ture women CAOs gained organizational knowledge, projects, for your capital improvements for yourJournal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX 9
infrastructure. I think it is the most valuable asset each other so that made it really comfortable for
anyone brings to the table is institutional know- me because my children were bonding with their
ledge. (Female CAO F) grandparents and they were really not missing
They were saying our employees have low out because of my absence. (Woman CAO F)
morale. We need to really want to make some
positive changes and when I said [pause] I am These quotes are characteristic of the gender work that
not going to apply because I have a job but I will women with families performed to meet the demands of
sit down and I will talk to each of the commis- the CAO role and their second shift as mothers. These
women carefully considered their family commitments
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
sioners individually…I knew that [the previous
municipality] could handle my leaving and so as an important part of their career decision-making
I came here and I am working here. (Woman process. Because of women CAOs’ dependence on
CAO A) social and institutional support, their mobility was
limited, which informants described as a career hurdle.
The Second Shift with “…a really good triangle” Delay: “…a conscious decision to not have family…”
Work–family balance is a constant struggle for both Two women CAOs in our study deliberately delayed
men and women CAOs with families. The major dif- family formation to pursue the CAO profession.
ference among the two groups is that women CAOs
I just turned 48 and also just had my first child.
in the study are primary caregivers, whereas their men
I purposefully throughout my career made a con-
counterparts are not. Women CAOs engage in simul-
scious decision to not have family because my
taneous overlapping masculine and feminine gender
focus was more work. And then as I, obviously
work, meeting the grueling demands of a 50- to 80-h
you become older and wiser and then you realize
work week while meeting their demands as caregivers
your life cannot be all about work and family is
to their families. Some women CAOs facilitated the
important and then I made the decision to have a
required masculine gender work by delaying child-
child. (Woman CAO D)
bearing, whereas others were only able to pursue the
CAO role because of access to social and institutional Similarly, another woman CAO describes doubt about
supports. In the following quote, a woman describes whether she could have achieved her position had she
how she had “a great formula” that enabled her slow started a family earlier in her career.
climb to CAO:
Interestingly enough I do not think I would have
So for me [pause] it very well could be that the been as successful [pause] or build my career as
20 years in the same chair was because I had well if I had my children earlier. I do not think
this great formula of, where I lived, where my that I would have necessarily have been up for
daughter went to school and where I worked. the hours and the time commitment that it re-
I had help raising my child but from a financial quires. I was putting in 50 and 60 hours weeks
point of view it was just me. So my decisions in that job and there is no way, there is no way,
needed to be solid decisions. [Pause]. So I live I could have worked the hours I was working
0.6 miles from work, my daughter’s school was and had a family. (Woman CAO G)
maybe 1 mile…I was in a really good triangle.
To manage a lot of things for that, which was No men CAOs reported delaying family, nor did they
important to me, so my location my geography opine if they could have achieved their position with a
was probably more influenced than other things family. Being primary breadwinners and having spouses
[…] I made certain I had good support. (Woman who are in charge of care giving helped free the men in
CAO A) our study to stay focused on building their careers. This
freedom was not experienced by women CAOs who
Another woman CAO explains how difficult it would
worked to maintain “a really good triangle” dependent
have been for her to be in the CAO role had she not
on the generous support of their families and friends.
had social supports.
Women CAOs had bounded choices in situations that
I could not have done what I have done without required them to stay anchored to a geographic loca-
my mother and my father in my life and in my tion, whereas men CAOs had more geographic mo-
children’s life. You know, my mother and my bility to pursue diverse opportunities. When mobility
father took care of my kids if my husband was was a priority for women CAOs, it came at the cost
working, or even if my husband was home, my of delaying family, masculine gender work that helped
father and my mother would always be with me. women take on the role of the “gender neutral” and
We always lived two or three blocks away from “abstract” worker unimpeded by a private life.10 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
Proposition Three: Cities with Women CAOs Do institutionalize more durable feminine gender work. As
Feminine Gender Work to Accommodate Incoming women CAOs adopted these policies, organizations be-
Women CAOs came more feminine, undoing some of the masculinity
Our data indicate that cities with women CAOs per- that dominated most municipal governments. One
form feminine gender work differently than cities with woman CAO described embracing the idea of hiring
men CAOs. entire human beings instead of only abstract workers.
