Men, gender relationship and transnational organising, organisations and management

The main aim of the senior fellowship project is to research the changing forms and dynamics of gender relations within and beyond transnational organising, organisations and management, in the context of globalising social and economic conditions. The Finnish setting is especially fruitful and internationally interesting for such research characterised as it is by women’s high education levels, relatively high gender equality, and yet persistence of various gender inequalities. Particular emphasis is placed on an important, rapidly developing aspect of international research on gender relations - the analysis of men and masculinities, itself a very under-researched area in Finland. The study addresses the impact of changing forms of organisations and management on gender relations, and the impact of changing gender relations on organisations and management. It contributes to furthering equality policy and practice, improving organisational and managerial performance in both private and public sectors, and enhancing the quality of working life. New forms of gendered organising are examined, within and in relation to transnational corporations, state/trans-state organisations, and civil society organisations. This is developed through two major complementary studies, one on transnational organisations, the other comparative: 1. The Transnational Business study: ‘Gender Relations in Transnational Organisations and Managements’. This investigates the gendering of transnational organising, organisations and management through a focus on Finnish transnational corporations; the special features of the gendering of TNCs; and whether they are different to other gendered organisations. It contributes to the development of gender equality policy and practice into management in the private sector. The largest Finnish corporations are growing and extending their activities, with globalisation processes and increasing European integration. A focus on the dynamics of the gender relations of Finnish transnational corporations, especially their top managements, is thus of major contemporary interest. 2. The Comparative State and Welfare study: ‘Men’s Changing Organisational Practices in Europe’. This study is developed in collaboration with the European Research Network on Men in Europe, coordinated from Svenska handelshögskolan and the Universities of Bielefeld, Lodz and Sunderland, with partners in Oslo, Cork, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga, Camerino and Parma. The study also gathers secondary comparative data on men’s organisational and managerial practices and gender divisions, policies and dynamics in state and civil society organisations. It hypotheses that the different national forms of men's organisational and managerial practices are increasingly subject to transnational influences, and their form is a major constitutive element in organisational and managerial gender relations. Quantitative data is gathered on gender divisions in transnational governmental organizations, national governmental responses to men as a social problem, and men’s organising responses to these social problem statuses, and gender equality/inequality. In addition, focused structured interviews will be conducted with Network members and a further 30 key informants. While attending to existing statistical and other information, qualitative and grounded methods and analyses will be emphasised and developed throughout.