Municipalities with Women CAOs: “something in the water” [My city] was probably the only city that offers
The data show that municipal governments perform a conference room for nursing moms, you know,
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
feminine gender work in two stages. First, municipal- for pumping. You need to be able to balance…
ities perform feminine gender work to accommodate We reduced the price of health insurance. We
the needs of women CAOs. Second, once stable, some had no subsidy for family coverage before. The
women CAOs formalize the practices that accommo- employees had to pay 100% of their family’s
dated their needs, enlisting the organization in more coverage. We would cover them, but we would
durable feminine gender work. not cover their immediate family. So, we changed
Municipalities represented in the study performed to, we-pay-half-you-pay-half, because you know
feminine gender work to recruit and retain women that is a positive statement that we are in for
CAOs, but this gender work was case specific, in- the whole person…We are not hiring a bunch
formal, and negotiated. As discussed earlier, women of computers. We are hiring people and to pick
CAOs leveraged their stability to make themselves in- good character and to take good care of them,
dispensable. Some women CAOs managed to use this you get amazing at things as a result. (Woman
position to bargain for accommodations to facilitate CAO A)
their caregiving responsibilities, thus enlisting the city
While feminine gender work of municipal govern-
in limited feminine gender work. As one woman CAO
ments appears repeatedly in interviews with women
described,
CAOs, men CAOs did not mention it as an important
I knew in the later organization that my city driver of their career paths.
council was very supportive of my personal
agenda. They knew I wanted to get married and Emergent Findings
I wanted to have children, they knew that after
I have the children…[Pause]. They did not want Here, we report emergent findings that capture themes
that to be a reason for me not to take the job. beyond our original propositions. These findings speak
So a couple of things that they did that gave me to public organizational masculinity theory. We first
some reassurance. One is they let me pick my present some of the ways that both men and women
own deputy so I would have a strong second CAOs report masculine gender performance as leaders
person…I still remember one of the council mem- in municipal governance. We also find that mentorship
bers telling me that he will be fine and I brought operates as a tool to establish retiring male CAOs’
a crib in my office, they were really completely leadership legacies, thus further exploring the dual
supportive. (Woman CAO G) gender performance needed for men to successfully
mentor women leaders.
For the most part, this feminine gender work was not
institutionalized for the entire organization but indi- Men and Women CAOs Doing Masculinity: Accepting
vidual, contractual, and/or informal. In some cases, Uncertainty versus Cultivating Stability
however, CAOs reported that other women in their in- Men and women CAOs in our research reported dif-
stitution also benefitted. One woman CAO described ferent challenges when relating to elected officials,
this benefit to other women. with distinct consequences on their careers.
…the town is very accommodating and very Municipalities with Men CAOs: “…like football coaches”
very supportive of women… …[We] would joke Work politics played an important role in the career
about [having] 4 babies that year. So we’re just choices for 10 of the 12 men CAOs. One man CAO de-
joking that there must be something in the water scribed how important politics were for his career path.
because we were just like this is a fertile group
and we were all having babies at the same time. So I think there is another variable there that is
(Woman CAO B) important to understand and especially in the
political nature in which managers work… …
Less often, women CAOs are implementing family- You can work as hard to get a job in your [city]
friendly policies, thereby inducing municipalities to or even in your own community but if [the]Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX 11
elected body is not favorable to your background what I say as a given, where they do with the
or for whatever reason, they are not going to get men. With women you have to prove that what
it off. (Man CAO A) you say, you have to show the back of, you know
the cost-benefit analysis, the research, the infor-
Some other men CAOs described the unpredictability
mation for them to take what you are saying at
of the CAO role as a factor in their career path, reiter-
face value, whereas with men…, I do not know if
ating the masculine assumption that the private lives
it is a trust issue…The woman is measured at a
of CAOs are subservient to workplace considerations.
different scale than men. (Woman CAO D)
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
You know if the council decided you are not the
Here, the municipality performed masculine gender
manager here any longer, I would be displacing
work by acting on gendered perceptions of women’s
[my family]. I think a lot of times as managers we
abilities, and women CAOs respond by performing
are like football coaches. You know, it is based
masculine gender work to establish their legitimacy
on merit, it is based on how you are doing at
through Stivers’ (2000, 23) “rationalizing and system-
that point, what you did ten years ago does not
atizing public life.”
matter. (Man CAO D)
Managers are not elected to be popular man- Hiring Women CAOs as Masculine Gender Work: Stability “needed
agers they are selected because we get the code, here”
the black book, and we implement it. And then Above, we find that men mentors of women CAOs
I have the budget that I have to deliver, the do feminine gender work to prepare women and mu-
balanced budget that I have to deliver. Those are nicipalities for the new women CAOs’ leadership.
my two functions and I am not popular. So that Complementary to that finding, we also offer a limited
is why the position of the city manager or a town finding that some municipalities hire women CAOs
manager is very volatile because at some point partially for the benefits of stability that comes from
you make somebody mad. (Man CAO H) hiring a person who has been directly trained by the re-
These men operate in organizations that are “volatile” tiring CAO. We present this finding based on two data
and require “displacing” family to continue operating points. First, no men CAOs in our data indicated that
“like football coaches.” When municipalities hire these they attained their position based on the recommen-
men, the men CAOs are incapable of replicating the dation of a retiring CAO. Second, all men CAOs that
existing systems and processes they do not know, in- engage in mentorship of women CAOs were retiring
stead bringing with them some inevitable organiza- CAOs preparing their organizations for a stable tran-
tional disruption. This mobility is a masculine gender sition. On one occasion, a woman CAO who had left
performance in part because men move their families municipal government seeking opportunity elsewhere
to the new city as discussed earlier, and in part because explains how she was recruited back by her former
these men CAOs institute processes from other offices CAO mentor because she was “needed.”
that are generally masculine in a profession dominated My first job [was] here. I left the city on three oc-
by men. casions and I came back. I left once for a banking
position and twice for local government posi-
Women CAOs Seek Legitimacy: “They just do not take what I say as a
tions. And all three times my boss [the CAO] at
given”
the time felt that I was needed here and offered
Four women CAOs in our data performed masculine
me an opportunity. (Woman CAO F)
gender work to legitimize their authority in their inter-
actions with elected officials. Women CAOs described Based on this theme in our data, further exploration
having to put in extra effort to justify their decision of the motivations of city councils and other hiring
making. Echoing the concern that early municipal re- agents in hiring women CAOs would reveal the extent
searchers felt about the relationship of municipal re- to which stability was a factor in hiring an outgoing
search to femininity (Stivers 2000), one woman CAO man CAO’s woman protégé to replace him.
described turning to objective data to perform the
masculine gender work necessary to legitimize her
leadership. Discussion
And I know the difference of how elected offi- Our data reveal multiple ways that both CAOs and
cials react to those two gentlemen who were municipal organizations perform gender work. Out of
much older—you know, I call them fondly and the complexity of the findings, this section develops
nicely the “good old boys club”—versus how theoretical understanding of the gender work per-
they react to me. [Pause]. They just do not take formed by the CAOs in the study.12 Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2020, Vol. XX, No. XX
Masculine and Feminine Gender Work in Municipal Our data support findings of the importance of the
Governments mentorship relationship for women CAOs (Bozeman
Our analysis reveals a profession in which CAOs and and Feeney 2008b). Outgoing men CAOs help socialize
organizations perform gender work to maintain a mas- women candidates into the profession and to the mas-
culine apparatus. In municipal governments, greedy culine apparatus of municipal governments. Mentors
organizations hire abstract workers to fit the social act as sponsors for future women CAOs by performing
reality of mostly men doing masculine gender work feminine gender work through affective leadership and
both in their private and public lives as CAOs. Like attentive mentorship. Men CAOs sponsor women by
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpart/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jopart/muaa052/5981344 by guest on 20 December 2020
Acker’s (1990) abstract workers, men CAOs have the showing them the processes that worked for the out-
privilege of more neatly separating their private lives going CAO and by using political and social capital to
from their public lives finding fewer hurdles and ex- present the future CAO as their successor.
pressing a greater sense of control over their career Municipalities perform masculine gender work
paths. Contrarily, women CAOs negotiate the their as men CAOs navigate work politics, mainly in their
jobs and the second shift, struggling to overcome hur- interactions with elected officials. Most men CAOs
dles created by gendered perceptions and gendered who discussed work politics noted that ambition and
private life demands. Hence, women must simultan- opportunity seeking were insufficient to secure career
eously perform higher levels of contradictory mascu- opportunities. This is because municipal executive posi-
line and feminine gender work to participate fully in tions are often unstable. For men who play primary
the profession. breadwinning roles, the volatility of the profession was
Our data demonstrate that both men and women a major factor determining which career opportunities
CAOs engage in masculine performance throughout to pursue. Also engaging in politics, women CAOs re-
their careers. Men CAOs engage in masculine gender ported having to legitimize their authority using mas-
work as they make choices guided by ambition and culine gender work. Women who worked their way up
opportunity seeking relatively unconstrainted by through the organizational ladder found it constantly
family considerations. Similarly, our data show that necessary to prove that they were capable of running
men CAOs perform masculine gender work when con- their organizations.
forming to stereotypical social roles at home, leaving We find that municipalities perform feminine gender
all or most of the home maintenance work to their work to facilitate women entering the CAO position.
spouses. The incremental feminization of organizations de-
Similarly, we find that women CAOs in our study mands women’s continual performance of masculine
engage in masculine gender work as they learn to adopt gender work, whereas organizations perform fem-
and fit into the mold of the ideal worker. Women CAOs inine gender work to create the space for women to
perform this masculine gender work though they are thrive. We find that some organizations seek women
often appointed because of the stability contributed by CAOs when cities seek femininity in leadership and
years of feminine gender work in the organization, and the stability it engenders. This is evident in the fact
as they juggle feminine gender work as primary care- that women CAOs in our study, but not men CAOs,
givers at home. This finding reflects Kanter’s (1977) were sponsored into their role by outgoing men CAOs.
that women in corporate settings succeed using strat- Municipalities seeking change are more likely to seek
egies of loyalty and stability as secretaries for powerful outside candidates rather than the “institutional know-
men. In our analysis, many successful women CAOs ledge” that women CAOs in our study describe as their
used these same strategies to become the power players competitive advantage. Contrarily, men CAOs describe
themselves. uprooting and moving like “football coaches” bringing
Our data also demonstrate that municipalities their styles and change with them.
perform feminine gender work to recruit and retain Last, we find that organizations engage in fem-
women CAOs. Municipal governments perform fem- inine gender work as they seek to support incoming
inine gender work by providing informal arrangements women CAOs. Once a woman CAO is established in
and institutionalized policies to support the social real- the organization, the organization performs feminine
ities of women CAOs and other women employees. gender work for two reasons. As with the staff who
Municipal governments nurture women into manage- felt supported to start families once the woman CAO
ment positions by providing a way for women to bring took over and started a family herself, simply modeling
the full person to work, encouraging women to bring starting a family may have had an effect. Additionally,
cribs into offices and pumping milk in boardrooms. some women CAOs gained the social and professional
While some municipal governments engage in minimal capital to implement deliberate organization-wide
feminine gender work, others perform more radical changes to support the full lives of employees including
femininity under the leadership of women CAOs by childcare, healthcare, and the flexibility needed to meet
formalizing policies to support caregiving. the demands of the second shift. The implications forYou can also read
